McConnell's - Cookie Dough

Cookie Dough - Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pieces

The third pint in my recent shipment from McConnell's Fine Ice Creams is Cookie Dough.  This flavor is usually only available in scoop shops only, but they temporarily make it available online for a while.  It is actually what inspired me to get the McConnell's shipment.  There were only two limited batch flavors for the spring, but an online shipment requires four pints.  A third limited-batch flavor makes the shipment more appealing.  Anyhow, this looks like a standard cookie dough implementation.  Vanilla is the base here.

Removing the lid, the base is actually a creamy beige color.  It almost looks like the carton is filled with cookie dough itself!  I am relieved to find after having a spoonful that it is ice cream.  A whole pint of cookie dough would seem to be a bit much.  It doesn't taste like plain vanilla ice cream, though.  It tastes like it has been 'infused' with cookie dough flavor.  I have seen cookie milk ice cream here, this almost tastes like cookie dough milk.  Perhaps the base milk and cream is cooked with the cookie dough in it before the churning starts?  Or maybe the flavoring from the mix-ins simply diffused into the base?  Whatever they did, the effect is quite delicious.  Then chunks of actual cookie dough are dispersed generously throughout the pint.  These taste pretty good and include chocolate chips.

This is an excellent implementation of a standard, simple ice cream flavor.  Whatever they did to infuse their base with cookie dough flavor worked like a charm and allows this pint to stand out among other cookie dough flavors.  For simple cookie dough implementations, this is probably my new favorite.  If you're a cookie dough ice cream enthusiast and you live near a McConnell's scoop shop, give this one a try.

Izzy's - Honey Crunch

Honey Crunch - Honey Flavored Ice Cream with Cashew Brittle

Today we return to the Saint-Paul-based Izzy's Ice Cream for a flavor they call Honey Crunch.  They don't seem to have a webpage for the flavor but it is a twist on their Honey flavor -- a cashew brittle is mixed in.  Honey from the local Ames Honey is used.  This should be interesting.

Removing the lid, I see that the ice cream is a bit fluffy even though it has been hand packed.  It has a golden off-white color and some of the brittle mix-ins are visible right away.  Digging in, the honey base has a darker flavor than I anticipated.  Honey has more of a muted sweetness than cane sugar, so I was not expecting it to be as sweet as normal ice cream, but it tastes bit darker than that.  It tastes like the honey has been caramelized a bit.  The brittle mix-ins are dispersed throughout the pint.  As often happens with brittle in ice cream, it ends up half-melted.  I actually like this effect.  The half-melted brittle might be part of the source of the caramel-like flavor that I am tasting.  So, the pint is not all that crunchy.  Every once in a while, I encounter a small cashew piece or a small white shard of unmelted brittle.

This is a decent pint, but I did not enjoy it quite as much as I expected.  The darker, almost burnt caramel flavor reminded me a bit of their popular Butter Caramel Swirl flavor.  The darker flavor is certainly intentional, but evidently not my personal preference.  I prefer something like Jeni's Matterhorn flavor.  Still, if you are interested in a darker honey flavor with a swirl of half-melted brittle, you might enjoy this flavor more than me.

McConnell's - Pineapple Rum and Guava Jam

Pineapple Rum and Guava Jam - Pineapple Rum Ice Cream with a Swirl of Guava Jam

Today, we move on to the second pint in my recent four-pint shipment from the Santa-Barbara-based McConnell's Fine Ice Creams.  This is a seasonal flavor called Pineapple Rum & Guava Jam.  A very interesting flavor combination!  I have had a few pineapple pints before, but none paired with rum.  And believe it or not, this is my first pint which includes guava. 

Guava is a tropical fruit in the myrtle family which is native to Mexico, Central and South America.  It can be eaten by itself, but I often see it blended with other fruits.  It can be a bit confusing because many varieties of guava are actually named after other fruits (e.g. pineapple guava, strawberry or cherry guava, etc.), so I have to check the ingredients to which it is.  Here, it is pineapple and guava -- specifically pineapple and rum in the base and the mix-in is a swirl of guava jam.

