Van Leeuwen - Planet Earth

Planet Earth - Blue Spirulina Almond Ice Cream with Pieces of Matcha Green Tea Cake

The next flavor in the Brooklyn-based Van Leeuwen Ice Cream's spring line of Walmart-exclusive flavors is called Planet Earth (instagram link here).  This flavor features a blue spirulina almond base with pieces of matcha green tea cake.  Interesting flavor combination!  Let's see how this turns out.

Removing the lid, the base ice cream is quite blue!  I see one of the green matcha tea cake pieces on top already as well.  Digging in, I quickly see the planet earth connection here.  It looks a bit like a globe.  The blue is the water and the green was the land.  Perhaps that was obvious and I could have anticipated it above, but it looks pretty cool and I see it now.  The base is made from almond extract and it is sweeter than I expected.  It has a sweet, agreeable and aromatic flavor that many almond-extract foods have that is different than that of the flavor of crushed almonds.  I do not know how else to describe it.  It is good.  Spirulina is a blue-green-algae-derived superfood which is very nutritious but I am reading that it is mostly flavorless.  Here, it supplies the beautiful color.  The matcha cake pieces are chewy and have a mild tea flavor to them.  Matcha can be an acquired taste for some, but there are no worries here because the flavor is not too strong and it is immersed such an agreeable almond ice cream.  Mostly, it provides the beautiful green color.

This is a fun and beautiful "planet-earth" based ice cream.  The spirulina and matcha provide lots of nutrition and bright color but flavor-wise it is the pleasant almond-extract base which dominates.

Häagen-Dazs - Green Tea

Green Tea - Green Tea Ice Cream

While waiting for grocery store freezer cases to get stocked with the new flavors for 2020, I have been taking inventory of some of the popular brands to see how many of their flavors I have not yet reviewed.  I recently discovered I was only three short of a complete survey of Häagen-Dazs flavors, so I figured I might as well finish them off.  The first flavor was Vanilla Chocolate Chip and I reviewed it a couple of weeks ago.  The second flavor is today flavor: Green Tea.  I bought it at Lund's in Highland Park.  This is made with Japanese matcha green tea.  I have reviewed one other green tea flavor: Coolhaus' Mo Matcha Mochi which combined a matcha base with mochi mix-ins.  Let's see how this compares!

Removing the lid, I see the bright green color of the matcha tea base.  Digging in, I taste the green tea flavor right away.  It is quite good.  There is a hint of bitterness which is typical of matcha in the 'finish' of the flavor, but it is not too strong -- just enough to let you know that it is there.  As I continued eating, the flavor stayed refreshing and I had no problems finishing the pint in one sitting.   This is a homogeneous pint with no mix-ins.

I liked this flavor.  It does not have as intenzse of a flavor as the Coolhaus flavor that I reviewed last year, so hardcore matcha fans may prefer that pint, but the pleasantness of this pint might be a better introduction to the flavor of green tea for those who are not familiar.

Coolhaus - Mo Matcha Mochi

Mo Matcha Mochi - Japanese Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream with Green Tea Mochi Bites

I decided to treat myself and order six pints from Coolhaus Ice Cream in Culver City, California.  Coolhaus is a fun brand started about ten years ago by a pair of architecture students in Southern California.  If you check my archives, you can see all of the flavors that I have reviewed of theirs over the past couple of years.  They released several new flavors last winter and I have been biding my time to see when they'd become available in Minnesota.  The local Fresh Thyme markets stock this brand, but so far I have only seen one new flavor available here -- Milk & Cookie Crumbs.  I decided I could not wait any longer, so I ordered six pints shipped to me through the mail.  As far as I know, none of these flavors are available yet in the Twin Cities, but maybe someday. 

The first flavor in my shipment is called Mo Matcha Mochi.  This combines two elements that I have not yet seen in an ice cream:  matcha green tea and mochi.  Matcha is a green tea powder which originated in China and was adopted by the Japanese for use in their traditional tea ceremonies.  Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made from japonica sticky rice.  I have seen flavored mochi in the dessert section of some fancier grocery stores.  Here, small bites of match-flavored mochi are mixed into a matcha green tea base.  It should be interesting.

Removing the lid reveals a message on the protective foil.  I have seen this message before, but it is still fun.  Peeling it back shows the matcha base is a bright lime green color.  A couple of the mochi bites can also be seen in the mix.  They look like little pellets.  Digging in, the ice cream has a thick consistency that almost folds into my spoon as I scoop.  I have mentioned this in previous reviews, but Coolhaus' specialty is ice cream sandwiches, so their bases are designed to hold firm when pressed between two cookies.  I really like this texture.  The matcha green tea flavor in the base itself is fairly mild, but the tea flavor in the mochi mix-ins is fairly strong.  It has a very distinctive flavor.  For those that have had matcha tea before, it tastes just like it, for those new to matcha I found a discussion on the difference between matcha and standard green tea here.  I find that the matcha has a little bit of a bitter kick to it with a bit more aftertaste.  The mochi itself is a great idea for a mix-in.  They are firm, but chewy and deliver the matcha flavor quite well.

This is an interesting and unique flavor from Coolhaus!  The tea flavor is a bit potent and bitter for my taste, but if you are not a sweet tooth and you love matcha tea, it might be more up your alley.  Using mochi to deliver extra match flavor was fun.  It made me wonder if mochi could be used to deliver other flavors as well.  I'll keep my eye out for other flavors that might use mochi in the future.