Izzy's - S'more Fun

S'more Fun - Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream with a Swirl of Toasted Marshmallows and Chocolate-Covered Graham Crackers

I recently got a Flavor Up alert from Izzy's Ice Cream in Saint Paul.  Their flavor S'more Fun was available.  I had put an alert on it as one of the flavors that I should try and when it showed up in their scooping bin, they sent me an email.  It looks like this flavor was created specifically for the 2017 Minnesota State Fair.  (Contemporary links: here, here, and here ... ctrl-F to find Izzy's in each link)  For many years, they have had a kiosk inside the Hamline Church Dining Hall at the fair and often have a new flavor created.  Last year's flavor was Dessa's Night Drive. 

S'mores is an old girl scout treat from the early 20th century that consists of a toasted marshmallow and chocolate on a graham cracker.  Many different ice cream brands have implemented an ice cream flavor based on this treat, each putting its own twist on this combination of those three flavors.  Ben & Jerry's (twice), Graeter's, Sweet Science, Milkjam Creamery, Coolhaus and now Izzy's.  I have seen each of the three ingredients as the base ice cream with the other two as the mix-ins.  Here, the base ice cream is toasted marshmallow-flavored and the mix-ins are chocolate-covered graham cracker pieces.  The other implementation with a marshmallow base is the second Ben & Jerry flavor ("Gimme S'more!")  Let's see how Izzy's compares!

Upon removing the lid, I see the toasted marshmallow base is a medium beige color.  This marshmallow base does appear to be 'toasted'.  Digging in, it is a thick, creamy base.  There is enough marshmallow in the base to affect the texture a bit.  The marshmallow parts feel a bit more frozen to me.  I can taste the caramelization of the marshmallows a bit -- created the 'toasted' flavor.  Dispersed throughout the pint are the chocolatey mix-ins.  These are much more chocolate than graham cracker.  If it wasn't for the flavor name, I would have assumed that these were just chocolate.  I had to look to find a few graham cracker pieces.  They mix-ins tasted pretty good, though.

I was slightly disappointed by this flavor.  It wasn't bad, though.  If you see it in the scooping bin and you are in the mood for toasted marshmallows with chocolate then feel free to have a scoop, but I did not think it was as good as most of the other implementations linked above.  Perhaps my expectations are too high as I have really loved some recent Izzy's flavors.  Coolhaus still has my favorite S'mores flavor.