On to the ice cream!  Opening the pint, I see the yellowish-white color of the pineapple base and the guava jam swirl forms a near perfect spiral.  I wonder if there is some special tool used to spin the jam into each carton?  Digging in, the pineapple and rum flavors are fully blended.  This is not a bright and fruity pineapple like the Häagen-Dazs Pineapple Coconut flavor.  The rum darkens the flavor quite a bit.  It's not at all boozy, though.  It tastes pretty good.  The guava jam is thick and pasty.  It also has a milder and darker flavor than I expected (I associate guava with bright and fruity drinks).

This is a very interesting pint.  It has all these tropical flavors in it, but it contains darker and richer flavors than I was expecting.  Some of that is due to blending in the rum, but it affected the guava jam as well.  It is still quite delicious though.  This may be a good pint for people who want tropical flavors without it being too sweet.

Ben & Jerry's - Red White & Blueberry

Red White & Blueberry - Blueberry & Raspberry Ice Cream swirled with Vanilla Ice Cream with Strawberries & Shortbread Pieces 

Today is the second of the two new Walmart-exclusive flavors this year.  The first flavor was a cookies-n-cream-like flavor called Ice Cream Sammie.  This flavor is called Red, White and Blueberry.  A very patriotic-sounding flavor and very fitting for the summer holidays of Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.  The color comes from the fruit.  There is blueberry and raspberry in one base, vanilla in another and strawberry and shortbread mix-ins.  Looks quite interesting.

Removing the lid, I see that the blueberry-raspberry base is actually a bluish purple color.  It is marbled quite well with a vanilla base and I can see a couple of the strawberry pieces right away.  Digging in, I taste mainly blueberry in the blueberry-raspberry base.  I am OK with that because blueberry is a much less common flavor in ice creams than raspberry and with all the different ice creams that I try, I appreciate the novelty.  The flavor is pretty good and the marbled vanilla base helps to keep the fruit flavor from becoming too intense.   The strawberry pieces are frozen.  I have encountered this issue with Ben & Jerry's strawberry pieces before (also here).  Biting into frozen strawberries is no fun, but from experience I know to melt the pieces on my tongue before trying to chew them.  I was surprised to find that the shortbread pieces are dark green!  I think the pieces may have originally been yellowish orange like on the side of the carton, but must have absorbed some of the blueberry-raspberry base.  They don't look too appetizing, but they taste alright.  They provide a bit of gritty texture as well.

This is an interesting and fruity pint of ice cream.  It is basically the mix-ins from a previous Walmart-exclusive flavor Strawberry Not So Shortcake put into a swirl of blueberry-raspberry and vanilla bases.  I liked Strawberry Not So Shortcake and I applaud the use of blueberry in the bases, but I don't think the mix-ins matched the bases here.  The cosmetic issues (purple instead of blue and dark green shortbread pieces) were just that -- cosmetic -- but they took away some of the fun of what could have been a very colorful flavor.  The flavor was decent though.  If you like blueberry and you love Ben & Jerry's, you'll want to give it a try, but otherwise, I can see why this is an experimental limited batch flavor only available from one vendor. 

McConnell's - Passionfruit Custard

Passionfruit Custard - Passionfruit Custard

I got an order from the Santa Barbara-based McConnell's!  I had seen that they had a couple of limited-batch flavors for the spring season, but I didn't immediately pull the trigger because they didn't have enough new flavors to fill a four-pint shipment and I have been so busy with new flavors from other brands.  Well, they made their cookie dough flavor temporarily available online so I had enough for four pints and I pulled the trigger.  Today's flavor is one of the limited release flavors for spring, Passionfruit Custard.  It is just that, a frozen custard made with passionfruit.  (McConnell's uses the one-word spelling of 'passionfruit', but the two-word 'passion fruit' is just as common)  I've had passion fruit in ice cream twice before, once from Milkjam Creamery as a swirl and another time from Sweet Science as the base flavor.  This pint most closely resembles the Sweet Science implementation, although this is labeled a custard and not an ice cream.  The 'custard' label usually means that it has extra eggs and often means that there is less air in the mix (less 'overrun').  Enough talk, let's check this out!

