Tipsy Scoop - Spiked Mint Chip

Spiked Mint Chip - Mint Chocolate Ice Cream infused with Creme de Menthe and Chocolate Liqueur

Today is yet another pint from New York City!  This flavor is from a fun brand called Tipsy Scoop.  As their name implies, they specialize in alcohol-infused ice creams.  I visited their Manhattan scoop shop on my trip to New York last year but this is my first review of a pre-packaged pint.  Today's flavor is called Spiked Mint Chocolate Chip.  Long-time readers will know that Mint Chocolate Chip is my all-time favorite flavor so this seemed like a good first flavor to try.  Here Mint Chocolate Chip is spiked with creme de menthe and chocolate liqueur.  Let's check it out.

This is another flavor that comes in screw-top jars -- similar to Talenti Gelato.  Rather fun.  I unscrew the lid to show the green color of the mint base.  The combination of the screw-top jar and the green color is reminding me a lot of Talenti's Mediterranean Mint.  Digging in, I taste the mint flavor right away.  I notice the alcohol most as an aroma rather than a flavor.  I can tell that there is alcohol in here, but it is definitely not 'boozy'.  I am tasting more creme de menthe out of this than I am chocolate liqueur.  No complaints, I like creme de menthe just an observation.  There are some chocolate chips scattered throughout the pint.  Not as many as in most mint chocolate chip implementations but when I do encounter the chocolate, it does taste good.

This is a fun pint from Tipsy Scoop.  It is a bit more tame that you would expect from a brand with this name -- you'd have to eat a very large amount of this ice cream of this to feel tipsy.  That said, alcohol-infused flavors are fun just for the smell and the flavor of some alcohols.  This pint is good, but it is basically just a mildly spiked version of Talenti's Mediterranean Mint --- which is easier to find and half the price.  Next time I might be more adventuresome with my flavor selection.  Perhaps one of the martini flavors or the tequila hot chocolate.

Van Leeuwen's - Mocha Cookie Crumble

Mocha Cookie Crumble - Coffee Ice Cream with Swirls of Chocolate Fudge and Crunchy Palm Sugar Speculoos Cookies

I am still in New York for Thanksgiving and trying to see if I can see how many New York brands that I can sneak into an eleven day trip!  Today I try a pint from Van Leeuwen Ice Cream.  Once I actually bought a pint of this brand at Tim & Tom's Speedy Market in Saint Paul, but I don't think they carry it anymore.  Van Leeuwen is quite big in the New York City area, though.  Today's flavor is called Mocha Cookie Crumble.  It is a coffee ice cream with a swirl of fudge and speculoos cookie mix-ins.  I have had a few pints with speculoos cookies before (see here and here) and many pints mix coffee and chocolate (see discussion on an old review here) but I have not seen speculoos with coffee before.  Spices go well with tea, so I don't see why they couldn't go with coffee as well.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid, I see the coffee base has a light tan color.  I see a couple small fudge swirls visible right away and I also see a fair amount of specks in the base -- specks of speculoos cookies I presume.  Digging in, the ice cream has a smooth easy-to-scoop texture -- almost like mousse or a silk pie but not quite.  I think that may be the 'french ice cream' aspect of it.  If that is the case, it might because french-style ice creams contain extra egg yolks to give it a more custardy texture.  Anyhow, it is quite delicious.  It has a decent coffee flavor with nice ribbons of fudge blended in.  The specks of speculoo cookies that I saw on the top stayed that size throughout the pint.  Because of this, they delivered no crunch and only a mild amount of spices.

This is a solid pint from Van Leeuwen.  I really enjoyed the silky texture of the french-style coffee ice cream and it went well with the smooth and creamy fudge swirl.  I know coffee and chocolate is a pretty common combination, but this one is well done.  It's creamier than the average pint.  I would not expect a lot from the speculoos either flavor-wise or texture wise, but it certainly doesn't take away from good coffee and chocolate.

