Coolhaus - Chocolate Love

Chocolate Love - Decadent Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

Today we move on to the next pint in my Coolhaus shipment.  Today's flavor is called Chocolate Love.  This is just dark chocolate ice cream.  I am sticking with the basic flavors early on and saving the more complex flavors for later.  They do refer to the chocolate as decadent, though.  That's a fun word.  I feel like being luxuriously self-indulgent to the point of inspiring cultural or moral decline, don't you?

Today's foil message is a bit cheeky.  These are all quite witty!

After removing the foil, the chocolate base is a bit darker than usual.  That makes sense as it is billed as a dark chocolate base.  Digging in the chocolate is quite flavorful.  It is a bit deeper in chocolate flavor than the usual chocolate base, but not so heavy in dark solids as to taste like a fudgesicle.  The texture again is quite thick and as I mentioned last time quite mold-able.  The ideal texture for making an ice cream sandwich which is Coolhaus's specialty.

A simple but quite well-done implementation of a chocolate ice cream.  As I mentioned above, it's a bit darker than many chocolate implementations which taste like frozen and churn chocolate milk or hot cocoa.  That said, this is not a super-dark base like those found in dark chocolate sorbets either.  Not much else to say about such a simple flavor.  Coolhaus and chocolate lovers will be happy. 

Museum of Ice Cream - Nana Banana

Nana Banana - Banana Ice Cream with Salted Caramel and Almond Butter Swirls

Today I decided to check out a new brand:  The Museum of Ice Cream.  They have partnered with Target stores to release a new line of seven flavors this summer.  Founded in 2016 by Maryellis Bunn, it began life as a museum with locations in New York, San Francisco, Miami & Los Angeles.  Exhibits have been quite popular.  Last year they opened a 'pint shop in New York and set up a collaboration with Target to release a line of ice cream as well as a line of branded clothing (T-shirts, etc).  Some more articles about them here and here.  A lot of the talk has been about branding and design, but can they make good ice cream?  It should be fun to find out.  The first flavor is called Nana Banana and features a banana base with a caramel and almond butter swirl.

Opening the pint, I see a foil top similar to the ones used by Coolhaus.  I like this because it keeps the lids from getting dirty and I have actually saved all the lids from the pints that I have reviewed here.  Removing the foil shows the off-white yellow color of the banana base and quite a bit of the caramel almond butter swirl showing already.  Digging in, the banana base is quite sweet.  I have written in past reviews of the two different kinds of banana flavors -- the sweet banana pudding/pie flavor and the more earthy banana muffin/bread flavor.  This is definitely the sweet banana pie flavor.  The texture is a bit icy but it softened up a bit as I ate it.  The swirl tasted like caramel, I did not specifically notice almond butter in the swirl but perhaps my palate is not sensitive enough.  The swirl went well with the caramel.

This is a pretty good pint of banana caramel ice cream.  I don't think it is as good as a similar McConnell's flavor, but it is easier to find and half the price.  If you like sweet banana and are at Target looking for a fun new brand, you could give this a try.  This is one of the milder flavor combinations in their line.  It'll be interesting to explore more from the Museum of Ice Cream.

Coolhaus - Best of Both Worlds Vanilla

Best of Both Worlds Vanilla - Vanilla Ice Cream with Madagascar and Vanilla Beans

I got a shipment from the Culver-City-based Coolhaus brand!  They released seven new flavors for 2017 and I've only been able to find two of new pints in my area (reviewed here and here).  Coolhaus appears to be in the process of going national as I saw a bunch of pints on my trip to New York.  I did not get any on my trip because I felt like I should be focusing on New York brands while I was there.  I saw an ad on twitter for free shipping and decided to pull the trigger.  When the ice cream arrived, I noticed that it was shipped from Cincinnati.  Another sign that Coolhaus has gone national.

The first flavor I am having is called Best of Both Worlds Vanilla which is made with both Madagascar and Tahitian Vanilla beans.  I have written about the different types of vanilla beans in a previous review.  In summary, vanilla is indigenous to Mexico, but has been most successfully cultivated in French colonies (and former French colonies).  Madagascar and Reunion (Bourbon) are the where the original strain of vanilla.  This has the strongest flavor and works the best for baking.  A variety of the original strain is grown in Tahiti which has a sweeter aroma and is often used for desserts.  The couple of times that I have had Tahitian beans have been from Coolhaus.  I liked it.  It reminded me of the flavor of soft-serve vanilla (and I mean that in the best way).  I never thought of blending the two vanillas.  It should be fun.

