Sweet Science - Honey Vanilla

Honey Vanilla - Vanilla Ice Cream Sweetened with Wildflower Honey

Last week I visited the new Sweet Science scoop shop in the new Keg & Case Market in Saint Paul.  They finally have a brick and mortar shop.  No more need to track down new flavors at tasting events or specialty markets.  I can just go down to their shop.  They have a freezer case right by the register with all sorts of pints.  I saw three pints which I didn't have before so I picked them up.  Today's pint is called Honey Vanilla.  Here, they use honey provided by one of the other vendors at Keg & Case, Worker B.  The specific honey used here comes from the nectar of a basswood tree.  It should be interesting to see how this compared to a regular vanilla.

Cracking open the pint, the color is an off-white and a few tiny specks of vanilla bean are visible.  That it isn't a pure white is not necessarily due to the honey.  Lots of regular vanilla come out with this color.  The first scoop is creamy.  It is a good texture.  Not too soft, but not at all tough to scoop.  The flavor is a bright vanilla.  It is very tasty.  What I don't taste is honey, though.  I tried.  I asked a friend, too.  The vanilla is good, though.

This is a very good pint of vanilla ice cream.  I did not specifically note honey flavor, though, so fans of honey flavor might be disappointed.  It is basically a vanilla ice cream which is sweetened with honey instead of cane sugar.  If your palate or dietary restrictions are more sensitive to that switch, then this might interest you.  If you are getting a scoop at the scoop shop, it might be fun to give it a try instead of the usual vanilla.