McConnell's - Sweet Cream Caramel Brownie

Sweet Cream Caramel Brownie - Sweet Cream with Chocolate Brownies and Swirls of Salted Caramel

I am still on my New York City trip for the Thanksgiving holiday.  I return today to another pint from the Santa Barbara-based McConnell's Ice Cream.  As mentioned in my recent review, I found a market in my sister's neighborhood that has almost the full selection of this brand on the upper east side.  So, I might as well check out new flavors to save me potential shipping costs, later.  Today's pint is a new flavor from them called Sweet Cream Caramel Brownie.  It is a rather interesting flavor combination.  Brownies are usually delivered in a chocolate base, but this flavor pairs the mix-in with a sweet cream base and also adds a swirl of salted caramel.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid, I see the white color of the sweet cream base with hints of a caramel swirl and also evidence of the brownie mix-ins.  Digging in, the base is thick and creamy.  It is just sweet cream, so it serves as a vehicle for the swirl and mix-ins here, but it is pretty good.  I taste the brownies next.  These are rich and chocolatey and in relatively small bites.  The caramel swirl is excellent.  It is gooey and salty and seems to coat the brownie pieces at times.  As I eat my way down the pint, the caramel swirl gets a little more concentrated.  By the end of the pint, I am scooping a bit of it into every single spoonful.

This is excellent stuff.  McConnell's has the ability to hit it out of the park from time to time and they have clearly done that here.  Brownies in sweet cream instead of chocolate is a great idea.  I have seen something similar in a since-retired Brownies à la Mode flavor from Häagen-Dazs but this better and the amazing caramel swirl cranks things up a notch from there.  This is great stuff.  Those with access to McConnell's should check it out.

Ample Hills - Maple Bourbon Barrel

Maple Bourbon Barrel - Maple bourbon ice cream made with Widow Jane bourbon and Crown Maple Syrup aged in Bourbon Barrels and Sprinkled with Chocolate-coated Maple-candied Pecans

I always like to try a pint of the Brooklyn-based Ample Hills whenever I visit New York.  The selection at the Whole Foods on the Upper East Side was not great, so I trekked down to one of their newest scoop shops in the Essex Market on the lower East Side.  I ate the pint down there, so you'll notice my photos have a different look to them than usual.  For this pint, I got their featured fall flavor called Maple Bourbon Barrel.  It's a bourbon and pecan implementation which has been very popular with other brands in recent years.  I have seen similar flavors from Graeter's, McConnell's and Häagen-Dazs.  Here the bourbon is from Widow Jane and the maple syrup is from Crown Maple.  It will be fun to see how this one compares.

This pint was hand-packed at the scoop shop.  So, it's a bit softer than I am used to seeing it from Ample Hills, but it is only half-melted on the surface.  It still has the same ice cream texture that I am used to once I get my spoon dipped into it.  Anyhow, the maple bourbon base as a very light neutral color to it and I can see the pint is chunky.  Digging in, I can taste both the bourbon and the maple at the same time.  It is a sweet bourbon and not a bourbon that has a biting kick to it.  That said, the bourbon is not too intense.   It blends with the maple well and provides a bit of 'aromaticity'.  The praline pecan pieces are crunchy and have a very flavorful praline coating on them.  The website link mentions a bit of chocolate in the coating as well, but I did not specifically taste that.  I didn't miss it, though.  The candied pecans were delicious.  There was also some larger chunks of the coating which was separate from the pecans.  I enjoyed this as well.  It was like having a bit of brittle mixed into the ice cream as well.

This is an excellent new flavor from Ample Hills.  It is a very well done implementation of a bourbon-infused pralines-and-cream which ticks all the boxes for me.  As I write this, this is my new favorite bourbon pecan flavor, but I confess that I might have a bit of recency bias.  Looking back at my reviews of  Graeter's, McConnell's and Häagen-Dazs I really enjoyed those as well (especially the Häagen-Dazs) but I do recommend that NYC-area folks that enjoy this type of flavor should check out this pint from Ample Hills as well.  It is very good.

McConnell's - Reindeer Tracks

Reindeer Tracks - Dark(ish) Chocolate Ice Cream, Spiked with Peppermint Candy and Heaps of cream-filled, Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Today I continuing my NYC trip eating ice creams I cannot find back in Minnesota.  Today's flavor is interestingly from the Santa Barbara-based McConnell's Ice Cream.  I was walking around the upper east side when I found a full stock of McConnell's pints at the Westside Market on Lexington.  Yes, the Westside Market has a location on the East Side where you can buy West Coast ice cream on the East Coast.  Oh the irony!  Anyhow, I was happy to find a couple of pints there.  The first pint is one of their holiday flavors called Reindeer Tracks.  It is a chocolate mint flavor with cookie pieces.

