Grand Ole Creamery - North Country Crunch

North Country Crunch - Light Chocolate Malt Ice Cream with Heath Toffee and Roasted Almonds

Shopping around for the new flavors released this spring, I saw some pints from the Grand Ole Creamery in a freezer case.  I have not had a pint from them in a while.  So I picked up a pint of North Country Crunch.  The side of the container has the following description:  "Imagine that first step in light fluffy snow in the MN Moose Country.  Smooth and crunchy, North Country Crunch is a light chocolate malted ice cream perfectly complimented by Heath toffee pieces and roasted almonds.  A truly delightful combination."  They had me at Moose Country.  Should be a fun flavor.

Opening the pint, the light chocolate malt base is indeed quite light colored.  Looking at the ingredients, the base includes both chocolate and vanilla.  Often those two are swirled, but this is the first time I've seen them fully blended into a 'light chocolate'.  Digging in, I could taste the chocolate, vanilla and also the malt.  There was something a little odd about the base flavor.  It might have been the malt.  I am not really into malt flavor that much, so that could have been it.  The toffee pieces and almonds were distributed throughout the pint.  They were small, but crunchy and tasty.

I was a little disappointed by this pint.  The mix-ins were decent, but the light chocolate malt base did not agree with me.  Maybe if you really like malt, you'll like this better than me, but for now my favorite Grande Ole Creamery flavor is still Black Hills Gold.

  

Ben & Jerry's - Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake

Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake - Caramel Cheesecake Ice Cream with Graham Cracker-Covered Cheesecake Truffles & Chocolate Cookie Swirls

Today we look at the third and final of the new Truffles flavors from Ben & Jerry's: Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake.  Here, the truffles are made from graham-cracker coated cheesecake.  (previously, the truffles have been fudge and coffee liqueur).  Let's dig in!

Removing the lid shows the light beige color of the caramel cheesecake base and quite a bit of the chocolate cookie swirl.  Looking closer, I think I see a bit of graham cracker meaning the truffles are not buried too deep.  Eating my way into the pint, the caramel cheesecake flavor is not bad, but it is a bit mild.  I think the purpose of the base here is to serve as a vehicle for the mix-ins.  The graham-cracker cheesecake truffles are distributed throughout the pint.  It isn't restaurant-quality cheesecake, but it is still pretty good.  The best part of the pint is actually the chocolate cookie swirl.  It reminds me of the same swirl in the Tonight Dough flavor -- you have all of these mix-ins but the chocolate cookie swirl is the best part.  There is a bit of a dry, crunchy bite to the chocolate here.

This was a pretty good flavor.  I like the cheesecake mix-ins here better than having cheesecake as a 'core'.    It makes me wonder if the truffle flavors are being set up as a replacement for the core flavors.  We'll see.  Of the three core flavors, I definitely liked the coffee flavor the best, but they are all pretty good.

  

Sweet Science - Earl Grey with White Chocolate

Earl Gray with White Chocolate - Earl Grey Tea Ice Cream with White Chocolate Stracciatella

Today is another pint from the Saint Paul based Sweet Science brand.  It is a seasonal flavor which I picked up at their latest tasting called Earl Grey with White Chocolate.   March is the time for Earl Grey tea?  Who knew?  This is actually the second pint that I've had which features Earl Grey tea.  I had a pint of McConnell's last year.  I will direct you there for a background on Earl Grey tea.

This year Sweet Science implemented their white chocolate mix-in differently.  They did it as a stracciatella.  The name stracciatella originally refers to a type of Italian egg drop soup.   You slowly  drizzle a seasoned egg mixture into the hot soup leaving little shreds of cooked egg immersed in the soup.  With ice cream, you slowly drizzle melted chocolate into churning ice cream leaving little shreds of chocolate immersed in the ice cream.  I can't wait to see how this turns out.

