REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Limited Batch One Love

September 4, 2017 / seansskillet / 2 Comments

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.

Beautiful layer of graham

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

REVIEW: Caramel Sea Salt Flipz

August 31, 2017August 30, 2017 / seansskillet / Leave a comment

In the deliciously vast food-scape of sweet and salty there are a few quintessential combos that in my mind define the flavor profile to a T. The first, and the one I go to for arguments sake when people tell me they don’t like sweet and salty, is the chocolate covered pretzel. How can you not like a chocolate covered pretzel? It’s textbook sweet and salty perfection. A crunchy, bread-y, salted snack, covered in creamy, sweet, slightly bitter chocolate. It’s magic to my tastebuds, and most people, once they realize that is the core of sweet and salty, take back their malice and admit its deliciousness.

The other staple, and one that has been very popular for the last five years or so, is salted caramel. Whether taken straight in candy-form, as ice cream, or worked into a pastry, the simple act of adding some salt to cut through the hyper-rich sweetness of caramel creates nothing short of balanced mouth-magic. Even though its trendiness has gotten a bit out of hand, there’s no denying it is fantastic, and it is by the marriage of these two pillars that the ultimate sweet and salty mouthgasm – Caramel Sea Salt Flipz – were born.

The nose on these sparkling bright blue bad boys is sa-WEET. A beautifully recognizable slightly artificial caramel smell tickles my nostrils with delight but there are no obvious cocoa notes to be found. They look a little different than I anticipated too, even though the bag showed me what they would be like, in my mind I pictured a milk chocolate dip drizzled with caramel and salt, but they’re fully submerged in caramel and drizzle with chocolate – makes sense.

These Flipz are SALTY. They start with a lovely smooth and creamy caramel corn sweetness and quickly begin to pop with aggressive bursts of sea salt. My initial feeling is that these may have tipped the scale of sweet and salty too far to salty and sweet, disturbing the perfect balance created by the almighty chocolate pretzel. It takes a lot of saltiness to bully out the intense sugary stature of caramel, but these Flipz are doing it, and certainly aren’t for the faint of heart.

I had some stashed Birthday Cake Flipz on hand to do a quick comparison, and yep, next to the caramel ones the cake Flipz don’t taste salty at all. To be fair they’re probably the sweetest of all Flipz, but my palate has been so rocked by the sea salt explosion that there is no sweet and salty gratification left at the birthday bash.

While these are definitely a very intense snack that not everyone will be able to handle, the more that I ate them they truly grew on me for what they are. By the very nature of already being sweet and salty, it only makes sense that a product with “sea salt” in its name has to take it up a notch. Whether that notch went one step too far will be up to individual taste, but taken in small quantities these are a fun snack, just make sure you’ve got some water or coffee nearby.

Rating: 8/10
Found at: Walgreens ($3.99)
Quick Nutrition: 7 pieces – 130 cal – 6g fat – 4.5g sat fat – 150mg sodium – 19g carb – 12g sugar – 2g protein

REVIEW: Three Twins’ Banana Nut Confetti

August 30, 2017September 13, 2017 / seansskillet / Leave a comment

Apparently I really like banana ice cream. Or maybe I’m just drawn to the less-commonly flavored base that still packs a big sweet punch and doesn’t drown out the elements it’s paired with like chocolate can do. Either way, I was surprised as I was dipping into my cream-stash that this was my fourth banana review in four months. Impressive.

Cali-proud organic churners Three Twins celebrated their 10 year anniversary in 2015 with two ice creams going right for the throat of Ben & Jerry’s – recreating some of their signature flavors with all natural organic ingredients. Banana Nut Confetti combines banana ice cream with walnuts and dark chocolate “confetti” flecks.

The banana flavor in this ice cream is present but relatively mild. It reminds me of a fruit that is almost perfectly ripe but could still use a day or two to fully bloom. You know, it’s not green but it’s pretty firm and there are zero spots to be found. Texturally it’s a bit on the thin and icy side without any dominant creamy mouthfeel or dairy slick. It isn’t awful but it’s pretty underwhelming, and is definitely my least favorite banana ice cream I’ve had this year.