Opening the pint I see another message in foil for me.  These are fun.

OK, after removing the foil, I see the vanilla base is speckled with lots of beans.  I am curious as to whether the specks are also of both kinds of vanilla.  I can't think of any ways of knowing, though.  Digging in, I immediate taste that sweet floral flavor of Tahitian vanilla.  I like it.  The texture of the ice cream is quite think but also a bit easy to mold.  Coolhaus is famous for their ice cream sandwiches where a mold-able texture is quite helpful.  The vanilla stayed tasty all the way to the end of the pint.  I am not entirely sure what blending with Madagascar beans does.  Perhaps it gives it a longer lasting flavor which is less dependent on aroma?  Maybe vanilla experts could weight in and let me know.

This is a solid implementation of a vanilla ice cream.  There are a million vanillas out there but not many of them include Tahitian vanilla beans.  That separates this pint from the other vanillas.    Since Coolhaus is going national, you might see this pint in your area soon.  If so, give this pint a try the next time you want vanilla and see what you think.

Häagen-Dazs - Midnight Cookies & Cream

Midnight Cookies & Cream - Chocolate Ice Cream with Chocolate Cookie Pieces and a Chocolate Fudge Swirl

After much searching, I finally found the third of Häagen-Dazs' new Decadance Collections flavors for 2018, Midnight Cookies & Cream.  I was fooled by the fact that one of my local grocery store chains, Cub Foods, picked up the first two flavors (reviewed here and here) right away.  So, I kept going back to that grocery store expecting the third flavor.  When that didn't work I looked for other Cub Foods stores.  There I found the same two decadence flavors but never the third.  Finally, I tried the "Find in Store" link on the Häagen-Dazs flavor pages and after poking around I figured out that all of the Cub Foods decided to stock only two of the three new flavors.  I guess there is only so much room in the freezer cases.  Anyhow, the "Find in Store" link then directed me to a Super Target on the other side of the metro and I finally got my pint of Midnight Cookies & Cream.  It's funny, because I haven't done a complete survey of the Häagen-Dazs line, but I got drawn into getting all of the new 2018 releases and the fact that I was missing one of them for a few months was bugging me.  I guess if this is what is stressing me out, then life must not be that bad.  As I mentioned earlier this week, I went out and reviewed the standard Häagen-Dazs Cookies & Cream flavor to prepare myself for this pint.

Enough chatter, on to the ice cream!  The base ice cream is the expected brown color with lots of cookies pieces visible on the top of the pint.  The chocolate base is good.  Indeed, Häagen-Dazs is known for doing a very good chocolate.  The cookies are the same as in their straight Cookies & Cream flavor.  I will repeat the description here.  They are an Oreo-style chocolate cookie, but not specifically the Oreo-brand.  They are a bit softer and less crumbly.  Because they are less crumbly, you don't get the powdery crumbs that fully color the base of many cookies and cream implementations.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, just and observation.  You could argue that it is a good thing her because it does not distract from the excellent chocolate base.  The cookie pieces added extra chocolate on top of that.  I looked for the chocolate fudge swirl and could not find it.  Perhaps it had blended into the base?  Or it was soaked up by the cookie pieces?  I might have to have eaten spoonfuls of this, the chocolate and the regular cookies and cream side-by-side to see if either the base or the mix-ins were boosted with extra chocolate here.

This is a solid pint of ice cream.  Häagen-Dazs does chocolate bases really well and the cookie pieces were flavorful.  That said, the "decadent" label may have raised my expectations too much and then not finding an extra chocolate swirl left me mildly disappointed.  This is basically a companion flavor to cookies & cream much the same way that Chocolate Chocolate Chip flavors are companions to Vanilla Chocolate Chip.


