Nothing says peace and love like ice cream. Maybe I’m biased, but think about it – when was the last time you were leisurely licking away at a scoop shop or comfortably couch-crushing a pint and felt any sort of malice towards anyone around you? How often are people clenching their fists in the frozen aisle or grimacing while staring into the cold case filled with cone-topping delights? Likely never, and it is with that sense of togetherness that Ben & Jerry’s have released their latest limited batch creation with Bob Marley’s One Love, which combines banana ice cream with caramel and graham cracker swirls and fudge peace sings…mon.

It’s already been established that I’m a fan of banana ice cream and this is a great banana base. It’s velvety smooth and creamy with an authentic banana flavor that is just present enough to be very obvious without being overwhelming. Its profile is spot on perfectly ripened, not over-ripened, banana, with a great balance of fruity sweetness and dairy richness.

I’m not sure why, but the fudge peace signs in here really kick ass. They snap with a great chocolatey crunch and finish with a smooth meltiness that feels both creamier and darker than the usual fudge flakes. I don’t know if they actually have different ingredients or it’s just the size and shape of the signs as opposed to the flakes, but these little cocoa circles are truly filling me with good vibrations.

The caramel swirls are wonderfully integrated throughout the base and pool up in gorgeous golden spots throughout the pint. I’ve always loved the play of banana with caramel so it’s no surprise that it works really well here too. The caramel itself is standard B&J’s – thin, runny, and sweet with a mellow flavor – not dark, roasty, or salted at all, and does its job in adding a fun texture and an extra depth to the creamy banana vibes.

Much less prominently featured is the graham cracker swirl, which seems to pop up mostly in tandem with the caramel. It has a soft but gritty texture and noticeable saltiness that cuts through all the other sweet-leaning elements in the pint, but there’s so little of it that it doesn’t become a very pronounced part of the experience. Towards the middle of the container I got a big congregation of graham and it was awesome. As a lover of the graham I wish there was more, but what is there adds something totally different than the other components and its taste and texture are great, despite being limited.

One Love is without a doubt my favorite of Ben & Jerry’s releases this year, and one that I would be happy to see stick around for the future. As an ice cream that was originally released as a U.K exclusive, hopefully this is a sign of good things to come for more of their inventive and interesting pints to make their way to the good ole U S of A.

Rating: 9/10
Found at: Duc Loi Supermarket ($4.49)
Quick Nutrition: 1/2 cup (109g) – 290 cal – 15g fat – 8g sat fat – 115mg sodium – 36g carb – 29g sugar – 4g protein