Ben & Jerry's - Coffee Caramel Buzz

Coffee Caramel Buzz - Coffee Malt Ice Cream with Whiskey Caramel Swirls & English Toffee Pieces

Coffee Caramel Buzz has a rather eclectic list of ingredients so I was not sure what to expect.  Evidently, it was inspired by the Bonnaroo Music Festival which is held every year in Manchester, Tennessee.  You can see a cartoon of the festival in the artwork on the front of the pint.  Manchester is the county seat of Coffee County which may be part of the inspiration -- although they do not grow coffee there, the county was named after early American military leader John Coffee. 

Opening the pint, the first thing I noticed is that the some of the exposed caramel on the top was spilling off the side.  I was curious as to how whiskey caramel was different from regular caramel and I guess having a more liquid consistency is one of those differences.  The coffee flavor of the base was quite noticeable on the first scoop, but thankfully it was not overpowering.  I think this was the role of the malt in the base.  I didn't really notice the malt flavor in and of itself, but it effectively muted the coffee flavor.  Ben & Jerry's has another flavor called "Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz" which has an extremely strong coffee flavor which was too much for me.  That was not a problem here and I was able to eat the entire pint in one sitting.  The whiskey caramel swirls were flavorful.   I noticed a bit of a kick to the flavor.  I doubt there is any actual alcohol content here, but they did reproduce the subtle burn in the back of the through that comes with a whiskey flavor.  The english toffee pieces were dispersed throughout the pint and were appropriately hard and brittle.  One of the pieces was quite large so they could have broken them up a bit more before mixing them in but otherwise they were quite tasty.

All in all, a very eccentric flavor!  I'm not sure when I'll have this flavor again, but it was well executed given the list of ingredients.  If those ingredients intrigue you and you are up for something not overly sweet and off the usual path of chocolate & peanut butter permutations, then give it a try.