Ben & Jerry's Volun-Tiramisu

Here is a Target exclusive flavor that I have not had yet. It is coffee mascarpone ice cream with coca dusted coffee rum lady finger pieces. First off, the ice cream is quite good with nice texture. Definitely not the best coffee flavored one out there(think Coffee Heath Bar Crunch), but it is quite enjoyable. The lady finger pieces themselves have a very nice cake-like texture with plenty of them mixed around the pint. I really did not detect any rum flavor, but there was a bit of coffee flavor in them. The cocoa definitely stood out overall, and added some good flavor contrast to the pint. Overall I would say this was a very nice and enjoyable pint. I have never actually had tiramisu, but I would definitely like to try it sometime.

8/10

Ben & Jerry's Half Baked

It has been a while since I had this one. It is a mixture of chocolate and vanilla ice creams with gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough and fudge brownies. The ice cream texture is pretty good after letting it warm up. Fairly nice and creamy texture. The vanilla ice cream pretty much feels non existent due to the overpowering of the chocolate flavor, which is pretty average in richness in my opinion. The brownies are pretty great, they are quite chewy and fairly rich. The cookie dough is pretty good, but it is not as chewy as I would have wanted. The Cookie Dough flavor from BnJ's has a much better cookie dough in it than this does. There are plenty of mix ins in this pint which is always nice, there is plenty in ever spoonful. Overall this is an enjoyable flavor for sure, but there are definitely better flavors in the lineup.

7/10

Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter World

Here is a Target exclusive flavor that came out earlier this year. It is milk chocolate ice cream with peanut buttery swirls and chocolate cookie swirls. The ice cream texture is very good and also feels very rich and dense with the peanut butter and cookie swirls present. The ice cream flavor is a very rich milk chocolate, and is one of the richest ice cream flavors I have had from Ben & Jerry's so far. The peanut butter swirl tastes very authentic and adds a ton of rich peanut butter flavor to the pint. It also pairs well with the super rich ice cream base as I would have expected. There is plenty of the peanut butter in the pint as well; any more of it and it would likely be impossible to dig into the pint. The cookie swirl is also very rich and has a dark chocolate flavor. I pretty much got a full wafer in the first spoonful. It has a chewy texture to it and it balances out nicely with every other flavor. There is an equal balance in the amount of cookie and peanut butter swirl. This is a very rich and decadent flavor that is definitely worth a try. Not a mind blowing flavor, but it is pretty excellent overall.

9/10

Mitchell's Homemade Christmas Ale Gingersnap Ice Cream

This was a surprise quart of ice cream my uncle picked up for me from a local ice cream chain in Cleveland. They collaborated with Great Lakes by using the run off Christmas Ale from the bottling line in this ice cream to reduce waste. According to the Great Lakes blog:

"A small amount of residual Christmas Ale (previously expelled after the bottle filling process) is now captured from the filler and supplied to Mitchell’s. This process helps both companies achieve their philosophies of zero waste. Mitchell’s then adds fresh organic ginger, a dash of Vietnamese cinnamon, local honey and homemade ginger snaps"

Since this is a beer and ice cream blog, I thought it was only fair that this should make it into the reviews(even though it is an extremely local offering). Now onto the ice cream itself. I actually took a whiff of this and there is definitely a malt presence from the beer in there, along with the usual spices. Personally, I have not had a Christmas Ale since last season, but as soon as I took a taste of this ice cream, it all came back to me. This tastes pretty much identical to the beer. The texture of this ice cream is pretty much perfect. Super creamy and not icy at all. There is also a slight bitterness from the beer detectable but not much; and the sugar from the base ice cream balances it out nicely. The ginger snap cookies mixed in to this ice cream are fantastic. Super chewy and fresh tasting, with a great flavor and balance with the base ice cream. There are plenty of the cookies spread throughout the carton. They are sized nicely as well, I got quite a few whole cookies in my bowl. Overall this is a fantastic ice cream that is obviously made to have great quality. Great Lakes' website said that Mitchell's has collaborated with them once before to make an Edmund Fitzgerald Chocolate Chunk ice cream. I would definitely like to make a trip up to a scoop shop in the future to try some of their other ice creams.

9.5/10

Häagen-Dazs Wilberry Frozen Yogurt

I have been waiting to try the new froyo Haagen Dazs flavors since I hear about them. Luckily when I moved, it turns out my local Meijer keeps them stocked. Glad I chose this one first. It is frozen yogurt blended with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberry puree. As I would have expected there is 100% all natural ingredients used in this pint, no odd chemicals to thicken the texture or anything. First off, the base froyo is absolutely fantastic. It gives a pretty creamy and smooth flavor, which hides behind a rich mixture of big berry flavor. Everything from the sweetness of strawberry to the tartness of raspberry and blackberry is present here. My first scoop revealed a big chunk of frozen strawberry which was a very nice surprise. There is actually plenty of all of the berries nicely packed into this pint without being overwhelming at all. The berries add a bit of a crunchy texture to the pint as well, as is normal with fresh raspberries and blackberries. The balance of each berry flavor in the pint is perfect. They blend together as one pretty much. Overall, this is one of the best froyo's you will ever have. I really am wondering what chocolate almond will be like.

