Jeni's - Supermoon

Supermoon - Blue Violet and Vanilla Marshmallow Ice Creams Swirled Together

I was at Whole Foods the other day checking out the freezer case and I saw that they cycled a new flavor from Jeni's into their rotation.   The flavor is called Supermoon.  Jeni's initially released it in Spring 2017.  I am glad that my local Whole Food started stocking it.  Otherwise, I would have to wait until my next online purchase from Jeni's.

A supermoon is a full moon that coincides with the closest point (perigee) in the moon's orbit.  So, a supermoon appears to be about 14% than its normal size.  Not a huge deal, but it is enough to be noticeable and fun.  The moon normally looks a little bigger when it is closer to the horizon, so if it is closer to the horizon and a supermoon then it will look even bigger.  The last supermoon was in January of 2018 and the next supermoon is January of 2019.  I am not sure what a supermoon has to do with vanilla marshmallow and blue-violet, but it is a great and catchy name for an ice cream flavor all the same.

The supermoon pint carton design is quite nice.  I really like the new Jeni's pint designs.  They are much better than the old orange-marker on white designs.  The supermoon colors of baby blue and yellow were a bit hard to photograph, though.  It took me several tries and I still think the photo looks a bit washed out.  You'll have to trust me that the design looks much better in person.  Opening the pint, I see the yellow vanilla marshmallow set against a crescent moon of blue-violet.  Digging in, the vanilla marshmallow side is sweet and has lots of vanilla flavor.  There is also marshmallow flavor without the marshmallow texture.  The blue-violet side had a bit of a floral flavor to it, which is not unexpected because blue-violet is an edible flower.  The crescent of blue was only on the very top.  Eating my way down, it was pretty much a half-and-half split.  They did stay on their separate sides of the carton, though.  The link above compares this flavor to marshmallow cereal milk.  Like the leftover milk after eating a bowl of Lucky Charms.  I agree with that.  It is quite well done.

This is a very unique and interesting pint of ice cream.  It has a sweet floral marshmallowy flavor which is nothing like most flavors -- there's no chocolate, caramel, nut, or fruit flavors here.  It also has a very unique and beautiful color.  It's a good flavor to have in a scoop shop as an alternative flavor, and it's a good pint to try when you want something out of the ordinary as well.  Enjoy.

  

Sweet Science - Stout Chocolate with Toffee and Brownie

Stout Chocolate with Toffee and Brownie - Stout Chocolate Ice Cream with Brownie Chunks and Almond Toffee Pieces

The second seasonal flavor from the latest Sweet Science tasting is called Stout Chocolate with Toffee and Brownie.  This looks like a fancier version of the standard Chocolate Fudge Brownie flavor that many brands implement.  This one also includes stout and and almond toffee.  I have had a pint which included stout before.  Here, the stout is used not as the primary base, but as a modifier for the chocolate.  It should be interesting to check this out.

Removing the lid, the base ice cream is fairly light for a chocolate base.  I guess that is the effect of the stout.  Tasting the first spoonful, though, the flavor of the base is primarily chocolate.  The effect of the stout is relatively minor, it hits you only as a secondary flavor.  I like it.  The brownie pieces are distributed throughout the pint.  These are quite soft and delicious.  Occasionally, I ran into some of the almond toffee which is also delicious.  The toffee pieces were flavorful, sweet and a bit crunchy.  The toffee pieces were good enough that I actually wanted more of them to be in there, but I suppose you don't always want to be overloaded with mix-ins.  It was nice to have some spoonfuls with brownies in them and some spoonfuls with toffee pieces in them.

This is an excellent pint of ice cream.  A gourmet version of chocolate fudge brownie.  Don't be afraid of the stout if you are not a beer fan, it only adds a bit of interesting color to the chocolate flavor.  The mix-ins are both well-done and it will be fun to see if these ever get worked into future flavors.

  

Ben & Jerry's - Glampfire Trail Mix

Glampfire Trail Mix - Chocolate Ice Cream with Crunchy Pretzel Swirls, Marshmallow Swirls & Fudge-Covered Almonds

Today is a new Target-exclusive flavor from Ben & Jerry's called Glampfire Trail Mix.   Ben & Jerry's usually has at least four exclusive flavors with Target at any given time.  I checked to see what the other flavors were to see if any had been cycled out.  I saw pints of Brewed to Matter and Keep Caramel and Carry On. Those are newer flavors, so they are likely staying.  That means that either Peanut Butter World or Blondie Ambition could be on the way out.  Both are still listed on the Ben & Jerry flavor page, so it is too soon to know.   I must admit that I did not know what glamping was before purchasing this pint.  Evidently, it is "glamorous camping".  When you are glamping, you are exploring the outdoors, but you still have decent -- potentially even resort-level -- amenities.  If you think about it, it makes sense for an ice cream flavor.  I mean, you can't bring a pint of ice cream on a hardcore camping trip, it would melt.  But if you are glamping then you'll likely have access to a large freezer and you can stock up on your favorite ice creams to enjoy.  This flavor looks a bit like a nutty s'mores-like flavor which pretzels in the mix as well.  I'm looking forward to it.

