Jeni's - Cold Brew with Coconut Cream

Cold Brew with Coconut Cream - Light and Bright Slingshot Coffee Cold Brew Sorbet Twisted with Lush Coconut Cream

 

Today I return to Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream for another flavor in their non-dairy line.  As mentioned in previous reviews, I do not always survey the non-dairy lines of my favorite brands but Jeni's has had a number of special releases this year which I did not want to miss out on.  For each of these releases, I have had to pad my shipment with other flavors.  I have already tried all the dairy flavors that they are currently offering so I dipped into their non-dairy line.  Today's flavor is Cold Brew with Coconut Cream.  Since I bought it online, I am not sure if local grocery stores are carrying it.  The best bet would be Whole Foods.  Today's flavor is rather interesting.  They use the same coconut cream base that they use for half the other non-dairy flavors -- so far I have seen two non-dairy bases: coconut and chocolate -- and the coffee is then made into a sorbet which is swirled into the coconut cream.  For the coffee, they use Slingshot brand coffee.  Let's see how this turns out!

Removing the lid and peeling back the seal, the top of the pint looks like mostly coffee-colored with some white from the coconut cream visible on one of the edges.  Digging in, the blending that I see on the top surface is misleading.  I quickly see that there are two distinct sections in below.  One is plain coconut cream and the other is a thick and dense coffee sorbet.  The two sections are more marbled than swirled.  Each section is quite large, but it does not take much spoonwork to be able to fit some of each into each spoonful.  The coffee sorbet tastes quite good.  The texture is much more dense than I am used to with sorbets.  It is a bit icy/slushy at times.  I think if the entire pint was just this sorbet, then it would be too icy, but marbling it with the coconut cream works very well.  The coconut cream is excellent.  This base has been used in other non-dairy flavors from Jeni's but it is more isolated here and I can really appreciate it for what it is.  This is excellent!  They could sell just pints of this.  I can taste the coconut, but it is not too strong.  The goal here is to balance out the coffee sorbet and it does a good job of that.

This is a very interesting non-dairy flavor from Jeni's.  I applaud that this is not just a clone of their Coffee with Cream and Sugar flavor with coconut cream instead of dairy cream.  Marbling a coffee sorbet against a creamy base is unique and fun.  The denseness of the coffee sorbet was a little weird for me personally, but others may love that idea.  People who love coffee ice creams may want to try this one out even if they don't have dietary restrictions because the sorbet-in-cream experiment is so interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tillamook - Dark Chocolate & Red Raspberry

Dark Chocolate & Red Raspberry - Dark Chocolate and Red Raspberry Frozen Custard with Red Raspberry Swirls

 

We return to the Oregon-based Tillamook Creamery for this Dark Chocolate & Red Raspberry flavor.  I bought this at Kowalski's on Grand in Saint Paul, but I have noticed that they have started selling Tillamook pints at Target!  So, if you frequent the Target freezer cases, keep an eye out for this quality brand.  Today's flavor features a dark chocolate raspberry base with raspberry swirls.  Raspberry and chocolate is a very common combination, but it's usually a raspberry base with chocolate mix-ins and not the other way around.  Checking my archives, this is the first chocolate-base-with-raspberry-mix-ins that I have tried.  I did find a couple of cherry flavors with chocolate bases:  the limited-batch Chocolate Cherry Garcia from Ben & Jerry's and Dark Chocolate Cherry (Layers) from Talenti.  Let's see how this raspberry flavor turns out.

Removing the lid, I see one of my favorite emoji jokes on the seal.  Peeling back the seal, the chocolate-raspberry base has a deep brown color -- it looks like chocolate.  Digging in, I taste primarily chocolate but there are some raspberry notes and some raspberry flavor in the 'finish'.  This is good.  Closely examining some spoonfuls, I can see dark pink streaks in the base where the 'swirl' is but it is hard to isolate this flavor because there is so much chocolate.

This is a good raspberry-tinged chocolate flavor from Tillamook.  Raspberry lovers should note that this is for the most part a chocolate pint.  But you do get interesting raspberry accents in each spoonful.  It tastes a bit like one of those 'flavored chocolates' that you may find at a fancy chocolate store.  A good pint for chocolate-lovers to try for a twist on their favorite flavor.

 

 

Cheesecake Factory - Strawberry

Strawberry - Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream with a Signature Cream Cheese Blend, Sour Cream, Strawberry and Graham Swirls

 

Today, I return to the Cheesecake Factory brand for their implementation of a Strawberry flavor.  I appear to be on a strawberry kick of late.  I did not plan this, it just happens to be what is in my freezer this week.  Since this is the Cheesecake Factory, this is cheesecake-based strawberry flavor.  Sour cream is another Cheesecake Factory signature as well as swirls of graham cracker which act as the crust in this slice-of-cheesecake flavor.  Strawberry Cheesecake is a common flavor combination.  I have had it from Ben & Jerry's, Graeter's and Coolhaus.