Removing the lid and peeling back the extra foil, the chocolate ice cream base is quite dark.  Digging in, like most McConnell's pints, it is thick and dense with not a lot of air churned in.  It is quite chocolatey and I also taste the peppermint blended in right a way.  The cookie pieces a distributed sporadically throughout the pint.  Since 'tracks' is in the flavor name, I expected to see more of them.  They are not bad and they do provide the occasional crunch but this is not as crunchy as a typical cookies & cream pint would be.

This is a decent chocolate and peppermint ice cream for the holiday season.  They flavors were a bit more muted than I was expecting.  The chocolate and peppermint were both quite good but neither flavor was as intense as I would expect from a premium brand.  McConnell's regular Mint Chip and Peppermint Stick are both among the best flavors of their kind that you can find, so I would stick with those if you are feeling like having a minty flavor during the holidays.

Serendipity - Frrrozen Hot Chocolate

Frrrozen Hot Chocolate - Hot Chocolate Flavored Ice Cream with a Whipped Cream Swirl and Chocolate Shavings

I am still in New York City exploring the ice creams of the area during my holiday visit.  One new thing I noticed on this trip was that the famous Serendipity 3 restaurant on 60th St on the East Side now has a line of ice cream flavors available at many grocery stores.  This restaurant has been famous for decades but is known most outside NYC by its appearance in the John Cusack/Kate Beckinsale Romantic comedy which was itself named after the restaurant.  The most famous dessert on the restaurant menu is called Frrrozen Hot Chocolate (lots of pictures online) so a pre-packaged pint based on their signature dessert seemed like the obvious one for me to try.  It's got chocolate, whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid, I see the expected brown color of the chocolate base with many of the chocolate shavings visible right away as well as a couple of the swirls of whipped cream.  Digging in, the chocolate base does taste like hot chocolate.  A lot of good chocolate bases have this flavor palate (for example, Häagen-Dazs).  The chocolate shavings are softer than I imagined they would be.  Rather than being crunchy, they had the same texture of the curled shavings that are put on top of a french silk pie.  They are a little more chocolatey than the chocolate base.  The whipped cream swirl intrigued me.  I thought frozen whipped cream was ice cream (sweet cream), but this is lighter and gooey-er than ice cream itself.  The gooey texture reminded me a bit of a marshmallow swirl yet it did taste like whipped cream.  I checked the ingredients to see how they got the texture to come out right and it does look like they used a mixture of Cool Whip-like ingredients (corn syrup, cornstarch, various gums) to keep it gooey when frozen.  Perhaps a little disappointing for purists, but I did not mind.  It felt and tasted like whipped cream when I ate it.

This is a fun pint.  I was not expecting to have Frrrozen Hot Chocolate in a pre-packaged pint when I was visiting New York.  This brand is not a super-premium line of flavors -- it is more of a mid-range  in quality and price. It is certainly not a substitute for a visit to the restaurant, but I did enjoy for what it was.  A fun chocolate & whipped cream flavor.

Adirondack - Syrian Date & Walnut

Syrian Date & Walnut - Date Ice Cream with Walnuts

The next pint on my trip to New York is from the Adirondack Creamery and is called Syrian Date & Walnut.  I have reviewed a pint from Adirondack before on a previous trip to New York called Kulfi Pistachio Cardamom.  You'll notice that this is the second middle-eastern themed flavor that I have tried from Adirondack.  I checked their list of available flavors and they have a lot of more standard flavors (mint chip, banana chip, chocolate peanut butter, etc), so the bias towards more exotic flavors is on my end.  Since I eat so many different kinds of ice cream, I tend to gravitate towards flavors that are not as common.  This is especially true when I am out of town.  I don't encounter date-centric flavors that often -- that's why I picked this flavor.  The flavor link above mentions that this pint is specifically based on the Ma'amoul shortbread dessert common in the Arab world.  Adirondack is giving portions of the proceeds of the profits of this flavor to a charity which supports Syrian refugees.