Opening the pint, I see the chocolate base with one of the fudge-covered almonds visible right away along with a bit of the marshmallow swirl.  The marshmallow swirl here reminds me a bit of the S'mores flavor or Phish Food.  It is not an intense marshmallow flavor, but it serves to 'soften' the pint a bit -- make it faster melting and a bit 'goopy' as you reach the bottom of the pint.  The pretzel swirl is interesting.  It is more gritty than crunchy.  Like the marshmallow, the flavor is not that strong, but it does effectively deliver a bit saltiness which is fun.  The chocolate covered almonds are quite delicious.

I liked this pint.  Because of the chocolate base and the marshmallow swirl this feels like yet another twist on Phish Food, but I don't mind that because Phish Food is one of my favorite flavors.  Also, interesting to see Ben & Jerry's on a big camping kick with this flavor and the limited batch Gimme S'mores flavors coming out at the same time (and they already have another S'mores flavor, too!).  The pretzel swirl is well done and an interesting new idea.  Lots of pints have similarly gritty graham cracker or cookie swirls, but this one delivers salt.  It opens up a lot of new possibilities for future flavors.

  

Sweet Science - Toasted Coconut Caramel Chip

Toasted Coconut Caramel Chip - Toasted Coconut Ice Cream with a Caramel Swirl and Dark Chocolate Shards

There was another tasting event for the Saint Paul-based Sweet Science brand last weekend, so I picked up a few new pints.  The flavor for today is a limited batch flavor called Toasted Coconut Caramel Chip.  They took their standard Toasted Coconut flavor and have added a caramel swirl and a chocolate mix-in.  Interestingly, in my review of the simple base flavor, I noted that that flavor was very good but that there no texture to the pint whatsoever (not even strands of coconut).  Here's they've added mix-ins, so I'm very much looking forward to this pint.

Opening the pint, I see right away that there are a lot of mix-ins!  Lots of 'shards' of chocolate and quite a bit of the caramel swirl is visible right away.  Interestingly, the coconut base much whiter than the simple base flavor was.  Digging in, I taste the chocolate and caramel right away and then the coconut comes in as a second wave of flavor inside my mouth.  The combination is excellent.  The shards of dark chocolate remind me of the outer-layer of a candy bar.  They are crunchy and crumbly at the same time.  Some of the shards are quite large, which might be an accident but is actually quite fun.  The caramel is not super thick, so it swirls very nicely.  The whole thing reminds me a bit of a coconut candy bar.  Like a Mounds bar with caramel -- a Milky Way bar with coconut instead of nougat.

This is an excellent pint. It is one of my most favorite Sweet Science flavors yet!  The simple base flavor is still quite good for scoop shop environment where you can add toppings or serve it with a scoop of something else, but as a standalone pint, I greatly prefer this flavor.  Coconut lovers will enjoy this.

  

Graeter's - Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip

Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip - Vanilla Ice Cream with Cookie Dough Chunks and Chocolate Chips

Shopping around for new flavors, I came across a Graeter's pint which I had not yet tried.  Local grocery stores usually only carry around five or six Graeter's flavors which I already know, but every once and a while I am presently surprised when a flavor which is new to me gets cycled in.  Today's flavor is Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip.  It is different than most cookie dough implementations in that it also has chocolate chips.  Graeter's has amazing and unique chocolate chips, so they like to add them in whenever they can.

After removing the lid, the vanilla base is bright white and many mix-ins are visible right away.  I see a few cookie dough pieces as well as many chocolate chips of various sizes.  Interestingly, there do not appear to be any chocolate chips in the cookie dough.  I guess that makes sense.  Digging in, the vanilla base is soft with a noticeable amount of vanilla.  The chocolate chips are excellent as they are in all of Graeter's Signature Chip line.  The cookie dough pieces are a bit small, but they are doughy and sweet as one would expect.

This is a pretty good implementation of a cookie dough ice cream.  It was fun that Graeter's factored the chocolate out of the dough and into their signature chips.  It is not going to wow a lover of cookie dough, but it works as a fun twist on their popular line of chocolate chip flavors.