10/10

Graeter's Coconut Chocolate Chip

Here is a brand I have always been wondering about. I have always seen them in many different supermarkets around me including Walmart. I just moved up to Michigan last week, and I saw them in Meijer and Krogers all over, so I finally picked a pint up to try out. This is basically just coconut ice cream with chocolate chips. First off the ice cream texture is very nice stuff, there is an insane amount of real coconut flakes throughout the pint which gives it a distinct texture, and of course huge coconut flavor. The flavor is also insanely creamy as well, which balances out great with the coconut pieces. The chocolate "chips" are made out of semi sweet chocolate and are incredibly well sized, while also being quite moist and slightly chewy. Not the rocks I was expecting to get like most ice cream pints. So that texture is definitely something new to me for being chocolate chips. The chocolate chips have a unique flavor as expected from semi-sweet chocolate, but is also very creamy and balances out great with the other flavors. There are also an incredible amount of the chips spread through the pint. Overall this is definitely a phenomenal ice cream flavor, and I can only hope to expect from some other flavors in the future. They are available at Kroger, Meijer, and Walmart from what I have seen so far. A little more expensive then your typical BnJ or HD, but the quality certainly shows itself.

10/10

Häagen-Dazs Blueberry Crumble

Here is a flavor that I have been putting off for far too long. I have had it for quite some time now. It has blueberry ice cream with buttery cobbler pieces. As I opened the pint, I noticed that it had melted a bit, and was all pushed to the side. Good thing the HD ice creams are all covered with plastic after packaging. Unfortunately, there were still ice crystals on top, and the ice creams overall texture had suffered. The blueberry ice cream is solid, and there are quite a few whole blueberries spread throughout the pint. Very creamy flavor while also having a huge amount of blueberry flavor. The cobbler pieces are very much lacking in this pint however. I was hoping for much more, kind of like the BnJs blueberry cheesecake. The chunks aren't sized well either. The texture of the ice cream got better the more it softened up, but the refreezing damage had already been done. Overall it was still quite an enjoyable pint, but I would have liked to have seen more cobbler. Good thing these are still widely available, maybe I will give it another shot with fresh pint that is not freezer burned.

7/10

Ben & Jerry's Schweddy Balls

A surprise new flavor I found at WalMart when I was in Richmond Virginia over the weekend. It is not a WalMart exclusive however, I just happened to find it there haha. It is Vanilla ice cream with a hint of rum & loaded with fudge covered rum and malt balls. The ice cream base is outstanding, this is probably the best BnJ's vanilla base I have ever had. The hint of rum is not so apparent, because the huge vanilla flavor is there. The fudge covered rum is loaded with flavor. They are balls of fudge with a strong rum flavor in the center. The rum flavor in these is huge, and it almost tastes like you are taking a shot of rum, but without the burn of alcohol. They have a similar texture to that of Milk Duds. The malt balls are your standard Whoppers with the crunchy texture, and normal flavor. A pretty good compliment to the rum flavor as well. The amount of mix ins is fair, but I would have liked to see a bit more. Overall, a very nice flavor that I would pick up again. No idea when it will show up around here, because it took months for the Blueberry Cheesecake to show up after it was originally released.

8/10

Ben & Jerry's Dublin Mudslide

Now here is a flavor I have been searching far and wide for, but have never seen around me. Until I went to the scoop shop in Cleveland that is. This almost didn't make it home safely, pretty soft when I arrived. It is Irish cream liqueur ice cream with chocolate chocolate chip cookies and a coffee fudge swirl. I am definitely a fan of the ice cream base. Nice creamy and smooth testure with strong irish cream flavor. The cookies in this are fantastic, very chewy and have a strong dark chocolate flavor and a bit of a crunch from the tiny chocolate chips. They are also decent sized and well spread throughout the pint. The coffee fudge is also awesome. It compliments the rest of the flavors with just the right amount of coffee taste. All of the flavors put in this pint just blend incredibly well together. Overall, this is definitely one of the top BnJ's offerings out there, I just wish it was more widely available.

10/10

Häagen-Dazs Cherry Vanilla

Here is yet another simplistic Häagen-Dazs flavor I haven't really seen around Ohio anywhere. The ice cream base has a combination of cherry juice concentrate and natural vanilla flavoring. The base has incredible texture, some of the creamiest and smoothest textures I have had in Häagen-Dazs ice cream. There is a great balance of both cherry and vanilla flavor in the ice cream as well. There are very nice sized cherry chunks spread throughout the entire pint. This also adds nice texture to the pint, and compliments the ice cream base perfectly as I would have expected. Overall, another incredible offering from Häagen-Dazs once again. They always seem to nail the simplistic flavors more often than not.

