ice cream

REVIEW: Jack Nicklaus Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

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Every once in awhile I find myself face to face with a great deal on a foreign ice cream that is too tempting to pass up. I don’t mean when Talenti or another higher priced brand goes on sale, but when some weird unknown creamery shows up looking official and carrying a decent price tag. This particular mystery creamery is fronted by none other than golfing great Jack Nicklaus, and apparently he’s found himself a hobby in retirement. Among a couple more adventurous flavors was Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, a classic I was willing to give a shot.

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Opening the cold green carton started off pretty good, with the use of a brown sugar ice cream base instead of your typical vanilla or some kind of unflavored white mystery flavor. The brown sugar not only helps to accentuate the cookie dough vibes but leaves the cream with an extra rich buttery texture that is perfectly addicting. The off white/brown color of the ice cream also immediately reminds the eye of dough, but unfortunately that’s where the doughiness ends for this pint.

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The mix-ins Jack put into his attempt at a classic flavor are so bare that they’re almost pointless and don’t add much to the taste or texture. To be fair the description does say “chocolate chip cookie dough pieces” but the pieces here are more like crumbs and are so small you can’t even tell if they’re good. What should be chocolate chips are more the size of cocoa nibs, or roughly half of your average chip.

Even with their small size there are at least enough chips to get a feel for their presence, which can not be said for the actual dough itself. Going through the pint I got less than ten pieces of cookie dough, and each piece was probably the size of a dime. When you get a bite it does have that buttery sugar squish that you want but it fades so quickly you wonder if it even happened.

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All scooped up – still barely any dough

Had this simply been a brown sugar or French vanilla flavor it would have been a success, but unfortunately it misses the mark on delivering what it advertised. One of the things that appealed to me about trying this ice cream was its significantly lower calorie count than many of its competitors. Clocking in at 160 per half cup, compared to Ben and Jerry’s at 280, Mr. Nicklaus is really proving that you get, and taste, what you pay for.

Rating: 6/10

REVIEW: Baskin Robbin’s Peppermint Bark in the Dark

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Although still technically autumn, the flavor gods have officially decided it’s time to be immersed in a wintery mintery wonderland as crisp and cool as the air outside.  For the last week or so it feels like the air may as well be peppermint flavored as that has been the dominant taste every time I’ve opened my mouth.  Baskin Robbins have decided to fittingly join the party with their December flavor of the month Peppermint Bark in the Dark.

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Originally released in December of 2013, the flavor is as straight forward as it sounds – peppermint bark in chocolate ice cream.  The pairing of chocolate and mint is one of the most classic holiday flavors around, so classic that unlike eggnog or pecan pie it can be found year round in everything from York Peppermint Patties to BR’s own Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream.  It’s this common-place profile that makes this flavor a little bit of a letdown as the headliner of a year that brought both a new spin on a Halloween flavor (Trick Oreo Treat Dark) and cookies and cream mashed up with Frosted Flakes (Oreo Milk ’N Cereal).

The ice cream is good – a rich chocolate base that carries the essence of peppermint in every bite, with the occasional bursts of very strong peppermint and crunch from the bark – it’s just not anything particularly new or exciting.  The pieces of bark hold their own and deliver cool bursts that fill your mouth with Christmas cheer, floating along in a chocolate river with glassy-smooth texture.  The scoop that I got did not have nearly as many, or as big, chunks of peppermint bark in it as the promotional picture which is a bit of a rare letdown for Baskin Robbins.  The picture on their site and ingredients also imply some kind of ribbon which I didn’t have any of.  Again, the ice cream is solid and of high quality, just not as good as the previous two years’ December Flavors of the Month – York Peppermint Pattie and Oreo Cool Mint Chocolate – both of which had more elements to keep them exciting.

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Searching for them chunks and swirl – not so much

What would make this a more successful flavor?  One more component – a ribbon or swirl or additional mix-in (maybe it was supposed to be there, Baskin HR were of no help trying to figure this out), and maybe something less predictable.  Toss a marshmallow swirl in to highlight the white chocolate and call it “Santa’s Rocky Sleigh” or some spiced cookies and caramel and call it “Peppermint Stocking Stuffer” – something along those lines.  A perfectly suitable flavor for the holiday’s, just a tad bit boring and not anything you should rush to the scoop shop to try ahead of any other chocolate mint mash ups from other brands in grocery or otherwise.

Rating: 7/10

REVIEW: Baskin Robbin’s First Class Camouflage

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At-tennnnnnTION!!!