The pieces of walnut are small to medium sized and similarly bland. They’re roasted but not salted and aren’t big enough to translate their unique fatty nut flavor to the spoon. There are hints of that wonderful walnut earthiness but they pop and fade so quickly it’s barely noticeable. I like walnuts in ice cream quite a bit, but they’re so mild here that I wish they were bigger and gave more depth to the pint.

Similarly, the chocolate confetti is in such small pieces there’s no real chocolate presence either. I usually like this kind of flaked chocolate, and it works well in other TT Confetti flavors, but here the pieces add almost nothing to the equation, especially in a situation where the base needs some help. Again, there’s nothing “bad” tasting about the flakes, they’re just incredibly boring.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had Chunky Monkey, and I don’t remember being too impressed by it, but I feel like it has got to be better than this. As admirable as it is to try and show how organic ingredients can be used to make quality ice cream, I think Three Twins should stick to creating their own flavors. The only other time I’ve been this let down by Three Twins was when they put their own spin on Cherry Garcia with Cherry Chocolate Chunk – and that was a disappointing snooze-fest as well.

Rating: 6/10
Found at: Safeway ($4.99)
Quick Nutrition: 1/2 cup (85g) – 180 cal – 11g fat – 6g sat fat – 30mg sodium – 19g carb – 1g fiber – 18g sugar – 1g protein

REVIEW: Ample Hills’ It Came From Gowanus

August 29, 2017August 28, 2017 / seansskillet / Leave a comment

Gowanus is a largely industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, which was the original home of Dutch settlers in the mid-1600’s and later, the primary backdrop of the Battle of Long Island during the Revolutionary War. As someone that has never been to New York, I don’t know much about the area, but when I hear “Gowanus” I think of a giant brown swamp monster, getting ready to feast on anything that comes across its path. Fittingly to my own mental misinterpretation of the name, Ample Hills’ It Came From Gowanus combines their darkest, saltiest chocolate ice cream with pieces of orange-scented brownies, and hazelnut crack cookies with white chocolate pearls.

This is without a doubt the most aggressively salted ice cream I have ever had and it is nothing short of phenomenal. It is thick, rich, and indulgent with incredibly deep dark chocolate notes and a massive salty flavor that’s hard for my brain to comprehend. The intensity of the ice cream is so grand that it almost doesn’t even feel cold, like the amount of salt has kept the freezer from doing its job and kept the custard frozen yet a silky room temperature without melting. It’s a revelation in cocoa that any chocolate lover needs to experience and is up there with the greatest bases I’ve ever had the joy of tasting. Flavor-wise it hits the highest of highs and the lowest of lows running the full spectrum with a richness that is inescapable.

The intensity of the experience continues with the mix-ins and my mouth continues to be mystified by what I am tasting. I’m not exactly sure what hazelnut crack cookies are but I get some bites of nutty-tasting, almost toffee-esque crunchy cookie bits with a beautiful buttery flavor, and other bites that seem just like a chunk of straight chocolate. The brownies come in varying sizes from little pieces to admirable hunks and have the perfect dense-yet-chewy texture that beautiful brownies can offer. Orange “scented” is the key word here, as there is just a hint of orange flavor poking through the chocolate abyss, and for my taste I wish there was a more dominant citrus pop, as a little bit of relief from the darkness would be a welcome contrast.

There are little white flecks that come across my spoon every so often and I assumed those were some white chocolate, but it turns out they’re little pieces of Saltine crackers – and unfortunately they didn’t really work for me. They’ve gone completely stale in the ice cream and pull me out of the intensely lush trip that Gowanus had sent me on thus far. The actual white chocolate pearls are little choco-coated balls that pop with a fun crispy texture and are mostly on top of the cookies but a few have jumped ship and float alone in the sea of darkness.

It Came from Gowanus is an absolute doctorate-certified lesson plan in how to elevate ice cream to new heights achieving both decadence and masterful artistry at the same time. It’s a shame this flavor is available in such limited quantities outside of New York as it’s a true treat that any frozen food explorer must try.

