Sweet Science - Pistachio

Pistachio - Pistachio Ice Cream with Ground Pistachios

The October season flavors from Sweet Science are here.  The first flavor is one I have reviewed before, Pumpkin Cheesecake.  It was good.  We're getting into my second year of following the seasonal flavors so we're starting to see some repeats.  The second October flavor is a new one, though, Pistachio.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid, the top of the pint is the appropriate green color.  Not all pistachios come out green, but this one is.  I checked the ingredient list here and it looks like they are using spirulina to help with the green color.  I have written about spirulina before.  It is an all-natural, extra-nutritious dietary supplement which happens to have a bright green color.  The perfect green food coloring for those who don't want to use artificial ingredients.  The next thing I notice about the ice cream is the texture.  Pistachios have been ground to a small size and swirled into the mix.  Digging in, I notice the ice cream is quite thick and almost dry.  The ice cream actually crumbles a bit as I scoop it and it is nutty enough that I have to allow the spoonful to melt a bit in my mouth each time to allow me to fully taste it.  It's not that it is frozen, it is just extra nutty.  The flavor is quite good and the chunks are about the size as the chunks inside a chunky peanut butter.

This is a very good and interesting pint of pistachio ice cream.  The incompletely ground nuts add a gritty texture and enhance the pistachio flavor.  It is one of the better pistachio ice creams that I have had.  I think I still like Ben & Jerry's the best for the whole pistachios in the mix but you can't go wrong here.

Humphry Slocumbe - Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee

Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee - Coffee Ice Cream made with Chicory and Condensed Milk

The second pint in my recent shipment from the San Francisco-based Humphry Slocombe brand is called Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee.  This is one of their original flavors.  What makes a coffee Vietnamese?  Vietnamese coffee usually contains sweetened condensed milk.  It reminds me a bit of Thai Iced Tea.  A quick check of the ingredient list tells me that the pint also contains chicory -- a 'coffee substitute' which became popular in New Orleans coffee.  I have written more about coffee, chicory and New Orleans in a previous review.  The 'Blue Bottle' part of the flavor name appears to come from a Bay Area coffee company which probably supplies the coffee used. This pint looks interesting, let's check it out.

Removing the lid, the base ice cream has a creamy tan color.  Digging in, the coffee flavor is very interesting and distinctive.  I can definitely tell there is sweetened condensed milk in there.  I am not enough of a coffee expert to know if the interesting and distinctive part of the flavor is the chicory, but it would not surprise me.  The flavor is surprisingly subtle at first.  This is not one of those coffee ice cream which hits you with dark-roasted coffee bean flavor right away.  That said, the flavor actually improves as I continue eating.  The sweetened condensed milk is never too sweet and I am left wanting more at the end of the pint.

This is a solid and interesting pint of ice cream.  As with the previous Humphry Sclocumbe flavor, it is a bit more subtle than I was expecting, but the flavor balance is very well done.  I am curious to know what fans of the Vietnamese beverage think of this flavor.

Milkjam Creamery - Gimme Some More

Gimme Some More - Dark Chocolate Ice Cream with Marshmallows and Graham Cracker Pieces

I went back to Milkjam Creamery in Minneapolis to pick out a couple of pints.  The first pint is called Gimme Some More.  A press release had said that it was a flavor that had returned, but it appears to be gone again.  I think this is a limited flavor that recurs.  Anyhow, s'mores are big this year.  The flavor name is actually the same pun that Ben & Jerry's used for their limited batch flavor this year.  It is a rather obvious pun so I don't doubt that they each came up with it independently.  S'mores is a fun ice cream flavor because there are there are so many different ways to combine the three ingredients.  My recent Graeter's review has what I think is the latest and greatest summary of all the different s'mores combinations that I have tried.  For this pint, Milkjam has given me no guidance as to how the ingredients will be combined.  We'll have to open the pint to see!

