Sweet Science - Watermelon Lime Sorbet

Watermelon Lime Sorbet - Watermelon Lime Sorbet

 

It has been a while since I have reviewed a pint from Sweet Science, so I was happy to see a new flavor from them which I have not yet tried.  Today's flavor is a Watermelon Lime Sorbet.  A lot has happened since I last reviewed this brand.  First, they no longer have a scoop shop in the Keg & Case Market in Saint Paul.  They have since re-opened in Edina inside the Nolan Mains project near 50th and France.  As a Saint Paul resident, I am a bit bummed because Keg & Case was so convenient, but they are still stocked at places like Kowalski's, Whole Foods and many local co-ops.  Plus, I have have been told that the Golden Fig market on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul (near Avon) has a very good selection that includes the monthly specials.  I bought this pint at Golden Fig.  I have had watermelon sorbet once before from Graeter's (there blended with lemon instead of lime).  It'll be fun to see how this compares.

Removing the lid, the watermelon base has a light pink color -- a bit lighter in color than I expected.  Digging in, the watermelon flavor is very refreshing and delicious.  The flavor is a bit on the mild side, but so is the flavor of a slice of watermelon.  I do notice the lime a bit, but only a twist of it.

This is a very refreshing and delicious watermelon sorbet from Sweet Science.  It is not as strong as that of the Graeter's pint I had a couple of summers ago, but I like the flavor here a bit better.  Watermelon fans and fruit sorbet fans will love having this on a hot summer day.

 

 

Cheesecake Factory - Key Lime

Key Lime - Premium Key Lime Cheesecake with a Signature Cream Cheese Blend, Sour Cream and Graham Swirls

 

A few days ago, I tried my first pint of Cheesecake Factory Ice Cream and was pleasantly surprised.  That first flavor was just their Original (plain) flavor, and I am curious to see how their flavored pints turn out.  Today's flavor is Key Lime.  I like key lime flavors and have had them from Talenti, Graeter's and Izzy's.  Let's see how this flavor compares.

Popping off the lid, the key lime has and off-white greenish-yellow color to it.  I can see the graham cracker crust swirl, but it is not as pretty as the swirl in the Original pint I had last week.  There's also a fair amount of air pockets near the edges of top of the pint.  I am sure this is just a random fluke, but I may have gotten cheated out of an ounce.  Digging in, the flavor lime is quite delicious.  As a 'finish' flavor, I also notice the sour cream.  It adds tanginess.  I noticed this in the previous Cheesecake Factory as well.  It is looking like this is going to be a signature trait of this brand.  I do like it.  It is unique and distinctive and keeps the cheesecake from feeling too heavy.  The graham cracker swirl is nice and gritty as it was before.  It acts as the 'crust' in this slice-of-cheesecake flavor.

I enjoyed this key lime flavor from the Cheesecake Factory.  It's simple, yet that tangy sour cream makes it unique and distinctive.  Good key lime flavors are hard to find -- they tend to be late-summer seasonal flavors.  This flavor is available year round.  Check it out.

 

 

Lick - Cilantro Lime

Cilantro Lime - Cilantro Lime Ice Cream

Today is the second pint from my six pint shipment from the Austin-based Lick Ice Creams.  It is one seasonal flavors for spring -- Cilantro Lime.  Here I will make a quick aside to local readers that I bought this pint online and I am not aware that this brand is available in any Twin Cities grocery stores.  Ok, this looks like an interesting flavor.  I have never had cilantro in an ice cream before and I usually associate the cilantro-lime combination with Mexican food -- specifically the accompanying rice. 

I did not know until I started researching this article that cilantro is actually a form of coriander -- the two words come from the same Latin root.  They come from the same plant, but in English "coriander" refers to an herb derived from the dried seeds of the plant while "cilantro" refers the fresh leaves and stems of the plant.  These two different parts of the same plant have different flavors and culinary uses.  I found a cool article discussing the difference between coriander and cilantro here which I thought was very interesting.  Taking a second look at my review archive, I have had a couple coriander flavors before -- both local Minneapolis flavors:  Cereal Killers from Milkjam and Garam Masala from Pumphouse -- but this is my first cilantro flavor.  I enjoy cilantro (and cilantro-lime rice) in more savory dishes, so I'm quite curious as these flavors will turn out in an ice cream setting.

