Ben & Jerry's - Pucker Upper

Pucker Upper - Raspberry Sorbet with an Extra Tart Lemonade Sorbet Swirl & Sour Sugar Bits

Ben & Jerry's has a new summer flavor and it is a sorbet!  I know they have a non-dairy line, but I believe this is the first sorbet that I have seen from them.  At least in a past few years since I started surveying their collection.  This is a raspberry lemonade sorbet that they call Pucker Upper.  Sounds like they are preparing us for tartness!  I am looking forward to checking this out.

Removing the lid, the raspberry sorbet is a dark pink color.  I can tell right away that this has a sorbet-like texture.  A sorbet is non-dairy by design.  It's main ingredients are flavor (fruit juice here), sugar and ice -- and then it is churned like an ice cream.  I can tell just by looking at the top of the pint that it's a sorbet.  It has a 'frozen slush' texture to it that many sorbets have.  Digging in, the raspberry flavor is a bit tart -- they warned us didn't they? -- but it is quite tasty.  As I dig further down, I start to uncover sections of lemonade sorbet.  The raspberry and lemonade sorbets are marbled rather than blended.  The lemonade sorbet is also delicious, but it is even more tart -- as lemonade often is.  The sugar bit mix-ins are in the lemonade sorbet, but not the raspberry sorbet.  I notice the texture difference more than the flavor, but it is likely that the lemonade sorbet would be even more tart without them.

This is a totally different kind of pint than we normally see from Ben & Jerry's.  They are known for their mix-ins -- cores, truffles, brownies, fudge chips, etc -- but here we have a marbling of two sorbets.  It is a bit tart, but not as sour as you might expect a flavor named "Pucker Upper" to be.  It is all about managing expectations.  One minor quibble is that this sorbet is not completely dairy free.  If you check the ingredients, you'll see that it says "Warning: Contains Milk and Soy" and the list does contain "nonfat milk" and "milk".  It still feels and tastes like a sorbet.  Perhaps a smidge of milk helps it churn a bit better like a sherbet does?  I doubt it is enough to bother people unless your dairy allergy or lactose intolerance is very strong, but you figure if they wanted to cheat on their sorbet implementation that they could have used something non-dairy like coconut milk or almond milk.  Anyhow, for those without dairy issues, this is a fun change of pace from Ben & Jerry.  Check it out if a frozen raspberry lemonade sounds good on a hot day.

Graeter's - Malted Pretzel Ball

Malted Pretzel Ball - Milk Chocolate Pretzel Balls in Malted Ice Cream

I got a shipment from the Cincinnati-based Graeter's Ice Cream!  Graeter's has a lot of seasonal flavors and I was noticing while shopping online that I haven't tried any of their late-spring/early-summer selections (my shipment last year was in late summer).  They also have a couple of limited batch flavors which look quite interesting.  The shipment almost did not happen.  Often Graeter's runs out of their seasonal and limited batch flavors -- at least online.  It seemed like that was happening to me as a couple of flavors were being marked as sold out, but then one day all the flavors that I wanted got restocked!  And they came, too.  Woohoo!  Anyhow, the first flavor in my shipment is one of the limited-batch flavors:  Malted Pretzel Ball.  It is a malted ice cream with milk chocolate pretzel balls.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid, the base ice cream is quite light in color.  It is not a pure white, but it could pass for a sweet cream or vanilla.  One of the pretzel balls is visible right away on the top.  As I dig in, the malt flavor is noticeable, but not too strong.  Next I encounter the pretzel balls.  These are excellent.  They are about the size of marbles.  They are salty and crunchy on the inside with a chocolate coating.  They are dispersed throughout the pint, but not quite as many of them as I expected.  They're good when I encounter them, though.

This is a pretty good pint of pretzel ice cream.  It is basically a simpler and lighter version of Chubby Hubby -- malt and chocolate-covered pretzels, but without the peanut butter in the base or mix-ins.  Peanut butter is a big part of Chubby Hubby, though, so this ends up being a very different flavor.  Here, the malted base is simple and not very strong, but it serves as a good vehicle for the excellent pretzel balls.  I would have liked a few more pretzel balls.  I understand you don't want to overdo this type of mix-in but they were hard to find at times.  It is still a solid pint and worth checking out if you like pretzels.