Removing the lid, the strawberry cheesecake base has a light pink color.  A couple of the strawberry swirls are visible around the edges as well as a couple of chunks of the graham cracker crust.  Digging in, the strawberry cheesecake base is quite delicious.  It is not as thick as some strawberry cheesecake bases are.  It could almost pass for a simple strawberry ice cream base.  The sour cream in the mix is fully blended in and not specifically noticeable as it is in a couple of the other Cheesecake Factory flavors (Original and Key Lime).  It could be the sweetness of the strawberry which is doing that.  Strawberry is a very sweet flavor which is often muted with things such as sour cream and cream cheese.  The strawberry swirls are delicious and like previous Cheesecake Factory flavors, I really enjoy this graham cracker swirl.  It has a good flavor and a very gritty texture reminiscent of pie crust.

This is a good strawberry cheesecake flavor from Cheesecake Factory.  It has a simple strawberry flavor where the cream cheese is fully blended in (no chunks).  The gritty graham cracker crust is a highlight.  Strawberry lovers looking to try this brand will not be disappointed.

 

 

Jeni's - Strawberry Pretzel Pie

Strawberry Pretzel Pie - Cream Cheese Ice Cream, Pretzel Streusel, and a Whole Lotta Strawberry Sauce

Jeni's released a special flavor last month in collaboration with Dolly Parton called Strawberry Pretzel Pie.  I did manage to get my hands on a pint of it, but it was quite an adventure.  The first online release crashed their website and it took them a week to fix the website and they had an extremely limited supply.  Normally, this is almost good publicity when something like this happens, but Jeni's is a big player in the ice cream business now and I think the frustration level from buyers distracted from what was supposed to be a fun partnership with Dolly which benefitted her Imagination Library.  The flavor is totally sold out now, but my order did go through and I can review it now.  This is a flavor based on strawberry pretzel pie.  I have never had this type of pie, but there are lots of recipes online for it.  The main elements in the recipes are a salted pretzel crust, cream cheese and a strawberry sauce -- all elements which are included in this ice cream flavor.  Let's check it out!

The packaging is nice.  There is a nice drawing of Dolly on the side of the carton.  There is a nice feel-good message on the protective foil when I remove the lid.  Peeling back the foil, I see the creamy white cream cheese base with one of the strawberry swirls prominently displayed on top.  I like it when this happens.  Digging in, the cream cheese base is thick -- I can tell that it is thicker than their usual ice cream.  The cream cheese flavor is mild and does not have the aftertaste that some cream cheeses and cheesecakes have.  That's good.  The strawberry swirl is quite delicious.  It is not too sweet and not too tart.  It does not take a lot of strawberry to fill your mouth with flavor so the cream cheese here serves as a balance to that.  There are quite a bit of sizeable pretzels pieces in here (see pictures below).  Some of these pieces are crunchy, but not all of them.  Mix-ins like this tend to soften up when immersed in ice cream.  On the whole, this is quite delicious.

This is a solid strawberrys and pretzels pint from Jeni's.  I liked it quite a bit, but I did not love it as much as their previous two 'special batch' flavors this year - White House Chocolate Chip and Everything Bagel.  I think I would have loved it more if all the pretzel pieces were crunchy.  But I know keeping pretzels crunchy in ice cream is a hard problem and you cannot fall back on coating them with chocolate in this recipe.  Maybe the expectations for this 'special batch' and all the trouble involved in ordering it raised my expectations too high.  It's still a very enjoyable pint!  I would say to check it out, but I don't know when or if this flavor will be available again.  Some of those strawberry pretzel pie recipes look fun, though.  So you could try that.

 

 

Talenti - Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake - Layers of Strawberry Gelato, Shortbread Pieces, Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce, Strawberry Gelato (2) and Shortbread Pieces (2)

 

Today's flavor is the last of the four new Layers flavors released this year by Talenti Gelato.  It is called Strawberry Shortcake.  I cannot remember which grocery store I bought this in, but the new layers flavors are popping up in grocery stores across the Twin Cities.  Earlier this week, I reviewed a strawberry shortcake flavor from Tillamook and I have also reviewed flavors from Milkjam Creamery and Ben & Jerry's.  In Talenti layers flavors there are usually three layers of mix-ins sandwiched between and below two layers of gelato.  Here both gelato flavors are strawberry, the two layers sandwiched between are strawberry rhubarb sauce and shortbread pieces and there is an additional layer of shortbread pieces on the bottom of the pint.  Let's check it out.