Editors note:  this flavor has been renamed.  It is now called Triple Chocolate Fudge Cookie 

 

Lapperts - Nuku Hiva

Nuku Hiva - Coconut Pineapple Ice Cream, Brownie Pieces, and a Raspberry Sorbet Swirl

Today is the final pint from my six-pint shipment from Lapperts Ice Cream.  The flavor is called Nuku Hiva.  I love these flavor names!  Nuku Hiva is the largest of the Marquesas Islands -- a territory of France.  It is pretty far east as far as polynesian islands go, so far east that it is in the Western Hemisphere.  The island was a popular topic of 19th century novelists, with Herman Melville, Robert Louis Stevenson and Jule Verne all mentioning it.  It was also the location of the fourth season of Survivor.  What ingredients make for a Nuku Hiva ice cream?  A lot of them!  Coconut, pineapple, raspberry and chocolate!  I've had a coconut pineapple flavor before and lots of brands do raspberry-chocolate combinations, but I never thought about mixing all of those together.  This should be fun.

I had no idea what to expect when opening the lid.  It was a bright white to yellow-ish white base with bright darkish pink swirls.  Lots of sugar-cube-sized brownie pieces visible right away as well.  It's beautiful.  Digging in, the ice cream is quite sweet.  The raspberry and pineapple are the flavors that hit me right away.  It is a better combination that I expected.  I like that the raspberry swirl is done with a sorbet instead of a jam or sauce.  I'm not sure if I've seen a sorbet swirl before, but it is a great ide.   The coconut I first notice from the texture there are strings of coconut in the base.  I noticed the coconut flavor, too, but it was more of a supporting role.  The brownie pieces are fun.  They provide some chewy chocolate without distracting too much from the fruit flavors.  I like the sugar-cube size.

This is a very fun and imaginative combination of flavors.  I really liked this.  It is a bit on the sweet side, but that is not inappropriate for a fruit-based ice cream.  The pineapple & raspberry sorbet swirl were the stars for me.

That completes my six-pint shipment from Lapperts.  Despite hearing about them from a television show, they still have a small-scale family-owned feel.  I wonder if the TV show will increase demand for them?  Anyhow, it is good quality ice cream with well-implemented, imaginative and fun tropical flavors.  If you are on the west coast and you see one of their scoop shops, stop in to check them out.

Häagen-Dazs - Cookies & Cream

Cookies & Cream - Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Cookie Pieces 

I have been searching all spring and summer for the last of the three new flavors in Häagen-Dazs' decadent collection which is called Midnight Cookies & Cream.  I finally found it!  But it dawned on me that I have yet to review their standard Cookies & Cream flavor.  So, taking advantage of a BOGO sale at the local supermarket, I ran out and picked it up.  Vanilla ice cream with chocolate cookie mix-ins.  That's a winning combination anyways and it will give me a good baseline for my future review.

Opening the lid, I see the vanilla base is white with lots of small cookie piece mix-ins visible.  Some of the pieces are quite small, but you don't see the fine powdery crumbs that often color a cookies-and-cream base.  Digging in, you can really taste the vanilla in the base.  I have not reviewed either of Häagen-Dazs' two vanilla pints (Vanilla and Vanilla Bean) but I have enjoyed this base in Vanilla Swiss Almond.  It is good.  The cookie pieces are generously scattered throughout this base.  These are not Oreo-brand cookies, but are a chewier (Hydrox-like) versions of outer cookies with no cream filling.  These provide a lot of chocolate flavor without completely overpowering the vanilla base.

This is a simple and well done version of a cookies-and-cream flavor.  It is different from most cookies-and-cream's in that you can still taste the vanilla.  Many cookies-and-creams either use a sweet-cream or the cookie crumbs become so powdery that they blend into the base and overpower the cookies.  The cookies here are also a little softer as well.  This is vanilla-lover's pint of cookies and cream.

Lapperts - Horchata Cajeta

Horchata Cajeta - Rice Cinnamon Ice Cream with a Mexican-style Caramel Swirl

Today we review the penultimate pint of my six-pint order from the Sausalito-based Lappert's Ice Cream.  Today's flavor is called Horchata Cajeta.  I had to look up both of those words!  Horchata is a rice milk beverage common in Mexico and Guatamala that is often spiced with cinnamon.  Cajeta is Mexican confection made from caramelized goat milk or a mixture of goat milk and cow's milk.  It is a bit like dulce de leche, but with the inclusion of goat milk.  Checking the flavor description here, we have rice and cinnamon for the horchata part of the name and caramel for the cajeta part of the name.  There is no detailed ingredient list, so I'm not sure if there was any goat-milk used but I approve of the colorful inspiration.  This is one of the flavors that Isaac Lappert talked about on the Ice Cream Show and rice milk is a new ingredient for me, so I am looking forward to this pint.