On to the ice cream!  Removing the lid, the date-based ice cream is a very light tan color.  Digging in, the date ice cream is fairly sweet and tasty.  Date is a surprisingly easy-to-like flavor.  I was not exposed to dates much growing up, so I expect it to be more exotic or something I might have to acquire a taste for.  It's delicious.  This is ice cream made from a date paste -- there are not dates or date pieces in the mix.  The walnut pieces are spread through the pint fairly evenly and provide the occasional crunch.

This is a delicious implementation of a date-flavored ice cream.  If you are curious about dates in ice cream, give this one a shot.  Because there are no pieces of dates in the mix, I did not like it as much as Lappert's Date Casablanca, but both flavors are not nationwide flavors (Adirondack is New York, while Lappert's is California & Hawaii).  More brands should try a date-themed flavor!

Ben & Jerry - Cold Brew Caramel Latte (7-11 Exclusive)

Cold Brew Caramel Latte - Cold Brew & Sweet Cream Ice Creams with Salted Caramel Swirls 

Editors Note:  This flavor has since been renamed Go-To Cold Brew.  It is still a 7-11 exclusive flavor.
 

I have traveled to New York City to visit my sister for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Part of my trip will involve eating a bunch of ice cream I can't find back home in Minnesota.  The first pint is notably from Ben & Jerry's.  Last year, they released a flavor called Cold Brew Caramel Latte and made it available only at 7-11 convenience stores.  They had a 7-11 partnership before with their Nutty Caramel Swirl flavor.  Well, I don't live near 7-11 stores anymore, so I had to wait until I traveled somewhere where there was a 7-11 in order to get it.  They do have 7-11's in Manhattan and I found this pint on the Upper East Side on the corner of 84th and York.  The flavor itself looks interesting.  It is a cold brew coffee with a caramel swirl.  Coffee with caramel is not a super common flavor combination but I have seen it a couple of times before -- once from Häagen-Dazs (Sweet Cream Coffee Caramel) and once from Ben & Jerry's (Coffee Caramel Buzz).  Both flavors are slightly different than this flavor and both flavors are no longer in each brand's rotation.  It will be fun to see what today's re-imagining of a coffee-and-caramel flavor looks like.

Removing the lid, I see a marbling of the cold brew coffee and sweet cream bases.  I can see some mild speckling of the coffee beans in the coffee sections.  In the first spoonful, the coffee flavoring has the distinct 'cold-brew'-like flavor.  It is a bit less better, a bit less 'roasted'.  It tastes good.  The marbling with sweet cream dilutes the flavor a bit and keeps it from getting to be too strong.  As I dig down into the pint, I start to pick up the caramel swirl.  It tastes quite good.  As I keep eating there is more and more caramel.  Perhaps this means there is a slight mixing issue, but to be honest, the caramel was so good that I didn't mind.  Plus, it wasn't like the caramel was all on the bottom -- it was just that probably two-thirds of it was in the bottom half.

This is a pretty good implementation of a coffee-caramel ice cream.  The use of a cold-brew and sweet cream base made it feel fresh because cold-brew ice creams are getting more popular these days.  I really enjoyed the caramel swirl.  As far as coffee-caramel blends go, I think I still prefer the Häagen-Dazs (Sweet Cream Coffee Caramel) but as I mentioned before that flavor is no longer available.  If you like coffee and caramel together and you live near a 7-11 convenience store, check this flavor out.

Sebastian Joe's - Toasted Almond Joy

Toasted Almond Joy - Chocolate Ice Cream with Toasted Coconut and Almonds

The final pint from my recent trek to the Sebastian Joe's scoop shop in the Lowry Hill neighborhood in Minneapolis is called Toasted Almond Joy.   It has the same ingredients as the candy bar -- chocolate, coconut and almonds.  Those make a winning combination of ice cream flavors that I had to get it.  I have had ice creams which include these ingredients several times, from Talenti, Graeter's, McConnell's and the local Pumphouse Creamery.  It'll be fun to see how this Sebastian Joe's pint compares. 