Like all layers pints, when I unscrew the lid, all I see is the top layer.  For the purposes of taking photos, I then cut out a vertical slice of the pint in order to see all the layers.  The layering here is well done.  How does it all blend together?  The strawberry gelato is quite delicious.  I can see a little bit of texture in the gelato as though there are tiny pieces of strawberry or perhaps seeds in the mix, but they are so small as to not affect the texture.  The layer of strawberry rhubarb provides a thick and tangy swirl of flavor into the mix.  It is a mostly strawberry flavor with the rhubarb providing a mild tangy kick.  I liked it quite a bit.  The shortbread pieces are quite good.  Shortbread by design is a mild confection but these little goldfish-cracker sized nuggets provide quite a lot to chew on as you are eating the pint.

This is an excellent new layers flavor from Talenti.  Fans of strawberry will want to check this out.  This concludes my survey of the four new layers flavors.  The other three flavors were Chocolate Pretzel, Cookies & Cream and Confetti Cookie.  Today's Strawberry Shortcake flavor might be my favorite, but the Chocolate Pretzel flavor with it's delicious salted cone pieces might be a close second.  Then comes Cookies & Cream which was still quite tasty.  Confetti Cookie was my least favorite because I did not think the layering worked well.

Finally, I should note that Talenti has two new non-layers flavors this year:  Honey Graham and Vanilla Peanut Butter Swirl.  I cannot seem to find these in Twin Cities grocery stores yet.  I know there is often a shortage of space in freezer cases.  Perhaps stores are prioritizing the layers flavors?  Hopefully, they turn up eventually.  If anyone spots either of these flavors, let me know in the comments section.

 

 

Tillamook - Oregon Strawberry Shortcake

Oregon Strawberry Shortcake - Oregon Strawberry Frozen Custard with Strawberry Swirls and Shortcake Pieces

 

Today, I return to the Oregon-based Tillamook Creamery for their Oregon Strawberry Shortcake flavor.  I bought it at Kowalski's on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul.  As mentioned in a previous review,  Tillamook almost completely overhauled their selection of pints this year.  I have mixed feelings about it.  I am sad that some really good flavors were retired, but on the other hand I do get to reviews of the new flavors.  Today's flavor is a standard "strawberry shortcake" flavor that I have seen before from Milkjam Creamery and Ben & Jerry's.  I was expecting more, but the archives don't lie.  There have been a lot of strawberry cheesecake flavors.  Anyhow, let's check it out.

Removing the lid, the foil seal on top has cool reversible emojis.  I have seen this one before, but I cannot resist posting it again.  Underneath the seal, the strawberry base has a light pink color with some darker tinges of color near the edge.  I think the darker tinges are just due to a small amount of diffusion of the flavor to the surface which can happen from time to time.  Digging in the strawberry has a very bright and pleasing flavor.  It reminds me of the flavor of a strawberry shake.  There is a strawberry swirl, but it appears to be half-blended into the base.  It's delicious though.  The shortcake pieces are small and there are not as many of them as I expect, but they taste pretty good and provide a good textural change from the rest of the pint.

This is a solid strawberry flavor from Tillamook.  It is a little low on the shortcake pieces but it is still quite delicious for people who enjoy a good strawberry flavor.

 

 

 

Milkjam Creamery - Water

Water - Butterfly Pea Flower & Coconut Water Sorbet

Milkjam Creamery of south Minneapolis has been going through the classical elements for their April flavors.  I have already reviewed Earth, Fire and Air, today is the final flavor: Water (instagram link here)  This flavor is a sorbet which is made with butterfly pea flower and coconut water.  I have never had butterfly pea flower before.  I have actually never heard of butterfly pea flower before.  So, I looked it up.  It is the flower of the butterfly pea plant which is native to southeast Asia.  I found an interesting article here detailing its uses.  Some call it "blue matcha" and it does have some anti-oxidant properties, but it is mainly used for it's bright blue color.  On to the sorbet!

Opening the pint, the sorbet has a beautiful light blue color.  See the pictures below.  It looks like sky blue water.  Digging in, the sorbet has a pleasant coconut flavor.  By chance, I was able to taste the flavor of the butterfly pea flower powder.  There was some darker blue stuff which was stuck to the top of the lid.  Sometimes there is diffusion in the ice cream and things migrate to the top or sides.  This darker blue stuff was a bit bitter and reminded me of matcha powder -- so "blue matcha" is not a bad nickname.  But the rest of the pint did not taste like this.  The rest of the pint tasted primarily of coconut water which was a very pleasant and sweet flavor.  This is good and quite refreshing.  The fact that this is made with coconut water, I believe, means that this does not contain coconut cream.  I have written before about how coconut makes for a great sorbet because it supplies its own 'cream'.  In fact, Milkjam actually has one of the better coconut sorbets (see the review here).  Here, we have the flavor of coconut, but the texture of a fruit sorbet.

