Pumphouse Creamery - Malted Vanilla with Malted Milk Balls

Malted Vanilla with Malted Milk Balls - Malted Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate-covered Malt Ball Pieces

Today's flavor is from the Minneapolis-based Pumphouse Creamery.  This is a non-seasonal flavor from their regular line-up called Malted Vanilla with Malted Milk Balls.  The flavor name tells almost all the story.  Reading the flavor description, the malted milk balls also have a chocolate coating -- so they are basically Whopper candies.  I have not had this exact flavor combination before, but checking my archives I've found a couple which are fairly similar.  The Museum of Ice Cream had a flavor called Malt Shake which had uncrushed chocolate malt balls in a chocolate base and the Graeter's Malted Pretzel Ball flavor had a vanilla base with uncrushed malted pretzel balls.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid, the malted vanilla base has a white coloring and there are specks of the malt-ball mix-ins visible.  Digging in, the ice cream does not have an overly pronounced malt flavor to it the way some malted vanillas do.  Some flavors do this.  They use malt more to mute the base flavor than as a flavor itself.  Scattered throughout the pint are the crushed malt ball pieces.  The flavor here is mostly chocolate, but there are little pieces of malt attached to these, so I can tell that these come from crushing whopper-like candies and are not simply chocolate chips. 

This is a decent pint from Pumphouse.  The malt flavor in both the base and the mix-ins was much milder than I expected.  It reminded me more of a vanilla chocolate chip implementation but with a twist of malt.  Still an enjoyable pint.  Those looking for a malty twist on vanilla chocolate chip should check this out.  Otherwise, try sampling the flavor at the scoop shop to see if it is malty enough for you.

Graeter's - Raspberry Sorbet

Raspberry Sorbet - Raspberry Sorbet

Today I am having Raspberry Sorbet -- but not the kind that you find in a second-hand store, this is from Graeter's Ice Cream in Cincinnati.  This pint was part of my six-pint online purchase from Graeters.  I do know a few grocery stores in Minnesota that stock the Graeter's brand -- Whole Foods is one that I can think of off the top of my head -- but I cannot think of a local places that stocks their sorbets.  So, just a note to my local readers that an online purchase is needed to enjoy this pint in the Twin Cities.  With that caveat out of the way, it is on to another reminder: a 'sorbet' is dairy-free by design.  It is liquid flavoring mixed with ice and then churned like ice cream.  It contains no 'imitation' dairy products to mimic the texture of ice cream.  The churning process is what gives it a softer, scoopable texture instead of creating a solid block of ice like a popsicle.  I have had raspberry sorbet once before with Talenti's Roman Raspberry flavor and once swirled with lemon sorbet in Ben & Jerry's Pucker Upper flavor.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid reveals the bright red color of the raspberry sorbet.  Digging in, the raspberry flavor is delicious without a hint of tartness.  Raspberry can be sweet or tart (or both).  There is no tartness, here, so I suppose this is a sweet raspberry, but it is not overly sweet either.  The texture is good.  It is easy to scoop out with my spoon.  I can tell it is not as creamy as an ice cream would be, but it does not have any iciness that some sorbets can have.  It is good and I have no problems eating the whole pint in one sitting.

This is a very good raspberry sorbet from Graeter's.  It has a simple and very agreeable flavor.  It is hard to compare it to the sorbets I mentioned above because the flavors are so simple, but I guess I would differentiate it from the flavors above by its lack of tartness.  This pint was the least tart, Talenti's had a hint of tartness, while Ben & Jerry's intentionally maximized the tartness.

Sweet Science - Caramel Caramel Corn

Caramel Caramel Corn - Caramel Corn flavored Ice Cream with a Salted Caramel Swirl

Today, I try the second of the four State-Fair-themed flavors from the Saint Paul-based Sweet Science Ice Cream.  This one is called Caramel Caramel Corn (instagram link here).  The name of the flavor is not a typo, there are two caramel's in a row there.  The flavor is "Caramel"-"Caramel Corn".  "Caramel Corn" (think Cracker Jack) is the flavor of the base while the leading "Caramel" means that there is a swirl of salted caramel sauce.  I love Sweet Science's salted caramel sauce, so that part I am really looking forward to.  The idea of a popcorn-flavored base sounds intriguing as well.  It reminds me of my recent review of Jeni's Sun-Popped Corn flavor.  Let's check this out!

Removing the lid, I see quite a bit of the salted caramel swirl right on top!  The caramel-corn base has an off-white beige color.  Digging in, the salted caramel swirl is delicious.  This is one of my favorite mix-ins out there -- of any brand.  It is right up there with Graeter's chocolate chips.  Focusing in on the base, I actually don't really taste caramel corn in it.  It is still a good quality ice cream, but either the flavor is not very strong or it is simply overpowered by the salted caramel swirl.