Removing the lid, I see a chocolate base!  These flavors are usually done with a coconut base with chocolate mix-ins but this pint is done with a chocolate base and coconut mix-ins.  I have seen this before with Graeter's (see link above).  As is common with Sebastian Joe's bases, the base ice cream is so thick and chunky that it doesn't smooth out when packed into the container.  It looks like a big hunk of cookie dough.  Digging in, the chocolate ice cream is quite delicious and there is a high density of mix-ins.  About half the mix-ins are crunchy almond pieces while the other half are strands of toasted coconut.  This is quite delicious.

This is a successful implementation of a coconut-chocolate-and-almond flavor from Sebastian Joe's.  Like Graeter's, this is a more chocolate-centric implementation than usual.  For a more coconut-centric implentation, I would check out Pumphouse (for ice cream) or Talenti (for gelato).  The Talenti is actually extra coconut-y.  McConnell's also has a pint with these flavors, but the coconut is so toasted as to create a different type of flavor (it is excellent for those who love toasted coconut, though).  You almost cannot go wrong with these ingredients.  If you like your coconut extra chocolatey, check out this Toasted Almond Joy flavor from Sebastian Joe's.

Izzy's - Pumpkin

Pumpkin - Pumpkin Ice Cream with Cinnamon-like Spices

I am back with another pint from Izzy's Ice Cream in Saint Paul already.  I do not usually do two consecutive reviews from the same brand if I can help it, but they had a pint sale and I was in the mood for something seasonal.  Somehow, I had not already reviewed Izzy's Pumpkin flavor so I thought I would give it a shot.

The ice cream is the appropriate dark orange (brown?) color.  It might be slightly darker than I expected but not much.  Pumpkin bread is one of our family's older recipes and I know that some pumpkin puree is darker than others and the mixture gets considerably darker once you add the spices.  Digging in, the ice cream is very thick and creamy.  It is also a bit spicier than I expected.  That would definitely explain the darker color.  This actually tastes a bit like the batter of our family pumpkin bread recipe.  I know that I said the very same thing about a recent Sebastian Joe's pint, but that was the first thing that popped into my head once again.  Makes me want to make that recipe.  It is quite delicious.  I really like the extra spiciness.  The website description in the link above lists 'cinnamon-like' spices but I'm going to go ahead and add nutmeg and cloves tags to the review as well as I recognize those flavors in the mix as well. 

This is an excellent, homogeneous pumpkin flavor from Izzy's.  I was in the mood for something seasonal and this really hits the spot.  This is indeed the second pumpkin flavor this month, the other being from Sebastian Joe's.  I really enjoyed both, but they are slightly different flavors so it is worth pointing out the differences.  The Sebastian Joe's is not straight pumpkin, but Pumpkin Salty Caramel.  So it was noticeably sweeter with a touch of caramel flavor blended into the mix.  Izzy's was more of a straight pumpkin implementation but was definitely spicier.  Not hot, but the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves were quite flavorful.  For a straight pumpkin implementation, you can't beat this pint.  Enjoy.

Izzy's - Butter Queen Coffee

Butter Queen Coffee - Brown Butter and Coffee Ice Cream with Chocolate Covered Espresso Flakes

Today, we return to the Saint Paul-based Izzy's Ice Cream for a flavor that they release for the 2015 State Fair called Butter Queen Coffee.  Some contemporaneous links about the introduction of this flavor are available here and here.  It is encouraging to see that the flavor is still in the scoop shop location a few years later. 

The name of the flavor is due to the back that the base ice cream contains both coffee and brown butter and also because there is a long standing tradition of making butter sculptures of the pageant-like queen of the State Fair.  Yes, you read that correctly.  It is one of the quirkier things that happens at the Minnesota State Fair.  The Midwest Dairy Queen will crown a Princess Kay of the Milky Way to act as a goodwill ambassador for the year.  One of her duties is to sit in a refrigerated glass room while a sculptor carves her likeness in a giant hunk of butter.  Because it is a glass room, fair-goers can can gather around and witness this happening.  There are lots of photos of this on google image search.  It is one of the things that out-of-towners love to see when they visit because where else can you see crowned festival queen sitting in an ice box wearing their tiara with their winter coat?