This is a delicious coconut water sorbet from Milkjam Creamery.  The butterfly pea flower adds beautiful color to make it fit in with the classical elements theme of the month, but it is the sweet coconut water which is the star of this show.  As mentioned above, this flavor as the traditional churned-ice texture of a fruit sorbet with the flavor of coconut.  For a flavor that includes coconut cream and toasted coconut chunks try their Toasted Coconut sorbet.

 

 

Bebe Zito - Vanilla MSG

Vanilla MSG - Tahitian Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Mono-Sodium Glutamate

 

Today we return to Bebe Zito of south Minneapolis for their Vanilla MSG flavor.  This is their twist on a simple vanilla flavor.  Two twists really.  The first twist is that they use the Tahitian variety of vanilla which is sweeter and has a more floral scent.  The second twist is that they add MSG -- or monosodium glutamate.  MSG got a bad rap when I was a kid an additive excessively used in some takeout restaurants but it is actually a very natural compound.  It is a salt of one of the twenty essential amino acids (glutamic acid) -- so it is present in almost all proteins.  There has been some study of MSG as a flavoring and it does provide an umami (or savory) flavor when it exists as a free salt (i.e. when not locked up in proteins).  This "free form" of glumate is what gives tomatoes and some cheeses their savory flavor.  So, you could call MSG a "savory salt".  So, how will this effect today's flavor?  It will be interesting to see how the sweeter, more floral Tahitian vanilla blends with the savory salt flavor of the MSG.

The top of the pint has a fluffy doughy look to it.  It has the color of dough as well - a light off-white beige.  Digging in, it has thick texture but it is still quite creamy.  I can see some of the bean specks blended in as well.  I can taste the vanilla, but it has 'earthy' quality to it as well.  It is hard to describe.  I do not specifically taste the MSG but perhaps it is the source of that earthy quality.  It also does not seem overly salty, although I did notice that I was a bit thirsty a half an hour after finishing the pint.

This is a fun an interesting twist on the standard pint of vanilla ice cream from Bebe Zito.  The sweet Tahitian vanilla and savory MSG blend is done quite well.  It has just enough MSG so that it alters and enhances the vanilla flavor but not so much that all you taste is the salt.  As with many of these interesting flavor blends, it would be best to sample it in the scoop shop first.  I don't think they are doing flavor samples in the scoop shop yet, though.  Hopefully soon.

 

Milkjam Creamery - Air

Air - Ylang-Ylang Frozen Yogurt, Airy Meringue and Basil Seeds

 

The third flavor in Milkjam Creamery's April run through the classical elements is Air (instagram link here).  This is a very interesting and unique flavor.  It is a frozen yogurt flavored with ylang-ylang -- which I admit that I had never heard of before trying this -- and it has crunchy meringue mix-ins and basil seeds (not leaves).  After all the ice creams that I have eaten, unique is always a bonus so I am looking forward to checking this out.

As mentioned above, I had never tried ylang-ylang before.  Whenever I get a new ingredient I like to write about it a bit.  Ylang-ylang is a perfume-like essential oil extracted from the flowers of a cananga tree which is native to southeast Asia, Australia and the Philippines.  I also also never had basil seeds, just basil leaves (which were surprisingly tasty) from Sweet Science here.

Cracking open the lid, the top of the pint is bright white with a few of the basil seeds lurking below and I can see a few of the meringue pieces.  Digging in, the yogurt has a tangy flavor.  I'm not sure if that is the ylang-ylang or the yogurt.  I can smell the floral notes of the ylang-ylang but it is fairly subtle flavor-wise.  It is a lot like lavender or vanilla that way (but a different smell of course).  The meringue pieces are crunchy and fun to chew on.  I tend to think of meringue as being a creamy pie topping, but this is meringue that has been baked long enough that it is crunchy like a light airy cookie.  The basil seeds provide some interesting texture but not very strong flavor.  They don't taste anything like basil leaves.

This is an intriguing and unique flavor from Milkjam.  The flavors are not super strong, but it is still refreshing and pleasing to the taste.  I liked the meringue pieces as mix-ins.  This is potentially a good complement to one of the spicy meals that they serve next door at the World Street Kitchen.  It is too bad that we are not yet in a world for sampling flavors before you buy because I think a spoon-sample would go a long way towards explaining this flavor.  But it is worth a try if you like trying new things.