The top of the pint is an off-white color -- you can tell there is cinnamon.  There are hints of a caramelish swirl as well.  It looks very thick and you can tell that it is hand-packed.  Digging in, I can taste the rice right away.  I did not notice any actual grains of rice, but the flavor reminded me a lot of rice pudding.   There is just enough cinnamon in the mix to add to the flavor without distracting too much from the rice.  It is quite delicious.  The caramel swirl is a nice addition to the mix.  It is a bit sparse near the top of the pint, thought there was more caramel as I ate my way down.

This is a fun pint of ice cream.  The rice milk base is the star of the show and is quite delicious and unique.  More brands should try a rice milk base!  The cinnamon and caramel were good too, albeit in supporting roles.  If you like rice milk or rice pudding, you should definitely check this out.

Milkjam Creamery - Ridin' Duuurty

Ridin' Duuurty - Oreo Milk with Oreo Chunks and Salted Peanut Butter

Last week, I heard that Milkjam Creamery in Minneapolis came out with a mint chocolate chip flavor, so I went down there to pick up a couple of pints.  I am saving the mint chocolate chip for later.  The other pint I picked up is called Ridin' Duuurty.  Milkjam's flavor-name puns are often from way out in left field.  I believe it is likely a reference to a popular hip-hop song from the 00s called Ridin'.  I hadn't heard of it myself, but it was popular enough to get parodied by Weird Al.  The flavor itself looks like a modification of a cookies and cream.  The base is said to be flavored with 'Oreo milk'.  That likely means that the milk, cream and sugar were heated up with Oreo's in the pan which were then strained out later.  Some brands refer to this has a base which has been 'infused' with a flavor.  Here they add Oreo's themselves as a mix-in alongside peanut butter.  It should be fun.

Opening the pint, the oreo milk base is a grey-ish color.  There are no black specks in the base either.  Often cookies and cream implementations will allow the powdery Oreo crumbs to blend into the base.  This is a solid brownish-grey color.  The Oreo mix-ins are visible right away on top of the pint.  The pieces are large enough that you can discern the distinctive Oreo pattern.  Many gourmet ice cream brands are moving away from specifically Oreo-brand cookies and either making their own chocolate sandwich cookie or by using an organically-made version such as Newman-O's or Back to Nature.  Not here.  These are definitely Oreos.  With the first spoonful, you can taste the specific Oreo flavor in the base even without the Oreo pieces.  It is quite good.  Every once in a while, I encountered a sugar-cube sized hunk of salted peanut butter.  These provided an excellent compliment to the Oreos.  There were not a whole lot of these peanut butter cubes but they had a very strong flavor whenever I bit into one.

This was an excellent gourmet version of an Oreo cookies and cream.  The peanut butter in the mix reminded me a bit of this old limited batch flavor from Ben & Jerry's (no longer available).  Just a little bit of peanut butter but it went a long way.  Cookies and cream fans will love this.  Those who specifically love the Oreo brand will love it even more.

Lapperts - Hana Road

Hana Road - Chocolate Ice Cream with Marshmallows, Walnuts, Macadamia Nuts, and Chocolate-Covered Almonds

The fourth pint of my six pint shipment from Lappert's Ice Cream is called Hana Road.  This is basically their implementation of "Rocky Road", but the flavor is given a more Hawaiian feel by the inclusion of macadamia nuts and invoking the famous "Road to Hana" along the northern coast of Maui.  This should be fun.

Opening the pint, the base chocolate is quite dark.  Digging in, the chocolate base tastes a bit like a fudgesicle.  I remember thinking the same thing about a McConnell's pint a while back.  Most chocolate bases have a frozen-chocolate-milk feel, but this is a bit thicker and deeper chocolate than that.  The marshmallows are the same size and shape as the mini-marshmallows that you can buy in a bag, but they are a bit higher quality than that.  They   The nuts are generously mixed in and provided quite a bit of crunch.  With three different kinds of nuts in the mix, I never really knew which one to expect.  It kept me on my toes.

