Häagen-Dazs - Vanilla and Vanilla Bean

Vanilla - Vanilla Ice Cream 
Vanilla Bean - Vanilla Ice Cream with Vanilla Beans

Last weekend was Easter and we had a group dinner with the extended family.  I was in charge of getting the ice cream.  The family knows my penchant for trying new and interesting flavors, so they told me ahead of time "we are having it with cake, so just get regular ice cream".   So, I got vanilla.  I chose Häagen-Dazs because they do simple flavors very well, plus it was on sale!  At the store, I noticed that Häagen-Dazs actually has two different vanilla flavors -- Vanilla and Vanilla Bean.  So, I picked up a couple of pints of both.  It turns out that my family did not eat as much ice cream as I expected -- there was a lot of ham and it was good, so I had leftover ice cream.  I figured why not turn it into a joint review!  Although I have written before (here and here) about how the vanilla spice is actually quite exotic, it still Simple vanilla pints often do not make for the most interesting of reviews.  Plus, I figured these flavors might be similar enough that I might not remember distinguishing details if I waited a few days between eating them.  By eating them side-by-side, I hope to bring out the constrasts between the two pints.

Enough talk, removing the two lids, both ice creams look pretty darn white but when next to each other I can see a clear difference.  The vanilla is a brighter white with perhaps the slightest tinge of yellow, while the vanilla bean is more grey and upon close inspection, I can see the tiny specks of vanilla bean.  Digging in, the vanilla ice cream feels slightly thicker while the vanilla bean is slightly softer.  It's a small difference -- perhaps the plain vanilla was in the colder part of my freezer -- but I am especially looking for contrasts here.  The flavor of both is a good vanilla.  The vanilla bean tasted a little bit stronger.  I checked with someone else and they agreed.  We also both agreed that we could definitely tell them apart with our eyes closed.

This was a fun side-by-side experiment.  Both ice creams were quite good. Häagen-Dazs does the basic flavors very well (their chocolate ice cream is excellent).  The differences between these two ice creams were subtle but noticeable.  I thought the plain vanilla was thicker and milkier -- it tasted like a vanilla-flavored frozen whipped cream while the vanilla bean was slightly softer and had more vanilla flavor.  When would I choose one over the other?  My personal opinion would be that the plain vanilla would go better with a piece of cake or a slice of pie.  It was more 'neutral'.  While the vanilla bean would be better by itself -- or perhaps with chocolate syrup.  I'm intentionally splitting hairs here, of course.  You can't go wrong with either one.