Rating: 9.5/10
Found at: http://www.amplehills.com (Taste of NY 4-Pack)

REVIEW: Keebler Limited Batch Dark Chocolate Mint Fudge Stripes

August 28, 2017August 28, 2017 / seansskillet / Leave a comment

Just when you thought those funny little Elves had started to dip into the deep end of limited time offerings, they return with another safe, albeit classic and delicious, limited batch flavor – Dark Chocolate Mint. Although I’ve gotta give them credit, they’re definitely throwing a cookie curveball releasing a flavor traditionally served alongside a blanket of snow at a time when most of the country is still sweating in triple digits. It would be like Oreo dropping their long lost Gingerbread cookie in Spring – it just doesn’t make sense, and yet, I can’t help but feel like there’s no wrong time for a taste of Winter.

Opening up the long crinkly package releases an unmistakable aroma – Thin Mints. These striped cookie tires smell almost identical to the Girl Scouts’ classic that also reign supreme during a time of no Winter Wonderland vibes. Maybe Keebler are onto something, as is evidenced by their year round Thin Mint knockoff Grasshoppers – that people get down on the delicious pairing of chocolate and mint whether or not there’s a long branch of mistletoe dangling over their heads.

The taste is also very similar to Thin Mints, a lovely marriage of chocolate and peppermint, just a bit less minty, and more obviously, much creamier because of the great green stripe of fudge along the top. The extra creamy notes also make the cookie register a bit sweeter than Thin Mints or Grasshoppers, with a heartier, deeper crunch and satisfying smoothness. The stripe on these cookies feels less notoriously waxy than their older siblings with a less hardened texture that provides a more legitimate creaminess than what I know and generally love from some Stripes.

Honestly, there’s not too much more to say about these cookies. The balance of peppermint sharpness to cooling sweetness is on point and it’s a classic pairing that will essentially sell itself. If I had one criticism it would be perhaps to make the cookie a bit more bitter since they used the word “dark” in the title, but overall these are a damn fine grocery cookie that will give anyone a taste of Christmas bliss, even if they’re wearing shorts.

Rating: 8.5/10
Found at: Sent to me by Keebler but spotted at Target and Walmart!
Quick Nutrition: 2 cookies – 140 cal – 6g fat – 4g sat fat – 120mg sodium – 20g carb – 11g sugar – 1g protein

REVIEW: Limited Edition PB & J Oreo

August 25, 2017August 21, 2017 / seansskillet / Leave a comment

It’s back to school week for all the kiddos out there, and let’s just say it how it is – that sucks. The long, care free, sleepless nights of whimsy and wonder are over and get exchanged for homework, bed times, and social anxiety. But hey – at least we get another new Oreo out of it! Despite the sadness of summer ending, I always secretly kind of liked going back to school, since it meant the days would get short and before I knew it a blanket of spookiness would wash over every store and every child’s imagination. I also not-so-secretly love every opportunity I can get to try a new limited time flavor of cookie, and if this long overdue Peanut Butter and Jelly Oreo comes at the sacrifice of teenagers everywhere having to spend $30 on a new backpack – I’ll take it.

The package smells sweet like artificial berries with a bit of swirling artificial peanut butter to back it up. The creme’s are split evenly down the middle, and by the looks of it the peanut butter half is really trying to flex its protein power over the berry, as the tan creme is oozing out of the side in a show of apparent snack time dominance. On the outside is the classic Golden wafer, and I can’t help but be a little sad it isn’t graham. Even though I’ve never had graham cracker bread, the mashup sounds delectably drool-worthy.

While I really liked and was surprised by the execution of the jelly creme in the Jelly Donut Oreo, I’m not liking it nearly as much here. There’s an odd, slightly off-putting floral note that comes across and registers much closer to perfume than jelly. It isn’t the usual punch-in-the-face sweetness that comes with most artificial berry flavors, but I find it distracting, and ultimately overpowering to the usually very hard to overthrow peanut butter. I really wish Nabisco had gone with grape jelly for this Oreo, but the strangest thing is not only does it not taste like grape, it doesn’t really taste like strawberry or raspberry either. It floats in this weird fake tasting space that really reminds me of flowers and has no notable tartness to balance it out.