Removing the lid shows the light beige color of the Earl Grey base.  I don't see any of the white chocolate right away.  Digging in, the tea flavor in the base is quite noticeable and quite delicious.  You can really taste the bergamot orange.  The white chocolate stracciatella is hard to see it was everywhere.  The pieces were small and quite crunchy.  They were in every spoonful, almost to the extent of forming a web-like lattice within the ice cream.  The ice cream itself was still creamy, but there was so much crunch, too.  I have mentioned before that white chocolate is a bit of an inert flavor for me -- it does not add or subtract much, at least for my palate.  That said, I like its use here.  It provides something fun to crunch on without distracting at all from the excellent flavor of the Earl Grey tea.  (Note that McConnell's did something similar with their choice of shortbread cookies as a complementary mix-in for their Earl Grey flavor.)

Astute readers may have picked up that this stracciatella method of pouring melted chocolate into churning ice cream is actually similar to what Graeter's does for their signature chips (see video links is this old review).  The effect here is quite different, though.  Graeters chips are large and chewy while this stracciatella method creates an inner network of thin and crunchy chocolate strips.  I like both.

This was an excellent pint of ice cream.  The Earl Grey flavor is very well done.  Tea lovers should certainly check this out for the tea flavoring alone.  I can't get enough of this stracciatella, either.  I guess Sweet Science has a summer flavor which uses non-white chocolate instead.  I can't wait to try that one out as well.

  

Talenti - Banana Chocolate Swirl

Banana Chocolate Swirl - Banana Gelato with a Dulce de Leche Swirl and Chocolate Chips

I found a pint of Talenti Gelato at Target which I don't see very often in freezer cases, so I figured I would pick it up.  I don't like to do too many of the same brand(s) in a row, and it has been a while since I've had a pint of Talenti.  The flavor is  Banana Chocolate Swirl and it is actually one of their older flavors.  They number their flavors as they release them and this is flavor #16.

Unscrewing the lid of the distinctive Talenti jars, I see all of the ingredients right away.  Lots of dulce de leche swirls and chocolate chips in a light yellow banana base.  Digging in, the banana flavor is quite sweet and fairly intense.  In previous reviews, I have noted that there are generally two types of banana flavors -- an earthy flavor typical of banana breads and a sweet flavor typical of banana pies.  This pint would be the sweet flavor.  The dulce de leche does not have a strong flavor in itself but it does serve to balance the banana quite well.  The chocolate chips are are small and dispersed throughout the pint.  As I continued eating, the banana flavor stayed potent but did not get overpowering.

This is a good pint of gelato.  I liked it.  It is a strong banana flavor.  It is sort of mix of the bananas foster types of pints which include caramel or dulce de leche and the banana chocolate chip types of pints.  Ben & Jerry's had a couple of limited release Bob Marley inspired pints (here and here) which also featured that.  This Talenti pint has a bit more banana and smaller chocolate pieces. 

Sweet Science - Honey Chamomile Ale

Honey Chamomile Tea - Honey and Chamomile Ice Cream with a Caramel Ale Swirl

The Saint Paul-based Sweet Science brand had another monthly tasting event, so I picked up a few new pints.  Today's pint is a seasonal flavor called Honey Chamomile Ale.  It's a unique flavor!  It has honey and chamomile in the base -- I have not had chamomile in ice cream before -- and it has a caramel swirl laced with Wheatstone Bridge Beer from the local Tin Whiskers brewing company.

Chamomile is an herb which derives from a daisy-like flowering plant.  It is a common additive to tea and is also a commonly used in herbal medicine -- it is believed to have a calming effect.  The name of the beer used here is also interesting.  A wheatstone bridge is actually an old electrical engineering term.  It is a special type of circuit which has be used to measure all sorts of electrical properties (resistance, capacitance, impedance, etc) since the mid-nineteenth century.  That said, the folks at Tin Whiskers say in the link above that we shouldn't overthink the name and just imagine the circuit's co-inventor Charles Wheatstone kicking back and enjoying a good beer.

Enough talk, lets eat!  Removing the lid shows the creamy color of the honey chamomile base.   The honey flavor is evident right away in the first spoonful.  I really like honey-flavored ice cream.  I think it should be used more often.  I don't know if I am tasting the chamomile or not.  Perhaps it is mild, or perhaps I am just not familiar with what chamomile is supposed to taste like.  The ice cream is delicious, though.  I start to encounter the caramel swirl on the sides of the pint.  The 'ale' that is mixed in makes the caramel a bit saucier than the usual caramel swirl but otherwise I don't notice a strong beer flavor.  It is also good, though.  The caramel swirl becomes a little more pronounced as I eat my way down the pint which a decent amount of it on the bottom of the carton.