Cracking open the pint, I see the base ice cream is a bright white color.  Perhaps some yellowish tinge to it.  Plus, I see little green specks in the mix -- see the photos below.  Upon close inspection, I believe these are probably tiny bits of cilantro.  Digging in, I taste the lime right away.  It is a pleasant and soothing flavor, not too potent.  Perhaps the flavor could even be described as mild, but I do like it and find it refreshing.  The cilantro is not obvious at first, but I notice it a bit as the 'finish' flavor -- what flavor is left in your mouth after you swallow.  It's just a little bit of savoriness in an otherwise cool and fruity pint.

I enjoyed this pint quite a bit.  I like citrus flavors, so I found this flavor nice and refreshing.  The cilantro finish was interesting, but not too potent.  It is nice refreshing pint of ice cream for a hot summer day.  One more thing to add.  I've recently learned that as many as 20% of people might be genetically disposed to dislike the taste of cilantro -- I guess they think it tastes like soap!  Fascinating that they can pinpoint a gene for that!  So, if you already know that you have issues with cilantro, then this is probably not the pint for you, but if you like cilantro in other things then this is a fun pint.

Izzy's - Strawberry Mint Mojito

Strawberry Mint Mojito - Strawberry Ice Cream, Pureed Fresh Mint, Lime Juice and a Hint of Rum

Today's flavor is from the Saint Paul-based Izzy's Ice Cream.  The flavor is called Strawberry Mint Mojito and is the Best in Show flavor of the People's Flavor Awards event which Izzy's held last month.  The contest is held every other year and this year I was able to go.  Included below are a few pictures that I took while I was there. 

2019 People's Flavor Awards registration desk

Scooping Bins for Kids Flavor finalists

Flavor Card for the Best in Show

Fruit Category Finalists:  Strawberry Mint Mojito (right), Mango Lassi Coconut Crunch (bottom), Cranberry Craze (left), Soccer Mom (top)

It was a really fun event.  They served Izzy-scoop sized portions into little paper cups.  There were six categories with 4 flavors each in most of the categories and 6 flavors in the non-dairy category to make a total of 26 flavors.  You could eat the ice cream at your own pace and could even go back in line for seconds if you really liked a flavor.  I had a good time and would definitely go ahead.

The Best in Show flavor was from the Fruit category and is called Strawberry Mint Mojito.  It is a strawberry ice cream mixed mixed with lime juice, pureed mint leaves a touch of rum.  Being the winning flavor means that it is likely to be promoted to a regular flavor and put into their scooping bin rotation alongside previous flavor award winners.  Izzy's has written a blog post about the new flavor which includes some cool photos.  I do remember enjoying this flavor quite a bit from the day of the contest and I am looking forward to having it again in pint format.

Removing the lid, I see the dark pink color of the strawberry base which quite a few dark specks visible throughout the pint.  Digging in, the strawberry flavor is fairly strong, a little bit tart and quite delicious.  The dark specks are not seeds, though.  They are small pieces of mint!  I definitely do notice the mint flavor from time to time -- and especially when I bit into one of these small flecks. I do taste a bit of rum from time to time.  It adds a bit of flavor without being at all 'boozy'.

This is a great new flavor from Izzy's Ice Cream -- a very deserving winner of the People's Flavor Award contest.  It has a good strong mix of strawberry and lime when you first taste it and the mint and rum are noticeable as a 'finish'.  This has me curious about other fruit-and-mint blending possibilities.  Enjoy.

Izzy's - Birchwood's Key Lime Pie

Birchwood's Key Lime Pie - Key Lime Ice Cream with Pieces of Key Lime Pie

Today we look at a flavor from the Saint Paul-based Izzy's Ice Cream called Birchwood's Key Lime Pie.  It is not one of their flavor-award winners but I really like key lime pie so I figured I had to check it out.  At first, I wondered what the "Birchwood" stood for.  I thought maybe it was a variety of key lime but it turns out that it is named after a Minneapolis restaurant called the Birchwood Cafe which has key lime pie on the dessert menu.  Pieces of this pie are used as the mix-in here.  I was inspired to try the Birchwood Cafe for breakfast one morning.  I liked it.  They have meat on the menu, but they do specialize in organic, vegan and gluten-free options.  It was a few dollars more expensive than the usual diner but most of the items seemed to have been designed by a chef because they had creative ingredients.  For example, the buttermilk pancakes included candied hazelnuts and the vegetable scramble included garlic scapes.  I don't usually have pie with my breakfast, but I tried it out.  The key lime and coconut cream pies were both excellent and the homemade crust was especially good.