This turned out to be a fairly standard implementation of Rocky Road.  Yes, there was macadamias in there but their presence was diluted by the other nuts.  My favorite Rocky Road is still Haagen-Dazs because of the superior marshmallow mix-ins but for those that like a darker chocolate base and a more exotic mix of nuts, this is pretty good, too.

Pumphouse Creamery - Mango Carolina Reaper Pepper

Mango Carolina Reaper Pepper - Mango Ice Cream infused with Carolina Reaper Pepper

It is the middle of the summer and I read a cool article in the local paper about favorite flavors at Minnesota ice cream shops featuring the rhubarb flavor at Pumphouse Creamery.  Then I remembered that rhubarb is an early summer seasonal flavor, so I  had better run over there and pick up a pint while there is still time.  It turns out that I missed it.  I think the rhubarb might have to wait until next year.  What I did find was a flavor called Mango Carolina Reaper Pepper.  That sounded too exciting to pass up, so I grabbed a pint and took it home.

I have had mango ice cream before.  I have had a few hot pepper ice creams before -- usually in the context of a spicy chocolate, though once with Thai peanut butter theme.  Paired with mango, the goal is to create an ice cream version of the popular mango salsa.  The specific pepper used here is the Carolina Reaper.  This pepper is a relatively recent creation by "Smokin'" Ed Currie of the PuckerButt Pepper Company of Fort Mill, South Carolina.  In 2013, the Guiness Book of World Records certified that the Carolina Reaper is the hottest pepper on the Scoville scale, though I think a hotter pepper has been bred since then.   The guy at Pumphouse Creamery who sold me the pint told me to make sure I drink some milk with this ice cream.  Um... isn't there milk (and cream) in the ice cream?  I am a bit fan of spicy food, so I cannot wait to try this out!

Opening the pint shows the bright orange color which is typical of mango bases.  As I dig in, the mango base has a bright smooth and tropical flavor as expected.  I don't notice hot peppers yet.  I do see the occasional red speck in the ice cream.  Perhaps this is the reaper pepper?  I continue eating and yes, I do occasionally notice a mild peppery aftertaste once in a while after swallowing a spoonful.  The mango was quite tasty though.  I continued to eat the pint and was able to eat it in one sitting.  I will admit that by the end of the pint the spicy finish was starting to become more noticeable but I would not say that it ever rose to the point of being "spicy".

I must admit to being a bit let down by this pint.  I just did not find it to be all that spicy.  Perhaps the build up (sales guy warnings, Guiness Book certifications, etc) was too much.  Maybe the tasty mango simply did an amazing job of cutting the spiciness?  Or perhaps this is just churned to Minnesota spice-level expectations?  I do have a higher spice tolerance than most.  If you are at Pumphouse, enjoy mango and don't mind a bit of a mild kick then feel free to check this out, but don't fear the reaper.

Lapperts - Date Casablanca

Date Casablanca - Medajool Date Ice Cream with a Date/Caramel Swirl

The third pint in my shipment from Lapperts is called Date Casablanca. What a fun name!  I have only had dates in ice cream one other time.  In that case, there were so many spices in the mix that the dates played only a textural role.  This looks like a much more date-centric flavor.  Lappert's specifies that medjool dates are used here.  The medjool date is a soft variety of date which originated in Morocco -- hence the 'Casablanca' part of the ice cream flavor name.

Opening the pint, the base ice cream is quite light in color.  The caramel swirl and a couple of the date mix-ins are visible right away.  The pint has a neatly hand-packed look to it.  Digging in, the base is thick, soft and creamy.  The date mix-ins are delicious.  The caramel coats the dates in a way that sometimes make them feel like they have a candy coating.  It almost reminds me of a chewier version of a praline pecan.  The base itself does not have a very strong flavor but seems like the perfect vehicle for these mix-ins.

I really liked this pint of ice cream.  It makes me wonder why dates are not a more commonly used in ice cream.  Maybe good dates are hard to find or maybe no one else has figured out how to do them as well as Lapperts has here?  Date lovers should have this, but it is quite good for those like myself who are not all that familiar with dates either.