I quite liked this pint.  The honey and caramel were the stars here.  That is a good flavor combination which I think should be used more often.  The mixing of the swirl was a bit uneven but it did not detract from the overall quality of the pint.  If you're in the mood for an out-of-the-ordinary flavor, check this one out.

 

 

  

Izzy's - Mint Chocolate Chip

Mint Chocolate Chip - Peppermint Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips

 It has been a while since I've had a pint of mint chocolate chip -- my favorite flavor.  Because I never repeat a pint, I always have to hunt down a different brand in order to have my favorite flavor.  So, I checked and I haven't had Mint Chocolate Chip from the Saint-Paul-based Izzy's brand.  It has actually been a while since I've had any pint from Izzy's.  I don't know what has been keeping me away.  It is also Saint Patrick's Day and although most premium ice creams don't add green food coloring anymore, at least the mint flavor feels green.  

The top of the pint is bright white in color -- as I guessed, no green food coloring.  A few chips are visible right away.  Digging in, the mint flavor is fairly potent and it is a bit different than usual.  This is a dry mint flavor.  It makes me think of a peppermint lifesaver.  It is almost chalky.  The chips are dispersed throughout the pint and are the crumbly-crunchy flavor variety.  They are good, but they seem to be a bit lower in density than other mint chocolate chips.  This is a pint which emphasizes the mint over the chocolate chip.

This is a decent pint but I must admit I was a bit disappointed.  Perhaps it is because mint chocolate chip is my favorite flavor and I've had so many great pints (my favorites are still McConnell's and Graeter's) or perhaps it is because I have such high expectations for Izzy's who have some amazing flavors like Irish Moxie and Midnight Snack.

  

Ben & Jerry's - Chillin' the Roast

Chillin' the Roast - Cold Brew Coffee Ice Cream with Chocolate Cookie-Covered Coffee Liqueur Truffles & Fudge Swirls

Today, we return to Ben & Jerry's again for the second of their three new "Truffles Flavors" for 2018.  This flavor is called "Chillin' the Roast".  It has coffee in the base, coffee liqueur in the truffle and some chocolate to accent in the the truffle coating and the fudge swirl.  We know from previous reviews that coffee and chocolate are flavors that complement each other well due to their similar active ingredients (caffeine and theobromine).  This looks like an interesting new way to combine the two,   Let's check it out!

Removing the lid shows the tan color of the coffee base with lots of coffee bean specks in the base.  A couple of the truffles and a dollop of the fudge swirl are also visible.  Digging in the coffee base is quite flavorful.  I looked up 'cold brewed' to see what that meant.  It is quite different from iced coffee.  Iced coffee is brewed hot and strong like regular black coffee and then is poured over ice and served cold.  Cold brewed is made by steeping coffee grounds in cold water for a long time (at least overnight).  The result is then strained and also served cold.  Cold brewed creates a weaker, but less bitter cup of coffee.  That combination actually works well in ice cream -- the coffee flavor without the bitterness or the caffeine headache.  I am not a coffee drinker though, so I may be exposing my bias.  The presence of the bean specks means that they did not filter it as much as they would the drink.  That also works well, as the small specks get suspended in the ice cream.  Overall it was delicious.  The truffles here are quite amazing.  Again, the chocolate-cookie coating just acts like a crunchy wrapper for what is inside.  The coffee-liqueur-flavored inside is actually chewy.  It is about the same texture as nougat.  As much as I enjoyed the base, these truffles were even better.  The fudge swirls provided the occasional creamy accent to it all.  There was not a whole lot of fudge here, but it was quite good when you got some.

This is an excellent pint of ice cream.  I am not even a coffee junkie, and I really loved this.  Lots of coffee flavor, a delicious chewy coffee mix-in, the fudge was great too.  This is a must try for coffee lovers.  Enjoy.

  

Coolhaus - Milkshake & Fries

Milkshake & Fries - Salted Tahitian Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Shoestring Fries & Milk Chocolate Malt Balls

Coolhaus has new flavors!  They released them for online order last fall but they released seven new flavors and the shipments come in sizes of six.  So, I waited to see if one of the new flavors would show up in a local grocery store.  Thankfully, a couple of them did!  Today, we try Milkshake & Fries which is one of the more intriguing of the new flavors.  French fries in ice cream?  A second look at the title shows that it is actually shoestring potatoes, but it still a first for me.