OK, on to the ice cream.  Removing the pint, I see the light-yellow color of the key lime base along with lots of pie-crust-like mix-ins visible.  Digging in, the key lime flavor is quite delicious.  It is slightly more tart than the Graeter's pint which I recently had, but it is within the range of expected tartness.  The mix-ins here are actually small pie pieces.  The crust is what I notice most in my mouth, but if you look closely, you can see pie filling swirled into the ice cream near each mix-in.  Some partial mixing has occurred but it makes these sections of the ice cream a bit limey-er than the rest of the base.  It's a nice effect.  The crust is amazing just like in the slice of pie that I got when I went to the cafe.  You can tell that it is handmade and not store-bought.

This is an excellent pint of key lime pie ice cream.  It is not often that something tops Graeter's but I think Izzy's has done just that here.  Izzy's is a bit more tart and quite a bit more rich -- I think Izzy's base includes more butterfat.  Key lime fans who are lucky enough to be at Izzy's when this is available should definitely indulge in this flavor.

Graeter's - Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie - Ice Cream Base Flavored with Key Lime Juice with Crunchy Graham Crust Pieces

Today is the third pint to my recent six-pint shipment from the Cincinnati-based Graeter's Ice Cream.  This is a seasonal flavor called Key Lime Pie.  You can tell that it is a seasonal rather than a limited-batch flavor because it has it has its own packaging.  I really like the bright green carton.  It makes me look forward to the lime.  This appears to be a standard implementation of a pie-as-ice-cream.  Graham cracker pieces are added to simulate the pie crust.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid, the base is a bright greenish yellow.  It almost looks like it might glow in the dark.  Many of the graham cracker pieces can be seen right away.  Digging in, the lime flavor is excellent.  The carton says that this is flavored with key lime juice but I feel like I can actually test the zest in there.  The graham cracker pieces are crunchy and large enough that you can taste the crust from time to time, but not so large as to distract from the lime flavor.

This is an excellent key lime pie flavor.  It did everything well.  The lime was good, the graham crust pieces were good.  It tastes just like the pie -- yet it is still ice cream.  I have had one other key lime pie flavor (from Talenti) which was quite good but I feel this flavor is even better.  This is a seasonal pint from Graeter's so check it out while it is available.

Sweet Science - Lime Curd with White Chocolate

Lime Curd with White Chocolate - Lime Curd Ice Cream with White Chocolate Freckles

We return to the Saint Paul-based Sweet Science brand for another seasonal flavor: Lime Curd White Chocolate.  This is the first primarily lime flavors, I have had in quite a long time.  There have been a couple of berry-limes, but there the berry is usually the primary flavor.  I think you have to go back to a Key Lime Pie pint which I had two years ago to find a mainly-lime pint.  If you are not familiar with 'lime curd' it is nothing to be afraid of.  Yes, it does get its name because when lemon or lime juice is added to dairy products, the acidity causes the milk to curdle, but most recipes for lime curd (or lemon curd) involve mixing in enough butter, eggs and sugar that you are effectively making a sweet custard out of the lime juice.  This "lime curd" is then a much more malleable ingredient for use in more complex dessert recipes.  The mix-ins here are tiny white chocolate 'freckles'.  I had never thought to mix lime with white chocolate before.  It should be fun to see how this works out.

Removing the lid, the lime curd base is a bright yellow.  There appears to be some swirls of lime curd itself in the mix, too.  Digging in, the base ice cream is very flavorful.  Lots of bright citrus flavor.  Sweet enough to mask the sourness of the lime, but not overly so.  It is quite delicious.  The lime curd swirl was an unexpected bonus as well.  Yum.  Then I was looking for the white chocolate mix-ins.  It took me a while to find them, but they were actually everywhere.  Basically, they were small 'freckles' not much larger than grains of sand.  I could feel them with my tongue inside each spoonful but when I tried to isolate them from the rest of the ice cream, they melted away.  Neat!  As I've mentioned in previous reviews, white chocolate is a fairly inert flavor on my palate, anyways.  I am curious to know what people who really love the flavor of white chocolate think of this flavor combination, but otherwise I'll just accept its fleeting texture and enjoy this amazing lime base.

I really liked this pint!  I am always looking for good citrus-based flavors and this one hits the jackpot.  One of my favorite lemon or lime flavors so far and one of my favorite Sweet Science pints as well.  If you like lime flavor and can find this pint, check it out.

Sweet Science - Blackberry Sorbet

Blackberry Sorbet - Blackberry Sorbet with a hint of Lime

Today we move on to a new seasonal flavor from the most recent Sweet Science ice cream tasting.  This is a blackberry sorbet.  As a reminder, a sorbet is dairy-free by definition.  It is flavoring (usually fruit juice but can be other flavors such as chocolate) and ice which is churned up in an ice cream maker.  Here they flavoring is blackberries and they mention that some lime is used to balance the flavor.