The peanut butter creme, when I taste it on its own, is very good. It has a slightly thick and gritty texture with a true roasted peanut flavor that strikes a perfect sweet balance in tandem with the golden wafer. Some of the great nuttiness comes through in the complete bite, but a lot of its more subtle notes get drowned out by the sweeter and surprisingly prominent jelly. From what I recall, this creme is a bit saltier and less sweet than the one most of us are familiar with in a Nutter Butter, and I would love to see a Golden Oreo that features just this creme.

While this Oreo is good, and certainly more interesting than a couple of releases earlier this year, I don’t love it, and I really really wanted to. It was a missed opportunity to not layer two thinner creme’s on top of each other, as no one eats peanut butter and jelly in two divided halves. The cookies are far from disgusting, and I will 100% eat the rest of them, but they unfortunately fall into the category of of PB&J products that don’t quite live up to the great flavor combo of the iconic sandwich, and will need an extra spoonful of PB to really pass my persona; tastebud test.

Rating: 7.5/10
Found at: FoodsCo ($2.99)

REVIEW: Salt & Straw’s Carrot Cake Batter & Hazelnut Praline

August 23, 2017August 14, 2018 / seansskillet / Leave a comment

The best time of the year is fast approaching, and as a certified spice fiend-ing cinna-slut I am ready for the equinox that arrives on September 22 at 1:02 PM PST. There will be so many special spicy pumpkin-y treats everywhere I turn that the air will taste of cloves. Since the leaves haven’t quite changed yet, I’ve found myself leaning back on the trusty year round crutch for myself and fellow spice-aholics – carrot cake. Seemingly in sync with my personal preferences for a little pre-autumn foreplay, Salt & Straw have laced their August Farmers Market series with an ode to one of the few desserts I would ever order with a vegetable in its name. Carrot Cake Batter & Hazelnut Praline combines a carrot cake batter ice cream with candied hazelnuts and a swirl of cheesecake frosting.

The carrot cake batter ice cream is executed with insane perfection. It’s extremely smooth and creamy but also hefty with shreds of carrots seamlessly working their way through nearly every bite. It eats like a cake-baking dream, with spicy notes of nutmeg and cinnamon beneath a wonderfully balanced sweetness from both the dairy and the carrots themselves. In every way it reminds me of the scraping and licking reward after whipping up some batter and I can’t think of a single way that the base could be improved to more accurately translate that highlight of any day in the kitchen.

While I generally associate walnuts with carrot cake I absolutely love the candied hazelnuts S&S threw into the mix here. They definitely have a slight candied sweet quality to them, but what they really provide is a dark, roasted, burnt-in-a-good way, caramelized richness that brings huge contrast and legitimate spoon intrigue to the equation. Hazelnut’s naturally have an intense, almost harsh flavor to them, and the aggressive roasted quality works well to heighten the presence of the spices in the “batter” as well as offset the general sweetness throughout. They also add a significant textural pop to the pint, with both a nutty crunch and a praline squish that is everything a perfect mix-in should be. Simply put, I love them.

The swirl of “cheesecake” frosting, much like the inclusion of hazelnuts, is another brilliant slight switch up to the carrot cake formula that works wonders here. The swirl is essentially a cream cheese frosting but has a more restrained sweetness than the usual straight forward frosting or glaze with some beautiful cheesy notes and ample vanilla. The ribbon is dotted with vanilla beans which play perfectly against the tang and give a very cohesive and slightly savory but still predominantly sweet flavor in tandem with the base. It’s integrated seamlessly throughout the pint, with some thick sheets along the sides, never getting too dominant, but never straying too far from the spoon either.

Despite the zero percent of actual cake in this pint, this is my favorite carrot cake flavored thing I have ever had that isn’t in actual slice form. The flavors are incredible, the idea is inventive, and the execution is immaculate. It is extremely rare for a cake batter ice cream to really channel the joys of licking the spoon, and this one not only does that, but does it in a way that is creative, elevated, and delicious.