Removing the lid, the base has a yellowish color of passionfruit as expected.  Digging in, the frozen custard is very thick and dense.  It is quite hard in the container, but it is not at all icy in texture.  The first spoonful provides a delicious passionfruit flavor.  This is one of my favorite tropical flavors.  The initial flavor is sweet, but there is a bit of tartness and bitterness in the 'finish' (what you taste after you swallow).  It is not too strong, but it is noticeable.  I noticed this exact same thing in the other passion fruit base that I've tried.  It is either part of the flavor of the fruit or it is a sign that the seeds are also in the mix.  The flavor is still excellent overall, the tartness actually prevents the flavor from becoming too sweet.

This is an excellent pint of passionfruit custard.  In comparison to the Sweet Science pint, McConnell's is denser and thicker while the Sweet Science pint is softer and easier to scoop.  But they both have great passion fruit flavor with a bit of tartness mixed in.  Passionfruit fans should check this one out.

Pumphouse Creamery - Lemon Olive Oil & Sea Salt

Lemon Olive Oil & Sea Salt - Ice Cream made with Lemon-infused Olive Oil and Sea Salt

While I was at the Pumphouse Creamery in Minneapolis a few weeks ago picking up a pint of their excellent Fresh Rhubarb ice cream, I saw another interesting flavor called Lemon Olive Oil & Sea Salt.  I am always curious about olive oil flavors and I love lemon so I picked it up.  The website clarifies that this is lemon-infused olive oil, so the lemon is *in* the olive oil and not a separate ingredient.  Let's dig in!

Removing the lid, the ice cream is quite white.  Taking a whiff, I can smell notes of lemon which is promising.  The first spoonful is thick and smooth and has a subtle lemon flavor.  The olive oil itself adds more texture than flavor.  The ice cream feels really smooth inside my mouth.  As mentioned before, the lemon flavor is not strong, but I really like it.  I has a cool, refreshing and palate cleansing effect.

I really liked this ice cream.  The olive oil creates a nice texture and the infused lemon flavor is quite good.  This is not a strong flavor, but it is quite refreshing.  It is a good choice for when you are in the mood for something simple, yet slightly out of the ordinary.

Izzy's - Mexican Chocolate Fiesta

Mexican Chocolate Fiesta - Chocolate Ice Cream with a dash of Cinnamon and a hint of Orange Extract

Izzy's Ice Cream has 32 flavors available in their scoop shops at any given time, but they many more flavors available than that.  There are 8 core flavors that seem to be always available (vanilla, vanilla bean, chocolate, strawberry, salted caramel, bubble gum, cotton candy & cookies and cream) and the other 24 slots rotate.  Thankfully, they have an online system to help me find out when flavors I am interested in have been rotated in which is called the Flavor Up system.  I signed up for all the award-winning flavors and a handful of others which look interesting.  The system works.  I actually got on email when the 2001 People's-Flavor-Award-winning flavor Mexican Chocolate Fiesta become available and I was able to run down and pick up a pint.  This is a chocolate ice cream with cinnamon and orange flavoring added.  I have had several 'mexican chocolate' flavors which include cinnamon (from Steve's, Jeni's, and McConnells) and one surprisingly good orange chocolate flavor.  I am curious to see how well this pint compares.

Opening the pint, I mainly see chocolate -- as expected.  With the first spoonful, I taste the cinnamon right away.  It is quite noticeable, but it is not at all a 'hot' cinnamon.  Then of course, the chocolate flavor.  It is good chocolate flavor -- sort of a milk chocolate, but most chocolate ice creams are rather milky because milk and cream are a natural part of ice cream ('dark' chocolate implementations have to try hard to stay 'dark').  Then after I swallowed, I actually noticed the orange flavor.  Often when I read that a flavor contains a 'hint' of something, I wonder if the effect will be too subtle for my palate, but I can definitely taste it here.  It provides cool orange flavor at the end of every spoonful. 

I really enjoyed this pint.  This is thick, dense and rich chocolate which is quite good by itself, but the cinnamon and orange definitely make it more interesting.  It is not as hot of a cinnamon flavor as some Mexican chocolates, and it is not as orangey as some orange chocolates, but all the flavors are balanced quite well.  This is quite delicious and I can see why it won one the first People's Flavor Award contest back in 2001.  They are holding the People's Flavor Award contest again next month and I am looking forward to checking it out.