The top of the pint is almost black!  It is not quite as black as their Black flavor, but it is pretty dark.  I am pretty sure this is a dairy version of a dark chocolate ice cream while 'Black' used coconut and almond milks.  The amount of dark cocoa used is very high, so the color is strikingly dark.  There are several mix-ins visible right away.  I can't tell if they are marshmallows or graham crackers quite yet.  Digging in, the base is very rich and chocolatey.  The first mix-ins I encountered were marshamallows.  These marshmallows were not right out of a bag, they had the gelatinous texture of something that was homemade or perhaps half-melted.  As I continue eating, I occasionally run into a graham cracker cluster which is crunchy and provided some graham cracker flavor as well.  The marshmallows outnumbered the graham crackers by about two to one.  The flavor provided by each mix-in was rather brief though as there is just so much chocolate here.  As you can tell by the pictures below, the chocolate base got gooier as I continued eating.

This is a rich and decadent pint of ice cream.  As I mentioned above, there are so many ways to combine the three main ingredients of s'mores and each brand has a different spin on the combination.  This one is very chocolate-heavy which would be close to the old standard s'mores flavor from Ben & Jerry's (not the newer limited batch version).  This is probably a step up from that.  If you want a thick and gooey chocolatey pint, try this one out when it returns.

Humphry Slocumbe - Secret Breakfast

Secret Breakfast - Bourbon Ice Cream with Cornflake Cookies

I decided to try a new brand!  Humphry Slocombe is not available to be in local grocery stores, but I they have national shipping from both Amazon and Goldbely and they have gotten some good reviews.  Humphry Slocombe opened it's first scoop shop in San Francisco's Mission District in 2008.  The founder is Jake Godby who is a celebrated pastry chef in the Bay Area.  The shop quickly grew a reputation for having fun and eclectic flavors as noted by this write-up in the New York Times Magazine several years ago.  Where does the brand get its name?  I guess Mr. Humphries and Mrs. Slocombe were the main characters on the classic British sitcom Are You Being Served?.  That's fun.  Anyhow, the selection and shipping costs seemed reasonable the last time I looked so I pulled the trigger.

The first flavor I'm trying is called Secret Breakfast which is their most famous and popular flavor.  It is a bourbon ice cream with corn flake cookie mix-ins.  Checking my tags on the right sidebar, bourbon and whiskey are becoming trendy ice cream ingredients these days, but I think Humphry Slocombe was a very early entry on the bourbon bandwagon in the late 00s.  Their online menu still says "yes, bourbon" to note the novelty of the ingredient.

Opening the pint shows an off-white golden color to the bourbon base.  A couple of the cookie mix-ins are visible too.  Digging in, I immediately taste the bourbon flavor.  This is a sweet bourbon as opposed to the kick-in-the-back-of-your-throat bourbon -- I have noticed both kinds in previous reviews.  It is not too sweet though.  It tastes quite good.  Soon I encounter the cookie mix-ins and they are delicious.  Cornflakes and sugar make for a surprisingly potent combination.  I have had a few desserts with this combination and the first few bites are always amazing.  There are diminishing returns for it though.  As good as the few bites are, I often don't want a second piece.  For this pint, it looks like care has been done to deliver the cornflakes at a good frequency.  I am getting the occasional sweet corn flake and part of me wishes there were more, but I am also still enjoying them as I am finishing the pint.

I liked this flavor.  For a signature flavor, I was expecting something a bit more intense, but the balance between the bourbon and the sweet cornflakes is quite well done.  Check it out.

Pumphouse Creamery - 5 Spice

5 Spice - Sweet Cream with Anise, Fennel, Cloves, Cinnamon & Black Pepper

Today I try another fall flavor from the Minneapolis-based Pumphouse Creamery.  This one is called '5 Spice' with the spices spelled out "Anise, Fennel, Cloves, Cinnamon + Black Pepper.  The flavor is named after five spice powder which is commonly used in Asian cuisine.  Similar spice combinations are used in all cuisines of course.  My family has a pumpkin bread recipe which uses cloves, nutmeg, allspice & cinnamon.  That's only four spices, though.  The Pumphouse website lists nutmeg instead of fennel, but I'll trust the writing on the container.  This pint is a bit unusual because the spices are mixed into the sweet cream alone.  My previous two spicy pints have been blended with pumpkin or tea.  The best part of those pints was the spice, though, so it will be fun to have a pint where the spices are alone.