From previous reviews, you may recall that Coolhaus was always the brand that was 'architecturally inspired' and each flavor had a architect associated with it -- a flavor mascot if you will.  I don't see these anymore.  Maybe as they added more flavors, they couldn't keep coming up with fun puns on famous people?  It is a bit sad, as googling these people and looking at the cool buildings they built was part of the fun of eating this brand.  I almost feel obliged to link a few architects here.  If you want a pun on the name, you could try the English modernist Maxwell Fry, or the Californian desert modernist Albert Frey.  Or you could check out Stanley Clark Meston, the man who designed the iconic golden arches of McDonald's fast food restaurants.

Enough talk, let's dig in!  Removing the lid shows a foil lid covering the top:

Doesn't that make me feel good!  Am I eating too much ice cream?  Coolhaus tells me no!  I deserve this pint.

As I peel away the lid, there are some extra shoestring potatoes on top!  Also visible are some chocolate crumble all on top of the white vanilla base.  With the first spoonful, the Tahitian vanilla base is quite delicious.  I have discussed the difference between Tahitian and Madagascar/Bourbon vanillas in a previous Coolhaus review.  In short, Tahitian vanilla is not as strong but it is a bit fruitier and more aromatic.  To me, it smells like soft-serve ice cream.  I really like it.  The shoestring potatoes are not as salty or as crunchy as I expected them to be.  They are not bad, but they don't add much beside the texture.  The crushed chocolate malt balls end up doing the bulk of the work flavor-wise.  They contrast the vanilla quite well.

I have mixed feelings about this pint.  I applaud the novelty, but I think the shoestring potatoes would have been a lot better if they were saltier and crunchier.  Some brands have a potato-chip-cluster mix-in which is usually quite delicious.  Perhaps this is another case of a flavor which is a home run in a scooop shop, but hard to deliver in a pre-packaged pint?  Anyhow, I don't want to dwell too much on the negative, there's nothing really bad about the potatoes, I just found them to be like filler.  I did really like their Tahitian vanilla base and the chocolate malt crumble is good.  If you're curious, don't be afraid to give it a try.  Perhaps you'll like the fries better than me.

  

Milkjam Creamery - Cereal Killers

Cereal Killers - Orange Coriander Milk with Candied Pebbles

Today, I decided to try a new brand!  I have gotten multiple recommendations from friends and family for the Milkjam Creamery in the Lyn-Lake neighborhood of Minneapolis.  I went in to check and out and they had some pre-packaged pints, so I grabbed a pint.  The Milkjam Creamery was founded in 2016 by brothers Sameh and Saed Wadi who also run the World Street Kitchen restaurant next door.  They've decided to apply their culinary talents to ice cream.

The flavor I picked for today is called Cereal Killers   -- an orange coriander base with fruity pebbles cereal as a mix-in.  Looks pretty interesting.  I have heard of cereal-based ice cream before but a couple of things intrigue me here.  First is orange in the base.  I don't usually put orange juice in my cereal, but I suppose one might have a glass of orange juice with the cereal.  The other thing is the inclusion of coriander, sometimes known as cilantro.  Not once in my life have I been eating a bowl of cereal and thought to myself:  "you know, this could use some coriander", but you never know.  I am quite curious to see how this tastes.

A note to those who clicked the flavors link above.  This month, they have temporarily renamed all of their flavors after famous women in honor of Women's History Month.  This flavor is now called Chloe Kim in honor of the Olympic snowboarding gold medalist.  We do know that she likes ice cream.  I assume that when March is over, they'll change the flavor names back.

On to the ice cream!  The top of the pint is an orange-ish yellow color and a few of the fruity pebbles are visible right away.  As I dig into the pint, this orange milk base is surprisingly good.  It is very thick, yet also soft and creamy.  Sometimes citrus flavors are too acidic to mix with milk, but that didn't happen here.  I don't see a detailed list of ingredients but other pints have delivered orange flavoring with an oil which mixes well with milk and perhaps that is what happened here.  The effect of the coriander was quite subtle.  I did not actually immediately notice the flavor but every once in a while a note of savoriness would hit me.  The fruity pebbles provided quite a bit of color and textural difference.  I was expecting them to be crunchy, but they were more like the cereal at the end of a bowl which has been soaking up milk for several minutes.