Opening the pint, the sorbet is quite soft!  I wonder if I took too long to get home from the tasting?   It has been in my freezer for over a week since the tasting though, so you think that if it melted that it would refreeze too icy.  Here, it is just a bit soft.  I'll just make sure I have extra napkins around while I eat as it has a very strong and dark purplish-red wine color.  It is a beautiful color, but I don't want to get it on my shirt.  Digging in, the blackberry flavor is quite delicious.  I also notice the lime flavoring right away.  The side of the carton mentions that a 'hint' of lime is used but it is noticeable enough that I think it almost deserves a co-billing.  No complaints as I love lime flavoring too.  The texture is very soft and creamy.  Even as I got to the bottom of the pint, it was never runny.  It was about the texture of a soft gelato.


This was a very fun pint.  Very fruity.  The blackberry and lime are blended well.  It is a bit potent, though.  You might not want to eat the whole pint in one sitting.  The side of the carton suggests having a scoop of this alongside a scoop of vanilla.  That sounds good.

 

McConnell's - Hibiscus Lime

Hibiscus Lime - Hibiscus and Lime Ice Cream

The other day, I got a nice present from a relative who appreciates my ice cream hobby -- a shipment of the McConnell's Melting Pot Collection.  It is four limited-edition flavors for the end of summer -- all flavors are a bit exotic in nature.  The first flavor is Hibiscus Lime.  I have never seen hibiscus-flavored ice cream before.  I've never seen hibiscus flavored anything before.  My mother had a potted hibiscus plant in our backyard when I was a kid, but I never thought about eating it.  I guess it is a thing, though.  Part of the flower can be used to make a red-colored tea which has a tart cranberry-like flavor.  Places that serve crafty mixed drinks sometimes include hibiscus in their rotation of exotic ingredients, so it makes sense to extend that to ice cream.  Here, McConnell's adds a bit of citrus into the mix with the lime.  I am quite curious to check this out!

Since these pints were packed in dry ice for shipment, I always leave them out for an extra five minutes to let it soften.  Opening the pint, I see that the base has a chalky pink color.  It is an ice cream and not a sorbet so it won't be a bright red.  With the first spoonful, there is a strong berry flavor and it is a little bit tart.  I was trying to figure out exactly what kind of berry, but it is hard to place.  It reminded me a little bit of tart version of Izzy's Church Elderberry but more tart.  At any rate, it really is quite delicious.  I could sense the presence of lime, but its role here is a supporting one.  There are no mix-ins in this pint.

This was fun.  I enjoyed this new flavor.  The tartness built up a bit as I ate further down into the pint.  The end of the pint was still good, but this is perhaps a flavor enjoyed one large scoop at a time.  So, if you're in a McConnell's scoop shop in the next couple of months, then check this out.

  

Talenti - Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie - Key Lime Gelato with Graham Cracker Swirls and Pieces

As I scan the large Talenti section in my local grocery store to see what to review next, I generally look for something unique and different, something that the other brands don't carry.  This time I zeroed in on Key Lime Pie.  I am a big fan of citrus flavors so grabbed this pint.  It turns out that this is a new Talenti flavor for 2016, so its not just new for me, it's new for everyone.

Unscrewing the lid off the jar, you see a pale yellow color with specks of brown visible.  This was actually difficult to photograph.  My camera has autofocus the top appeared 'blurry' and it kept focusing on the wrong thing.  The pale yellow color is actually correct for key lime pie.  The fruit and juice of a key lime (named for its association with the Florida Keys) is more yellow than its more common and greener cousin, the Persian lime.  Plus, added egg yolks, make a key lime pie even yellower.  With Mediterranean Mint, Talenti went with an artificial green color but here they stuck with the natural look.    The base was quite delicious.  It had a bit of a creamy custardy texture but definite lime overtones to it.  It was not as strong as some lime-flavored candies, but I think it was a good amount of lime for eating a whole pint.  The brown flecks turned out to be the graham cracker swirl.  In small doses, these flecks added some texture, but additionally to the swirl were larger pieces.  These provided good contrast to the lime-flavored base and also created the sensation that you were eating a piece of pie with the crust.

I really enjoyed this pint.  It was both a different flavor than usual and also very tasty at the same time.  The flavor was very cool and soothing and I can see why this is a popular flavor for a dessert in hot and muggy south Florida.