Opening the pint, the top has a light beige color.  The base is simply sweet cream so all of that color is coming from spice.  Digging in, the spice flavor hits you right away.  Particularly the anise.  It is a very licorice-like flavor.  My two spicy pints linked above both contained star anise but this is my first pint with just plain anise.  Interestingly, star anise and anise are very different plants but each spice contains a high concentration of anethole -- the aromatic compound responsible for the distinctive flavor.  Licorice and fennel also contain anethole.  You can also taste the cloves and cinnamon and a little bit of pepper, but the anise and fennel are definitely the most memorable flavors.  You know the flavor is strong if cloves are being put into the background.

This was a fun spicy flavor.  It is good to have an options for a spicy ice cream which does not contain another flavor such as pumpkin.  It is a bit heavy on the anise and fennel but I found that fun because I don't see those flavors used often enough.  The Pumphouse website mentions that it would make a great pie-topper.  I agree.  It would even go well with a pumpkin pie because I find that they never use enough spices in most pumpkin pie recipes.  It is also good by itself.  Enjoy.

Häagen-Dazs - Java Chip

Java Chip - Coffee Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips

Editors note:  since this review was written, this flavor has been renamed from Java Chip to Coffee Chip.

Today is another Häagen-Dazs flavor.  A recent sale at my local grocery store has inspired me to fill in some of the gaps in my coverage of the Häagen-Dazs line.  I believe I have reviewed all of the newer flavors, limited batch flavors and also the more complex flavors, but I have missed some of the simpler flavors.  Today's flavor is Java Chip.  This is similar to their Coffee flavor which I had a couple of weeks ago but with chocolate mix-ins.

Removing the lid shows the tan color of their coffee base.  It looks like the same color of their simple Coffee flavor.  This time chocolate chips are visible right away.  Digging in, I experience the same coffee flavor as before.  The coffee flavor is not too strong and not too bitter.  Diehard coffee junkies might prefer something a bit more intense but this is a good coffee flavor.  The difference between this pint and their simple coffee base here is the chocolate mix-ins.  They use the same chips here as in their Mint Chip flavor -- thin rectangular chunks about a centimeter or less in size.   The chips work well with the base which is no surprise as coffee & chocolate is a natural flavor combination due to the two having similar active ingredients (caffeine & theobromine).

I liked this flavor.  This is the 'old school' coffee-chocolate combination in the Häagen-Dazs line.  That said, I think I prefer their new flavor Espresso Chocolate Cookie Crumble which in my opinion is a more interesting and unique combination of those two flavors.  But, if you're in the mood for something simpler then the combination of classic Häagen-Dazs coffee ice cream with classic Häagen-Dazs chocolate chips will do the trick.

Sweet Science - Salted Caramel Swirl

Salted Caramel Swirl - Vanilla Ice Cream with a Swirl of Salted Caramel Sauce

The flavor for today is another from the Saint-Paul-based Sweet Science brand.  The flavor is called Salted Caramel Swirl.  This has a very similar flavor name (and label color) as their Salted Caramel flavor which I have previously reviewed but upon second look it is a different flavor.  Salted Caramel is a pure homogenous salted caramel ice cream base with no swirls or mix-ins.  Today's pint is a vanilla base with a swirl of salted caramel sauce.  Let's take a closer look.

The vanilla ice cream base has a yellowish off-white color.  Some of the caramel swirl can be seen right away on top.  Digging in, the caramel flavor is evident right away.  The caramel has a salty bite to it.  This was not surprising as their plain salted caramel pint is one of the saltier of salted caramel implementations.  This time, the caramel is balanced with the vanilla base which is soft and creamy. The combination is quite delicious.  The amount of swirl increased a little bit as I ate my way down the pint.

I very much enjoyed this pint.  It provided quite a bit of salted caramel flavor but the combination with vanilla made it a bit more interesting to me than a salted-caramel only pint.  The caramel here is a sauce and not an ice cream so it is not exactly the same thing, but the salty flavor is well-done and delicious.  Caramel & vanilla lovers should like this.