Sweet Science - White Russian

White Russian - Coffee Liqueur and Vodka Ice Cream with Hazelnuts

We start the new year with a pint from the St. Paul based Sweet Science brand: White Russian.  This is a member of their cocktail collection, so it cost a couple of extra dollars.  The cocktail it is designed after is the flavors namesake, the White Russian.  Everyone remembers the White Russian as the favorite drink of the Dude in the Big Lebowski.  It is made with coffee liqueur, vodka, and cream.  A cream-based drink is a good basis for ice cream -- the cream is already in there!

Removing the lid shows an off-white base with two full hazelnuts visible right on the top.  They look like they were manually added just before the lid was put on.  Digging in, the texture is fairly soft.  I have heard that mixing alcohol with ice cream makes it harder to freeze.  It is still creamy but it is definitely not hard.  The spoon sliced through it pretty easily.  The alcohol is noticeable right away.  Then the coffee liqueur.  I am not all that familiar with the cocktail so I shared with a friend.  She assured me "it tastes just like the drink".  As I ate further down into the pint, I didn't see any more hazelnuts until I got to the very bottom.  There were two more hazelnuts sitting on the bottom of the pint.  They didn't hurt anything, but I'm not sure what the hazelnuts were doing here.

This was an interesting pint.  A 'cocktail' collection where they make a pint out of a mixed drink is a decent idea.  A cream-based drink like a White Russian is ideal for this because it is almost like melted ice cream to begin with.  If you like White Russians, give this a try.