Sweet Science - Mint Cacao

Mint Cacao - Fresh Mint Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Covered Cacao Nibs

Today is the second of Sweet Science flavors for July, Mint Cacao.  Long-time readers know that mint chocolate chip is my favorite flavor and it is fun when there is a twist on the mint and chocolate combination.  We have seen brownies, cookies, peppermint patties, and from Sweet Science themselves: fudge sauce.  Here we have cacao nibs!  I have had cacao nibs one time before.  They are the edible part of the cacao bean from which cocoa solids are extracted.  Eating a cacao nib is a bit like crunching on an coffee bean.

Opening the pint, I see the off-white color of the mint base plus mean of the cacao nibs are visible on top.  The nibs do indeed look like coffee beans.  Digging in, the mint has a softer and less intense flavor than many other mint bases.  I checked the container and it looks like they used mint leaves to create this base.  They add a little bit of peppermint extract to keep things from getting too 'herbaceous'.  I wasn't sure what that meant at first but as I continued to eat, I did notice a leafy aftertaste after a while.  I had a similar feeling eating their Basil flavor last month -- basil and mint are related herbs after a while.  The occasional leafy after taste was not at all bad, it was just different from the usual.  The cocoa nibs were generously dispersed throughout the pint.  The nibs themselves are fun to crunch on.  Interestingly, the chocolate flavor of the nib itself is not as intense, but they are coated with dark chocolate to help out.  The nibs are quite fun to crunch on.

This is fun and unique twist on the classic mint and chocolate combination.  I enjoyed it very much.  That said, I see this as more of an interesting and experimental variation on a classic than a replacement for it.  Also, I enjoyed their Vanilla Mint Fudge flavor from last year a bit better.  Still, it is hard to find flavors that use cacao/cocoa nibs and these are good.  Check this flavor out if this particular twist on mint chip is of interest to you.