 

 

Ben & Jerry's - Salted Caramel Brownie

Salted Caramel Brownie - Vanilla Ice Cream with Salted Caramel Swirls & Fudge Brownies Topped with Caramel Cups & Chocolatey Ganache

 

Today is the seventh and final new "topped" flavor introduced in 2021 by Ben & Jerry's.  It is called Salted Caramel Brownie.  I bought it at the scoop shop in Minneapolis near Lake & Excelsior last month, but I am starting to see these topped flavors all over the metro area -- Target, Hyvee, Lund's, Cub, etc.  This flavor features a "top" of chocolate ganache with caramel cups over an vanilla ice cream with salted caramel swirls and fudge brownies.  Looks like an appealing set of ingredients.  Let's dig in!

Opening the pint, my top chocolate layer looks a little uneven.  On closer inspection, I did get a full chocolate layer, but some vanilla spilled out over the top in the factory somehow.  No big deal.  Digging in, the ganache is thick and chocolatey and the small caramel cups have a high surface to volume ratio so they are mostly chocolate.  I do taste a little caramel, though.  Underneath, the vanilla base provides a lot of contrast to all the thick chocolate on top.  I found both the brownie pieces and the salted caramel swirls below.  The brownie pieces are good.  There is not as caramel as I expected, but enough that is noticeable.

This is a decent "topped" flavor from Ben & Jerry's.  It's not a slam-dunk flavor but worth checking out if you like chocolate brownies.  My favorite flavor which is similar to this would be Sweet Cream Caramel Brownie from McConnell's.

This concludes my survey of the new Topped flavors from Ben & Jerry's.  The flavors were:

• Salted Caramel Brownie (this review)
• Strawberry Topped Tart
• Chocolate Caramel Cookie Dough
• Tiramisu
• PB Over the Top
• Whiskey Biz
• Thick Mint 

Whiskey Biz and Strawberry Topped Tart had white chocolate tops while the rest had regular chocolate tops.  The only one that I didn't care for at all was Whiskey Biz, I thought the white chocolate was too sweet paired with the blond brownies.  Interestingly, I liked the sweet white chocolate on the Strawberry Topped Tart -- it went well with the sprinkles and the strawberry mix-ins.  It tasted like a pop tart which was fun and unique.  My favorite flavor of the bunch was Thick Mint, but I am a mint-chocolate guy.  Overall, I liked the fact that the underneath ice cream was fully implemented flavor with its own mix-ins independent of the "top".  This took the pressure off trying to work pieces of the top into every single spoonful.  I could enjoy the top layer as a "bonus".

 

 

Milkjam Creamery - Fire

Fire - Mango Habenera Sherbet with a Raspberry Cardamom Swirl

 

Today, I move on to the second of Milkjam Creamery's April flavors based on classical elements.  The first flavor was Earth.  Today's flavor is Fire (instagram link here).  I bought it on their scoop shop on Lyndale in south Minneapolis.  For fire they went with orange mango and red raspberry for the color habenero peppers to bring the heat.  I have had a spicy mango flavor once before from Pumphouse Creamery called Mango Carolina Reaper Pepper.  This Milkjam flavor is different in that it is a sherbet and not an ice cream (a sherbet has less dairy, but it not dairy-free like a sorbet) and there is an additional raspberry cardamom swirl.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid, I see the orange-ish yellow color of the mango sherbet base with some pinkish sections which are likely the raspberry.  Digging in, the mango flavor is quite delicious.  I do notice a kick of the habenaro pepper right away but it is not too intense (it is Minnesota after all).  From the link above, I am reading that there is some buttermilk in the sherbet.  I do not taste it specifically but I think it helps to keep the heat from the peppers from building up as I eat my way down the pint.  Further down, the pinkish color I saw on the top becomes thinker raspberry swirls.  These are quite good and complement the mango quite well.  I did not notice the cardamom that much.  I have had good spiced berry swirls in other flavors -- Claire's Cabinet from Jeni's and Lemon Party from Bebe Zito -- but this is either a mild cardamom or I was distracted by the habenero peppers in the base.

This is a fun spicy flavor from Milkjam Creamery -- totally appropriate for the fire classical element theme.  The mango habanero was the highlight of the pint for me with the raspberry playing a supporting role.  I have a high spice tolerance so it was not "hot" for me, but it may be quite spicy by Minnesota standards.  I'd suggest if you are not sure to get a sample spoonful first, but I don't know if they are doing samples yet in these pandemic times.  Anyhow, check it out if you like spicy mango salsa.