Tillamook - Pendleton Whisky & Maple

Pendleton Whisky & Maple - Whisky Frozen Custard with a Whisky Maple Swirl

Today we return to Oregon's Tillamook valley for other flavor from the Tillamook Creamery.  This flavor is called Pendleton Whisky & Maple.  Pendleton is a brand of Canadian Whisky which is distributed in Hood River, Oregon.  I see the 'whisky' spelling and I am used to it being spelled 'whiskey'.  I can't remember if I have looked this up before, but I will look it up again.  The 'whisky' spelling is Scottish while the 'whiskey' spelling is Irish.  Here the whisky is paired with maple syrup.  I have only had a few maple-syrup-centric pints before -- flavors from Graeter's and Izzy's which use a maple-syrup base and flavors from Coolhaus and Yeti which include a maple-syrup swirl.  This pint is also listed as a frozen custard rather than an ice cream.  This usually means there is more than the usual amount of eggs in the base mixture. Anyhow, I am looking forward to this flavor.

Removing the lid, the whisky base is an off-white tan color.  Digging in, the base is creamy.  As for the frozen custard label, it may be slightly easier to scoop of the carton out than the usual ice cream, but it still feels like ice cream to me.  Soon after digging in my spoon, I encounter the whisky maple swirls.  These are delicious, they taste like good maple syrup but there is a little bit of whisky blended in which keeps it from tasting too sweet.  There is some whisky in the base as well, but it is fairly mild.  Here the base serves as the vehicle to deliver the swirls.  I am impressed that the maple swirls manage to stay intact because maple likes to blend in and become part of the base.  Here, the swirls have a caramel-like consistency while tasting like maple syrup, of course.

I really enjoyed this pint.  The maple syrup swirls are excellent and the whisky darkens the flavor up a bit without being at all boozy.  It is a unique flavor as well.  It doesn't compare directly to any of other maple syrup flavors I listed above because of the whisky and also because there are no mix-ins.  Check it out.

Sweet Science - Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake - Spiced Carrot Ice Cream swirled with a Cream Cheese Ice Cream

Today marks the return of the Saint Paul-based Sweet Science Ice Cream to these reviews.  I had not forgotten about them, but all of their seasonal flavors of late have been repeats for me.  I guess this is the second year that I have been sampling their flavors.  Anyhow, this month marks the return of the Basil and Strawberry Mascarpone flavors which were both well done (especially the Basil) and a new flavor called Carrot Cake.  So, I finally get to have them again.  I missed the nice clean chemical formula logos on the front of the carton.  In chemistry, "CC" is the SMILES represenation of ethane which is a colorless and odorless gas.  For Sweet Science, it means a spiced carrot ice cream swirled with a cream cheese ice cream.  I have had carrot cake ice cream once before from Izzy's, it will be interesting to see how this one compares.

Removing the lid, I see the two bases right away.  It is mostly a cream cheese base on the top with the carrot ice cream marbled in.  Digging in, this pint has a bright flavor.  The cream cheese is tasty and not too heavy.  The carrot ice cream is very delicious.  The spices in the carrot base are fairly mild, but noticeable.  This spicy carrot flavor actually reminds me quite a bit of pumpkin.  I guess the two ingredients make for similar desserts.

This is an excellent pint of carrot and cream cheese ice cream.  For carrot-cake inspired flavors, I can't decide whether I like this flavor or Izzy's Chubby Bunny better.  The Izzy's is definitely spicier with yummy cake pieces and the occasional walnut or chunk of frosting, but this Sweet Science flavor feels so clean and bright.  I don't know how better to describe it.  Check this one out if you like carrot cake.

McConnell's - Vanilla Bean

Vanilla Bean - Vanilla Ice Cream with Vanilla Beans

Today is the final pint of my recent four-pint shipment from McConnell's Fine Ice Creams, Vanilla Bean.  I am often hesitant to do reviews of vanilla pints because there implementation is quite simple and without a side-by-side comparison it's hard for me to judge them, but I needed an extra pint to fill out my four-pint shipment and they only had two spring flavors (Passionfruit Custard and Pineapple Rum and Guava Jam).  McConnell's proudly gets their vanilla from the R. R. Lochhead company -- so much so that they list the name parenthetically on the side of the carton.  This is a Madagascar vanilla -- from that island and extracted from the bean with a 'cool extractor'.  Let's check it out.

Popping off the lid and removing the extra seal, the top of the pint is an off-white color and many vanilla bean specks are visible.  The pictures are below.  The texture is thick, dense, but creamy as is quite common with McConnell's pints.  The vanilla flavor is quite good.