Anyhow, now that you know about the origin of the flavor name, how does it taste?  Let's find out!  Removing the lid, I see the coffee base is perhaps a little bit darker than normal with quite a few chocolate pieces visible right on top.  The first spoonful tastes like coffee, but it is a bit caramel-like as well, so I can taste the brown butter in there as well.  The chocolate chips are delicious.  Some of the chips are more than just chocolate.  I can taste the crunchy espresso flakes in the center of some of the chips.  Also, some of the chips are almost toffee-like.  It seems fitting with the brown butter in the base that there might be some toffee mixed in with the mix-ins as well.

This is a very delicious pint of ice cream.  At its core, this is a coffee-chocolate-chip-like flavor but with some twists to make it unique -- namely the caramel-like brown butter in the base and the espresso flakes and toffee in the mix-ins.  I think the combination works quite well.  It is not as exotic as this year's Dessa's Night Drive which includes cardamom but this is still quite good.  If you are a coffee-and-chocolate fan interested in a twist on that classic combination check this out from Izzy's.

Milkjam Creamery - Ooey Gooey

Ooey Gooey - Malted Milk Ice Cream with Salted Gooey Butter Cake

I stopped by Milkjam Creamery in Minneapolis and found a flavor available in pints which I had not yet tried, so I picked it up.  This flavor is called Ooey Gooey.  It is based on Gooey Butter Cake, a dessert popularized in Saint Louis, Missouri.  I have had flavors based on this type of cake, from both Jeni's and Ample Hills.  It will be interesting to see how Milkjam compared to these.

Opening the lid, I see a cream-colored base with one of the cake pieces visible on top.  Digging in, the base ice cream is quite soft.  Then I encouter the cake pieces and they are quite soft.  "Ooey Gooey" is definitely a good description for this entire pint.  The flavor description says that the base is malted milk.  I may taste a little bit of malt, but it is not too malty.  The cake pieces and the base ice cream have similar flavors.  It is mainly the texture which allows me to recognize them in my head as I eat each spoonful.  The whole pint is rather sweet.  Ooey gooey and stick sweet.

This is an interesting implementation of a gooey butter cake flavor from Milkjam.  The soft texture reminds me more of Jeni's than of Ample Hills, but it is most certainly softer than each of them.  I found it a bit on the sweet side which is interesting because often malt is used to mute sweetness.  Perhaps the balance of malt vs sweetness is something that varies from batch to batch.  At any rate, Milkjam is local and those Jeni's & Ample Hills flavors are not, so if you have a sweet tooth and are curious about gooey butter cake, you could give this flavor a try.

Pumphouse Creamery - Kulfi

Kulfi - Kulfi-inspired Ice Cream with Pistachio, Cardamom and Rosewater

Recently, I went back to the Pumphouse Creamery on Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis to see if they had any new flavors.  I found a couple.  This first of these pints is called Kulfi.  It is not listed on their menu and was not in the scooping bin, but they had some pre-packed pints of it.  Kulfi is a dessert popular in the Middle East and on the Indian Subcontinent.  I have had Kulfi-inspired ice cream once before from Adirondack Creamery on one of my trips to New York City.  It is essential a twist on pistachio ice cream.  Some cardamom is added and rosewater is added here as well.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid, I see a very white ice cream with lots of green specks inside.  There are some air bubbles on the top of the pint but I don't mind.  They actually look rather cool and since they are quite small, I don't feel like I am being robbed of ice cream.  Digging in, I taste the pistachio and the cardamom right away.  It is quite delicious.  I am guessing that the base is a plain sweet cream and the pistachio flavor is coming from the mix-ins.  I taste the cardamom more as a finish, but it is definitely in there.  The rosewater flavor is not completely obvious to me -- to be honest, I was expecting it to be a bit pink -- but it could be that the rosewater is part of the blend and that the cardamom is distracting me.  The texture is thicker than I expected.  The previous Kulfi pint was a bit more soft -- perhaps more like the Indian dessert -- but the pistachio/cardamom flavor is still quite delicious.

Like the previous pint from Adirondack Creamery, this is a fun twist on a pistachio ice cream.  I like how it mixes with the cardamom.  The rosewater here is quite mild.  That could vary from batch-to-batch but I think at most it will play a supporting role (the Adirondack pint did not even have rosewater).  Anyhow, if you're a big fan of pistachio ice cream and want to see how they enjoy a similar dessert in the middle east, give this pint a try.