Rating: 10/10
Found at: Salt & Straw ($11 – online and in stores)

REVIEW: Krispy Kreme’s Eclipse Chocolate Glazed Doughnut

August 21, 2017August 21, 2017 / seansskillet / 2 Comments

Today is the first total eclipse of my lifetime. For the lucky, small percent of those within the path of totality in the U.S., the sky will go temporarily dark during the middle of the day, and for the rest of us, it will go semi-dark. Stars will appear, the temperature will drop, and the animals will be confused as all hell. That’s pretty cool, but to be honest, I didn’t do so great in Astronomy class, and I can’t see a damn thing through this San Francisco fog anyway, so fortunately for me, today also marks the first time in HISTORY that something else is seeing the dark side – the Krispy Kreme waterfall of glaze. To celebrate North America’s moon party, today only (and for two soft evenings this past weekend when I snuck in) the “Hot Doughnuts Now” sign will mean super fresh, melty, yeast doughnuts shimmering with black chocolate instead of the usual opaque tan sugar glaze.

I’ve gotta give Krispy Kreme some credit for their hype-o-meter skills. Rolling up at 6:30 PM on Saturday was the most poppin’ and clustered I’ve seen the shop since their big rollout and notorious over expansion in the 90’s. There wasn’t a line out the door, but the parking lot was full and the conveyor belt of doughy dreams was stopped and nearly empty – the first batch had already sold out! No worries, though, about ten minutes later the flour power was restored and the drooling group of people filming through the glass like an animal was giving birth at the zoo (myself included) simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.

The doughnut is the same in size, shape, and flavor as the KK original glazed, except for the glaze. It has almost the same light, airy, “I-could-eat-about-six-of-these” texture that I know and love, and is incredibly soft and delectable, but feels a little heavier and ever so slightly denser than its big bro; probably from the cocoa powder. The chocolate glaze actually makes a pretty significant change to the overall experience as it is much less sweet, with slightly bitter cocoa notes taking place of the usually sharp and bright sugary flourish. It isn’t a dark chocolate by any means, but compared to what is usually offered it is a notably more subdued and less intense version of the circular splendor.

The other major difference is that the oily fried flavor comes through stronger with the chocolate, as there isn’t that huge wallop of sugar to cover it up. It isn’t greasy, it just has that golden flavor much like smaller french fries that get extra crispy, and it could be a good or bad thing depending on what you enjoy. I like crispy fried fries and a golden crunch on the outside of an old fashioned cake doughnut, but I’m not sure how much I love the flavor being so pronounced here.

This is a solid doughnut, but not nearly as incredible as the original. When I have a Krispy Kreme glazed that’s been made within the last couple of hours, I marvel at its simplistic beauty as I’m taken over by its sugary perfection, and the chocolate version, while good, simply can’t eclipse it.

Rating: 7.5/10
Found at: Krispy Kreme ($1.39)

REVIEW: Umami Burger’s The Impossible Burger

August 18, 2017August 17, 2017 / seansskillet / Leave a comment

While the novelty food industry is mostly concerned with how to make cookies taste like sandwiches, protein powders taste like breakfast cereals, and chips taste like fried green tomatoes, the larger and finer culinary scene is chasing after something much more serious – plants that taste like burgers. The recent push in plant-based meat alternatives is lead not only people advocating for animal rights, but using less resources and reducing gas emissions to limit humans’ carbon imprint. Perhaps there’s no bigger player, at least from a hype standpoint, than Impossible Foods, who spent five years perfecting a burger that uses 95% less land, 74% less water, and creates 87% less greenhouse gases than cows, while being free of hormones, antibiotics, and artificial ingredients. And oh yeah…it bleeds.

Since the release of this breakthrough burger technology its availability has been fairly limited to high end, often reservation-only engagements with daily limited quantities, until Umami Burger launched The Impossible Burger at 14 of their California restaurants as a regular menu item. For their spin on the buzz worthy burger, Umami combines two Impossible patties with caramelized onions, American cheese, miso-mustard, house spread, dill pickles, lettuce and tomato.

Let’s cut to the chase and call this burger exactly what it is – the iconic In-N-Out Burger Double Double Animal Style wearing Birkenstock’s and smoking a joint. The smaller-sized patties and grilled onions squished into American cheese is immediately recognizable as the California classic, and I think it was a very smart move to release something that is instantly crave-able to those who cannot or will not eat meat. Upon its arrival the burger is very appealing with melty cheese oozing out the sides and nicely charred patties with some glistening pink poking through the grill marks.