This is a very good pint of vanilla ice cream.  It is a simple implementation and has that excellent McConnell's texture.  Unless you are like me and doing a full survey of their product line, you probably wouldn't include it in an online shipment -- they have more interesting flavors for that -- but if you are in the mood for vanilla and are at a McConnell's scoop shop or you see a pint in a freezer case, you can't go wrong here.

Izzy's - Mango Django

Mango Django - Mango Ice Cream infused with Honey and Balsam Vinegar with Cayenne Pepper, Poppy Seeds and Ground Pink Peppercorns

Today's flavor is another People's Flavor Award from Izzy's Ice Cream in Saint Paul.  This one is called Mango Django and it won their biennial contest in 2011.  I am looking forward to attending the 2019 contest on June 16th.  In their flavor page, I notice they specify that it is pronounced with a silent D.  That movie came out in 2012 -- the year after the flavor -- but that character is based on the title character of a 1966 spaghetti western film, so the name has been in pop culture for quite a while.   This flavor is a mango based flavor, but with several other ingredients.  It is sweetened with honey, but cut with balsamic vinegar and then cayenne pepper, poppy seeds and pink peppercorns are mixed in.  Looks quite interesting!

Removing the lid, I see the deep orange color of mango as expected.  I do see a few of the poppy seeds embedded in the ice cream.  They almost look like large vanilla bean specks.  Digging in, this is really good!  I can taste the mango flavor, but it is different from other mango implementations.  The honey & balsamic used to balance the flavors creates interesting effect.  It's not at all tangy like a balsamic-heavy pint, but it is not too sweet either.  The mix-ins are quite light here.  I can see the occasional poppy seed but it is not loaded with poppy seeds like a poppy seed muffin.  I could not taste much cayenne, though my spice tolerance is very high so perhaps there's a little kick in there that most people will notice.  I also did not notice many ground peppercorns, but maybe there were ground up so fine that they blended into the amazing base.

I enjoyed this ice cream greatly.  Often a simple mango ice cream or sorbet can be great for few spoonfuls but then have diminishing returns.  This base blends in a few other things to create a rich, creamy ice cream that was good for the full pint.  It reminded me of their Cabernet de l'Orange flavor -- a seemingly simple blend but surprisingly good.  Don't expect many mix-ins, though.  I've run into this issue sometimes with Izzy's.  The flavor description has me expecting a busy and crunchy pint but the mix-ins are either very sparse or fully ground up and blended into the base.  But don't let the mix-in confusion deter you.  This base ice cream is excellent.

Three Twins - Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup - Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Mini Peanut Butter Cups

Today is another pint from the Northern-California-based Three Twins Ice Cream.  This one is called Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup.  This is a class flavor combination that many brands implement -- even to the point of delivering their peanut butter in Reese's-like 'cup' form.  This implementation is slightly different than most, though, as here chocolate and peanut butter are blended together in the base as well as being paired together in the mix-ins.  Let's see how this tastes.

Removing the lid, the chocolate base is a little darker than many chocolate bases, but it doesn't looks like dark chocolate.  Also, I can tell without even putting my spoon in that it is going to be creamy.  I think the way it has curled up a bit on the sides.  Digging in, this is indeed creamy.  It has an almost mousse-like texture. The taste is mostly chocolate, but it is not overly chocolatey.  It is quite delicious.  I wonder if the extra peanut butter in the mix has the effect of making the chocolate creamier.  I remember this happening a bit with a Ben & Jerry's flavor called Peanut Butter World, although this pint is even more blended together.  The flavor link above says that Three Twins also puts a fair amount of vanilla into the mix as well.  That could be part of what I am tasting as well.  The peanut butter cups are dispersed throughout the pint.  They are quite small and because they are quite small, the surface-to-volume ratio is fairly high -- meaning that they are mostly chocolate coating with only a small amount of peanut butter filling.  They taste good, though and provide something to chew on and an otherwise very smooth base.

This pint is quite delicious.  It is quite different from other chocolate-and-peanut-butter pints that I've had in that it is mostly chocolate with only notes of peanut butter in the base and a little bit of peanut butter in the mix-ins.  It's quite delicious though.  If you are looking for a lot of peanut butter, you might be a bit disappointed, but chocolate lovers will certainly like this.  It makes me want to try their Bittersweet Chocolate flavor and see how their straight-chocolate compares with this.