I have mixed feeling about this pint.  The salted caramel swirl still makes it incredibly delicious, but the caramel corn flavor didn't come out very strong -- at least not in the batch that produced my pint.  So, I still greatly enjoyed it, but it was not all that different than their Salted Caramel Swirl flavor.  The Jeni's Sun-Popped Corn really did create the flavor of popcorn in an ice cream base.  Here, the popcorn flavor in the ice cream is not that noticeable which makes it just a vehicle for their amazing swirl.  Perhaps it is a fun substitute for Salted Caramel Swirl during fair time, but not more than that.

Graeter's - Caramel Macchiato

Caramel Macchiato - Coffee Ice Cream with Caramel Truffles and Heath Toffee Pieces

The third pint from my recent six-pint shipment from Graeter's Ice Cream is called Caramel Macchiato.  It was a limited batch flavor and as I write this, it is already gone from their website.  I did find an instagram post about the flavor here.  So, a note to local readers that this flavor is not available in local grocery stores.  It is a coffee ice cream with chocolate-caramel truffles and Heath toffee pieces mixed in.  Coffee-caramel and coffee-toffee are both popular flavor combinations, but it not common too see all three -- and there is some chocolate coating the caramel as well.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid, the coffee base has a light beige color.  It is lighter than most coffee bases, but that was true of Graeter's own Vienna Coffee flavor as well.  It looks like they are using that Vienna Coffee ice cream for the base here.  Digging in, I encounter the caramel truffles first.  These are similar to other chocolate-covered caramel pieces that I have found in other flavors -- including their own Chunky Chunky Hippo flavor.  They are a bit like Rolo candies.  Other flavors to include truffles like this are two caramel-centric Talenti pints (here and here), the Izzy's Trick or Treat flavor (actual Rolo candies!), and an old retired Ben & Jerry's flavor.  Also in today's pint are toffee pieces.  These are like the insides of a Heath bar with no chocolate covering.  See the pictures below for pictures of the mix-ins outside of the ice cream.  Anyhow, the mix-ins are quite tasty and since both caramel and toffee each go well with coffee, it is a delicious mix.

This is a fun pint from Graeter's.  The caramel truffles and toffee remind me quite a bit of their Chunky Chunky Hippo flavor which, in my opinion is even more fun (and not just because of the name and packaging).  Check it out if you'd like a coffee-twist on that Chunky Chunky Hippo.

Sweet Science - Tipsy Cherry Pie

Tipsy Cherry Pie - Vanilla-Almond Ice Cream with Tipsy Cherry Pie Pieces

Today would have been the start of the Minnesota State Fair, but it was cancelled this year for the pandemic.  Recently, I ordered the State Fair Collection from Jeni's (first review was here) and that tied me over for a little while.  Now, Saint Paul's own Sweet Science Ice Cream has released their own State Fair flavors -- four new flavors which have a fair-food theme to it.  I stopped by their scoop shop at the  Keg & Case Market and picked up all four pints.  Today's flavor is called Tipsy Cherry Pie.  It features a vanilla-almond ice cream with cherry pie mix-ins from Sara's Tipsy Pies of Stillwater.  These are single-serving pies which are made "tipsy" with a dash of wine or other alcoholic beverage for flavoring.  Nothing that will actually get you tipsy (all have less than ~2% alcohol) but alcoholic drinks can have unique, interesting and aromatic flavors than can provide a great accent flavoring.  I have seen pre-packaged pies from Sara's available at Lund's & Byerly's and their website says that they can also be found at some Cub Foods locations.  The pie used in today's pint is one of their new flavors "Cheery Cherry Cream".  The "tipsy" part of the pie is made by  a white wine from the local 7 Vines Winery  This sounds like a fun and interesting flavor.

Also, I should note that this review is for my 700th pint!  As I have for previous "century reviews", I like to include collage of the previous 100 pint photos -- for previous collages, see the reviews for pints 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500, and 600.   Here is today's collage:

Pints 601 to 700

These reviews date back to February 9th, which means that the vast majority of them have occurred after the pandemic started.  I am so happy that I have been able to continue to find pints which I have not yet tried even during these interesting times.  Here is to hoping that continues into the future.

OK, on to the ice cream!  Removing the lid, the vanilla almond base has yellowish off-white color to it and there are a couple of chunks of the cherry pie mix-ins on the top.  Digging in, the cherry pie mix-ins are delicious.  The wine makes the cherry filling not as sweet as normal cherry pies.  It sort of like a cross between cherry pie and cherries Jubilee.  There is quite a bit of crust in each of the pie pieces as well.  I can taste the vanilla in the base ice cream, but I did not notice the almond.  It's a good base for the mix-ins.  Perhaps the vanilla base is not as bright as some vanillas are, which goes well with the complex flavor of the cherry-wine-crust mix-ins.