Your regularly ignored neapolitan ice cream has been strip searched, reworked, and made relevant again. Goodbye strawberry and vanilla, hello cake and salted caramel. Keep the dark daddy chocolate to hold it all together and you’ve got Baskin Robbins’ First Class Camouflage.

Originally released in November 2014 to celebrate Veterans Day, this is the flavors’ second appearance alongside the limited edition camouflage colored waffle cone.

The ice cream itself is visually a spot on representation of American military camo. Swirled together in random quantities are brown (chocolate), tan (caramel), and a deep forest green (cake). Unfortunately the pale color palate is also representative of the way the flavors work together on the spoon and they miss the mark on the potential of this scoop.

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I was initially excited about this flavor because while I had read about Baskin’s “Salty Caramel” ice cream on their website I had never seen it available in stores. Being one of the main components of the camouflage it seemed finally my time to try it – but not quite. The caramel flavor in first class is completely devoid of any saltiness at all, likely due to the lack of “salty caramel ribbon” that is supposed to come in the flavor. What it does have, is a wonderful deep burnt caramel essence reminiscent of the crystallized sugar on top of a creme brûlée. I have never tasted a rich caramel flavor like this from BR before and that is this limited offering’s greatest success, even though its name is misleading.

On the flip side, its biggest weakness is a total lack of any cake flavor whatsoever. Cake is a much more delicate flavor than chocolate or caramel and as a result gets completely lost in the trenches of sugary warfare. The green “cake” doesn’t taste like cake nor does it taste like vanilla, it simply becomes a sweet creamy question mark being bullied by chocolate. To be fair, it’s hard to judge a flavor like this on one scoop, because like neapolitan and spumoni, every serving is a little different depending on the ratios of each component.

What would have really helped make this flavor more interesting is a ribbon or mix in of ANY KIND. Without little bits of cake to drive the green or a swirly salty caramel ribbon to punctuate the tan the flavor reluctantly becomes a poor mans version of the Baskin staple Gold Medal Ribbon.

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There is nothing wrong with this flavor but there is nothing particularly special about it either. The base is up to standard BR quality – creamy, rich, and velvety smooth, and the chocolate has a great prominent cocoa flavor. Good as far as quality ice cream is concerned but not worth a trip or forgoing your favorite flavor on your next visit.

Rating: 6/10

REVIEW: Baskin Robbin’s Trick Oreo Treat Dark

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At Baskin Robbins the season of the spook remains the season of the scoop. From festive seasonal flavors like candy corn and the decadent pumpkin cheesecake, the 31 plus arsenal’s most consistent autumn offering highlights all kiddies’ favorite past time in October – trick or treating.  BR’s Trick Oreo Treat debuted in 2011 and for the first time, in 2016, the iconic flavor gets an upgrade.

Trick Oreo Treat Dark builds on the success of its predecessor, which combined vanilla ice cream with spooky orange creme Oreos, Baby Ruth bars, and Butterfinger pieces. The dark twist is the same mischievous concoction of goodies, only this time housed in rich dark chocolate and enrobed by a silky fudge ribbon. TOT version 2.0 – it WORKS.

While I am generally a bigger fan of lighter bases (vanilla, caramel, etc) the chocolate base in this ice cream absolutely blows away the flavor of the original. Its rich cocoa notes and velvety texture are taken to the next level by the ample fudge ribbon. Periodically making its way onto your spoon in gooey gobs, the ribbon helps the ice cream eat more like a sundae and adds a nice textural contrast to the chunks of candy you will inevitably run into as you continue to dig.

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What some folks may find challenging, and I actually love, are the candy pieces themselves. The Butterfinger generally gets dispersed evenly in thin little flakes of buttery goodness with an occasional big chunk, but the Baby Ruth pieces tend to be larger and as a result, harder. Apparently the combination of peanuts, caramel, and chocolate nougat doesn’t freeze well (even though it’s fine in the BR Snickers flavor) and at times you’ll encounter a candy piece your teeth can’t quite handle. Luckily, if you allow the Ruth to sit in your mouth for a couple of seconds and gently chew, the caramel will get soft again and the reward will be worth the risk. What’s the fun in a treat without a little trick anyway?

The only area where the dark version of this ice cream takes a step back from the original is the pop of the Oreo cookies themselves. The flavor of the wafer gets lost a bit in the sea of chocolate, but still adds a nice dusty texture and orange colorful contrast to the overall experience. The chocolate on chocolate onslaught reminds me of one of my favorite limited Baskin Robbins flavors in recent memory, last years’ Oreo Malt Madness, and I’ll take that homage over standard cookies and cream any day.

Rating: 8.5/10