Coolhaus - Spiked Egg Nog

Spiked Egg Nog - Real Egg Nog Ice Cream with a Cinnamon Graham Crumble Swirl

I always check the ice cream freezer cases even when I am not shopping for ice cream.  I was doing that on the Upper East Side near my sister's apartment when I encountered a holiday pint from Coolhaus.  I know Coolhaus is a west coast brand, but they seem to have more available in Manhattan than they do in Minnesota.  With Thanksgiving over and the Christmas shopping season in full swing, I grab this pint and eat it on my last day in New York.  I have had Egg Nog ice cream a couple of times before (from McConnell's and Jeni's).  I always enjoy it much more than I expect to.  I don't really like drinking egg nog because of the texture -- but when you freeze it and churn it, it's really just frozen custard which I like quite a bit.  Let's see how Coolhaus handles this.

Removing the lid, there is a lovely message waiting for me on top of the foil seal (see below).  I love these.  Peeling bakc the foil, the first thing I notice is the graham cracker swirl!  As I have mentioned in a previous review, Coolhaus does a very good job of top-of-the-pint presentation.  The swirl has a very dark color for graham cracker.  I wonder what is up with that.  As expected, the freezing and churning the egg nog has indeed created an excellent frozen custard.  There is a hint of cinnamon evident, but I mainly taste the creamy sweet custard with that thick-but-malleable consistency that Coolhaus is known for.  Then the dark graham cracker swirl has a distinct molasses flavor to it.  I like this twist on a graham cracker swirl.  About halfway through the pint I start noticing hints of rum.  It is much more subtle than I was expecting.  If I wasn't looking for it  -- the flavor is called "Spiked" Egg Nog after all -- I might have missed it.

This is an interesting and well-done implementation of an egg nog ice cream.  One should set the right expectations before eating, though.  Despite the word "Spiked" in the title, this is not a very boozy pint at all.  Even the flavor of rum can be easy to miss.  Also, there's not a lot of spices blended into the base.  No nutmeg and just a little bit of cinnamon.  What this pint does have is amazing egg-nog flavor -- the best egg nog base from a pure 'frozen custard' perspective -- and an excellent molasses-graham cracker swirl.  Look for those two things when you try this and you will enjoy it very much.