Biting in is very impressive. Umami’s stunningly soft Portuguese-style bun begins the experience with a soft yet firm chew that reminds me of brioche and leads to crisp butter lettuce and the huge flavor of sweet onions and salty cheese. Eaten as a whole, if this had been served to me wrapped up like at In-N-Out I wouldn’t have bat a suspicious eye, as the profile is super on point, not too salty, and full of moisture and flavor.

When I pick off a piece of just “meat” and eat it on its own it’s apparent that it isn’t beef, as the inside has a bit of layered texture I know from tofu or tempeh that’s a touch softer and wetter than actual beef. The outside has a very nice caramelized crust that resembles a properly seared patty, and while it’s much closer to medium well than the medium rare I like on my burgers, it’s very impressive and without a doubt the most convincing veggie patty I’ve ever had. No one cooks a ground beef patty and eats it straight forward, just like no one eats an un-toasted plain English muffin, and the composition of this burger is delightful and will no doubt be a treat for anyone who can’t indulge in the real thing.

If I were fault The Impossible Burger in any way it’s that the item as a whole isn’t vegan. In fact, a lot of the crucial elements aren’t vegan and Umami Burger doesn’t currently have any suitable replacements for them. The bun, cheese, and spread all have some form of dairy in them, and rather than have a different bun and cheese on hand to make the substitution, vegans have to skip out on cheese and wrap the burger in lettuce, which kind of defeats the purpose of indulging in a new, rare, and pricey burg. With the amount of bread that exists without eggs or milk and the abundance of non-dairy cheese in mainstream grocery, it would be in Umami’s best interest to keep some alternatives on hand to really up the ante on this cutting edge exclusive beefy substitute.

Rating: 9/10
Found at: Umami Burger San Francisco ($16.00)

REVIEW: Graeter’s Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip

August 17, 2017August 15, 2017 / seansskillet / 3 Comments

Graeter’s have been churning out small batch super premium ice cream since 1870, and as a west coast ice cream lover I have a confession to make – I have never had Graeter’s! They don’t have any scoop shops on this side of the country and until recently didn’t have a ton of distribution in the area either. They use super high quality ingredients in their unique French Pot process which yields only two gallons at a time, resulting in super dense, heavy ice cream that is regarded as some of the best in the world by creamy aficionados everywhere. For my initial foray in Graeter’s territory I decided to go with what many deem a true classic – Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip, which is simply black raspberry ice cream with their highly acclaimed chocolate chips.

The ice cream has one of the most gorgeous deep purple hues I have ever seen, channeling the rich juicy flesh of the berries, and is incredibly eye catching and appealing. The texture, as expected from a super premium high fat ice cream, is velvety smooth and heavy, but has been churned with such expertise that it doesn’t feel aggressively fatty. Based on the intensity of the color, I’m actually a bit letdown by the flavor, which isn’t nearly as bold as I was expecting. The berry flavor is very subdued, not that sweet, and not tart either. I was expecting some lush berry notes, and instead am left with only the slightest hint of fruit. It seems that the fruity notes are getting washed out by the high butterfat content in the ice cream itself, and the intended creamy power play is actually working against the execution of the desired flavor.

The chocolate chips, however, are very good. Many trusted ice cream sources, and even Graeter’s website, refer to the massive size of their chocolate chunks, and while I didn’t really get what I anticipated, I still love what is in this pint. The chocolate is in mostly smaller pieces with the occasional bigger boulder, but my goodness the flavor and texture of the pieces is flawless. There’s a deep, slightly bitter cocoa flavor that stands out strong against the dairy with a literal melt-in-your-mouth texture that is gentle and succulent like soft serve that has been dipped in magic shell. It is some of the softest, most perfect chocolate I have ever had in ice cream and falls somewhere in between chips and fudge with its beautiful textural give and flourish.

All in all this is an okay introduction to Graeter’s for me. While I cannot deny the fantastic quality of the textures at play, the flavor in the base is lacking for such a high priced premium product. Good enough to try another flavor, but not impressive enough for me to go out and pick up this particular pint again. I have heard that Graeter’s quality took a hit once they got bigger distribution, and I get the feeling that if I scooped this in one of their shops I may have a different experience, but I can only grade what I’ve got.

Rating: 7/10
Found at: Whole Foods ($6.99)

Sean's Skillet

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