This was a fun pint of ice cream.  If the fruity pebbles had been crunchier it would have been a home run, but it was still a pretty good flavor.  Perhaps they stay crunchier in the scoop shop?  I'm not sure.  The orange-milk base was the best part for me.  Don't be afraid of the coriander -- the effect was quite subtle.  I am looking forward to trying other flavors.

  

Graeters - Cotton Candy

Cotton Candy - Cotton Candy Flavored Ice Cream with Candy Crunch Pieces

Today is the final pint from my Graeter's shipment.  I went with Cotton Candy.  Although I occasionally see this flavor in various scoop shops, a check of my archives shows that I have not reviewed a cotton candy pint before.  Should be fun!

Cotton candy is basically spun sugar.  Sugar is heated up and liquified and then spun out tiny holes forming strands of thing 'sugar glass'.  The strands are then wound up into the familiar light, fluffy and airy balls of candy that we know and love.  Spun sugar has been around much longer than I thought.  Centuries.  It was very originally very expensive, though.  Then in 1897, a dentist (!)  named William Morrison invented a machine which made it more affordable to the average person.  He introduced it at the 1904 World's Fair in Saint Louis to great success.  Further improvements to cotton candy makers have been made over the years.  Since the 1970s, automated machines have been available making it cheaper and easier to find.  The familiar 'blue' flavor is a blue raspberry flavor, but it has always been artificial.  It is the texture and airiness that I always remember.  I wonder how this will translate into a creamy ice cream.

Removing the lid, I see the familiar pale blue color that is reminiscent of cotton candy.  There are some pink and blue candy pieces visible as well.  Digging in, I taste that blue-raspberry flavor.  It is a lighter ice cream, but it is still quite creamy.  It is the candy pieces which sell the flavor for me.  They are pretty small and have the same consistency of sequin-shaped candy that sometimes goes on top of a frosted cake.  That extra dose of sugar definitely makes me think of cotton candy.

This is fun pint of ice cream.  Graeter's really pulls off this implementation well.  It is a bit on the sweet side, but what do you expect.  Cotton candy lovers should really enjoy this.  It is going to set the bar pretty high for future cotton candy implementations that I might try.  Enjoy.

  

Sweet Science - Blood Orange Cream

Blood Orange Cream - Vanilla Ice Cream swirled with Blood Orange Sorbet

Today's flavor is another from the Saint Paul-based Sweet Science brand:  Blood Orange Cream.  This looks like an interesting flavor.  It is vanilla ice cream swirled with a blood orange sorbet.  I haven't a flavor which included blood oranges, yet, so let's check them out.

A blood orange is a variety of orange with a maroon (almost blood-colored) pulp.  They have been grown in Italy as well as other parts of the Mediterranean since the 1700s.  The anthocyanins which give the fruit its distinct dark color develop in part because of cold temperatures in the night -- so this orange tends to be grown in slightly more temperate regions than standard oranges.

On to the ice cream!  Removing the lid, the vanilla base has a slightly yellow-ish cream color and large swirls of dark pink are visible as well.  That must be the blood orange.  Digging in, the blood orange tastes like orange, though perhaps a bit tart.  The sorbet is a bit frozen and have a popsicle-like consistency.  This is a bit more frozen than most sorbets, but as a sorbet-swirl inside ice cream it works quite well.  The side of the cartoon compares this to an 'orange-sicle' (dreamsicle?).  I agree with that description.  The vanilla ice cream balances the tartness of the blood orange quite well.

This is a fun and unique pint of ice cream.  I really like citrus-flavored things.  It is often tricky to mix citrus with ice cream because of the acidity, but this flavor worked quite well.  This is quite unique.  The only flavor I can think to compare it to is Häagen-Dazs' Vanilla, Tangerine & Shortbread.  Both made me think of Dreamsicles.  If you like blood oranges or are curious about a tart orange flavor balanced with vanilla, then give Blood Orange Cream a try.