I enjoyed this cherry-pie ice cream from Sweet Science quite a bit.  The pie mix-ins from Sara's Tipsy Pies had an interesting and complex flavor to it.  It made me want to check out their pies the next time I see them.  On the other hand, I eat so much ice cream, I'm not sure when I'm going to get around to that, but if I had room for twice the dessert, I would check it out.  Ha ha.

Graeter's - Peanut Butter & Jelly

Peanut Butter & Jelly - Concord Grape Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Pieces

The next pint from my recent summer shipment from the Cincinnati-based Graeter's Ice Cream is called Peanut Butter & Jelly.  This is a limited-batch flavor for the summer.  I bought this with an online purchase and it is not available in local grocery stores.  The base ice cream is a concord grape flavor and there are peanut butter cookie dough pieces in the mix.  Checking my archives, this is the first grape-flavored ice cream that I have had.  I did not believe this at first, but I guess the other "peanut butter and jelly" implementations that I have tried (from Ben & Jerry's and Ample Hills) had used different flavors of jelly or jam (raspberry or strawberry) to go with the peanut butter.  Grapes have been domesticated by humans almost as long as there has been civilization.  They have found wineries in the Middle East that date back to 4000 BC.  The Concord grape was developed in the 19th century by Ephraim Wales Bull in Concord, Massachusetts.  It has a bright, bluish purple color (as opposed to the reddish color of red-wine grapes) and it has a sweet flavor that is used in some brands of grape juices (e.g. Welch's) and is used in making jelly, soda and candy.  It is the type of grape mostly commonly known to children.  I remember as a kid being disappointed by my first sip of wine -- how come this does not taste like grape bubble gum?  Let's see how this tastes as part of a peanut-butter-and-jelly ice cream.

Removing the lid, the grape base has a beautiful bluish purple color.  Digging in, the concord grape flavor is everything that I expected.  It has that sweet candy-purple flavor that makes me think of drinking grape soda drinks and chewing grape bubble gum.  As I continue eating I encounter the chunks of peanut butter cookie dough.  They are small cylindrical shaped pellets.  They are chewy and upon biting into them, they deliver a little bit of peanut butter flavor.

This is a fun and enjoyable flavor from Graeter's.  I found it to be much more jelly than peanut butter, but I don't mind because concord grape flavor in the jelly is delicious and reminded me of grape flavored things from my childhood.  As I write this, this limited batch flavor is already gone from the Graeter's menu, but if it comes back, then check it out for the concord grape flavor.  More brands should experiment with this type of grape -- if only to appeal to kids.

Bebe Zito - Thai Tea Crunch

Thai Tea Crunch - Thai Tea Ice Cream with Cocoa Brittle Pieces

I returned to the new Bebe Zito scoop shop in the Wedge neighborhood of Minneapolis and picked up a few more pints to try.  I wrote more on Bebe Zito in my first review of their ice cream earlier this summer.  Today's flavor is called Thai Tea Crunch.  Since my last purchase from them, Bebe Zito has added an ingredient list to their cartons and flavor page with more detailed flavor description page on their website.  That's awesome because now I know exactly what is in each pint.  The base is flavored with Thai Tea.  I have had a Thai tea base before from Coolhaus.  Thai tea is a brewed tea that is sweetened with sugar and condensed milk.  I found a post from earlier this year on Instagram where Bebe Zito asked readers if they should add a mix-in to this base and it appears that they decided to do so.  Brittle pieces made with cocoa have been added.  Let's dig in!

Removing the lid, the Thai tea has a bright orange color -- almost the same color as pumpkin.  A couple of the brittle mix-ins can be seen right away as well.  Digging in, the tea-flavored base is delicious.  It has excellent tea flavor and is sweetened just the right amount.  The brittle pieces are dispersed throughout the pint.  Some of them are half-melted.  That can happen when toffee or brittle is suspended in ice cream and I actually like that effect.  So the pieces are not too crunchy and have a bit of a caramel-like flavor (more caramel than chocolate).  There are not as many brittle pieces as I expected.  As mentioned in the instagram post above, Bebe Zito created a simple Thai tea base ice cream first and added the mix-in later.  I am guessing they did not want so many mix-ins as to distract from the excellent tea-flavored base.

I enjoyed this Thai-tea-themed flavor from Bebe Zito quite a bit.  The focus here is on the Thai tea flavor and not the mix-ins, but that is OK because the Thai tea base is excellent.  Lovers of Thai tea will want to check this out.