  

Coolhaus - Street Cart Churro Dough

Street Cart Churro Dough - Brown Butter Ice Cream with Cinnamon Sugar Churro Dough and a Chocolate Chip Swirl

Today is another of the new Coolhaus flavors for 2018.  This one is called Street Cart Churro Dough.  As mentioned in previous reviews, churros are a fried-dough pastry common in Spain, Portugal and Latin America.  It makes for a good ice cream flavor because it has cinnamon and chewy mix-ins.  This pint looks a bit different though because it has a chocolate swirl.  We'll see.


  
When I took off the lid, I got a nice surprise:

 

Aww... just like the last Coolhaus pint, I got an uplifting mesage!   That's nice.  I just stared at it for a while, but then I figured I should peel off the foil and eat the ice cream.  The ice cream inside is quite interesting.  There is a lot of chocolate!  Digging in, the chocolate swirl dominates the pint, I almost can't taste the brown butter base at all.  There is just enough base to suspend the chocolate and make it cold and scoopable, but not much more.  Inside this suspension are the churro dough pieces which I encountered from time to time.  They are soft, and have a sweet cinnamon-and-sugar flavor.  I like it.

This is a unique, eclectic and successful pint from Coolhaus.  It almost defies comparison.  I was excited to compare it to the Jeni's and McConnell's pints in the links above but all the chocolate effectively make this a completely different flavor.  And I can't compare it to spiced Mexican Chocolate flavors (here and here) either, because this is a sweet cinnamon and not a hot cinnamon.  This flavor is it's own thing.  I liked it, though.  If churros and chocolate sounds yummy, give this one a shot.

Sweet Science - Dark Chocolate Sorbet

Dark Chocolate Sorbet - Dark Chocolate Sorbet

Today, we go back to the Saint Paul-based Sweet Science brand.  I usually pick up their pints at their monthly tasting events.  That often means that I always get some of their seasonal and/or experimental flavor combinations.  I decided to try in a pint of one of their old standards:  Dark Chocolate Sorbet.  As a reminder, a 'sorbet' is a dairy free.  Sorbet flavors are often fruit-based, but dark chocolate is another logical option because it contains its own 'butter' (cocoa butter) which can help provide some natural creaminess.  This pint is very simple, no mix-ins.  Let's dig in!

The sorbet is very dark.  This is not unexpected since the pint contains all chocolate and no dairy.  The first spoonful is very chocolatey as expected.  The consistency was quite good.  It was soft, creamy and no problems with iciness which can happen with some sorbets.  I was pleasantly surprised at how creamy this was.  I mean, I could tell that it wasn't ice cream, but it was definitely creamier than I expected.  The flavor was quite intense, but in a good way.  It didn't get overwhelming as I ate the second half of the pint.

This is an excellent implementation of a dark chocolate sorbet.  Chocoholics would love this.  It is strong enough where you might want to split it with someone or eat it over the course of a few days.  Chocolate sorbets are quite versatile.  I've heard of people putting scoops in their coffee.  Enjoy.
  

Ben & Jerry's - Gimme S'more!

Gimme S'more! - Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream with Chocolate Cookie Swirls, Graham Cracker Swirls & Fudge Flakes 

I was at Target the other day looking for new flavor and I saw that Ben & Jerry's has a new limited batch flavor!  It is called "Gimme S'more!".  I know what you are thinking.  Doesn't Ben & Jerry's already have a S'mores flavor?  I double-checked and that flavor is still in circulation.  That said, I've seen in previous reviews that there are many ways to combine chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker.  The old Ben & Jerry's flavor has a chocolate base with graham cracker & marshmallow swirls,  Sweet Science has a graham cracker base with chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker mix-ins.  Coolhaus uses vanilla for a base and uses the chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker in the mix-ins.  Today's pint is yet another permutation:  a marshmallow base with chocolate & graham cracker mix-ins.  Such a seemingly simple flavor, yet so many different possibilities.

Opening the pint shows the light beige color of the toasted marshmallow base.  All of the mix-ins are visible right away:  the graham swirl, the chocolate cookie swirl and the fudge chunks.  Digging in, the marshmallow base is rather sweet.  It is not quite as sweet as their recent Marshmallow Moon flavor but it is still a bit on the sweet side.  The graham and chocolate cookie swirls provide a gritty texture and are both quite tasty.  The graham cracker seemed sweeter than I expected but that could have been the marshmallow and chocolate cookies blending in with it.  The fudge flakes are chunky and filled with chocolate flavor.  Ben & Jerry's fans will notice the chocolate cookie swirl and the fudge flakes from other pints.  They are two of their more successful mix-ins.

This was a fun flavor.  A bit on the sweet side, but you can't really go wrong with the s'mores ingredients.  As seen above, there are so many different ways that you can combine the three ingredients and it's usually pretty good.  This is a limited batch, so it won't replace the old Ben & Jerry's flavor, so if marshmallow is your favorite s'mores ingredient, check this out while supplies last.