9.5/10

Ben & Jerry's Mint Chocolate Chunk

Here is a flavor I have never been able to find over here in Ohio. Really basic stuff, mint ice cream with fudge chunks. The base ice cream texture was alright, a little bit icy feeling, but still quite creamy. There is a lot of mint flavor in the ice cream, but it tends to taste really artificial and odd. The mint chunks are good sized with good richness and they add a nice crunchy texture to the pint. They are also well spread throughout the pint as I would have expected. Still a fairly enjoyable pint, I just wish the ice cream flavor wasn't so artificial tasting.

7/10

Häagen-Dazs Green Tea

This is one of the Haagen Dazs flavors I have been seeking out, but didn't see in Ohio. When I went to NYC it was basically everywhere. It is one of the simplistic flavors from them, only containing: cream, skim milk, sugar, egg yolks, and Japanese Matcha green tea. As expected, the ice cream texture was absolutely perfect. Very creamy and smooth as usual Haagen Dazs flavors turn out to be. I know this is supposed to be green tea, but it was definitely quite odd to have in ice cream in my opinion. I would say they definitely nailed what they were going for though. The initial flavor was very herbal as I should have expected, but did not know what to expect haha. This herbal flavor is followed by sweet cream flavors on the finish. Quite an enjoyable pint, but a little odd in my opinion. Overall, they definitely nailed what they were going for, but I will stick to cups of green tea in the future. It was nice to try though, and is worth a shot if you like green tea.

7/10

Ben & Jerry's Blueberry Cheesecake

Here we have a Walmart exclusive flavor that I found when I was down in Maryland for a day. Have not seen it anywhere around here sadly. It is blueberry and cheesecake ice creams with a thick graham cracker swirl. Ice cream base texture is fantastic with this one, lots of creaminess and smooth texture. On initial tasting of the top of the pint there is a very strong cream cheese flavor with the usual cream cheese tang flavor as well. Blueberry ice cream has decent flavor and strength, but is pretty overtaken by the cheesecake counterpart. Plenty of graham cracker swirl is present in this and is spread thoroughly through the entire pint. The graham crackers have a very buttery flavor with crunchy and grainy texture. As I made my way through the pint the cheesecake ice cream tang and the buttery flavor of the graham crackers became the main thing noticed in the taste. Blueberry ice cream basically was not noticed at all. Overall a decent pint of ice cream from Ben & Jerry's, definitely glad I got to try it. May have it again if I ever see it again. Definitely one of the strongest cheesecake flavored ice creams of their cheesecake lineup.

7/10

Update: I have spotted this in Canton, OH's WalMart SuperCenter as of today. It is making it's way around now I guess(even though I have known of it's existence for months)

Ben & Jerry's Milk & Cookies

Another revisit flavor for me, I haven't had this one in over a year. It is vanilla ice cream with a chocolate cookie swirl, chocolate chip and chocolate chocolate chip cookies. The ice cream texture is very nice and creamy, especially after warming up before digging into it. The base ice cream flavor has good vanilla strength, but also has a very strong creaminess to it as I expected. The chocolate cookie swirl is basically crumbs of Oreo style wafers, and the chocolate flavor is very nice and strong. Both types of cookies are very chewy and awesome in this pint, and it also has small chocolate chips that add nice texture and flavor as well. The cookies and cookie swirl is spread well throughout the pint as well. Overall a very excellent flavor that I really enjoyed.

9/10

Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk

A flavor I have been wanting to try for a long time. Finally found it since I am in NYC right now. Sweet cream cinnamon ice cream, with chunks of oatmeal cookies and fudge. I have no idea how old this pint was, as it was found in a random deli shop. The texture was great though, and big cinnamon flavor with creamy sweetness as well. Just a fantastic base ice cream to this. The oatmeal cookies have the great grainy texture of oatmeal, as expected, and are very chewy and awesome. Decently sized as well, and add great texture to the pint. The fudge chips are also very rich and impart big flavor to round this flavor out. Overall, this is a flavor everyone should try if you can find it, fantastic stuff.

9.5/10

Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra

Yet another revisited flavor today. It has a core of soft caramel encircled by chocolate and caramel ice creams and fudge chips. First off, the ice cream is fantastic. Great texture, the chocolate side is very rich and flavorful. The caramel side isn't quite as rich, but still has good favor. Very smooth and creamy as well. The chocolate chips are very nicely sized and are numerous and well spread throughout the pint. They add a nice crunchy texture and are very rich and add a ton of flavor. The caramel core is very nicely sized and the caramel itself is insanely rich and viscous. Tons of great caramel flavor. In my case When I got to the bottom of the pint there was a lot of caramel down there, which gave my taste buds a big blast of flavor which was awesome. Overall, highly recommended stuff for lovers of caramel. All around great flavor.

9/10

Ben & Jerry's Hannah Teter's Maple Blondie

Yet another flavor that I haven't had in a while here. Still in stores, even though it is limited batch. It has maple ice cream with blonde brownie chunks and a maple caramel swirl. The ice cream base itself is great. Excellent texture with big maple flavor as well. Very nice and creamy as well. A good amount of blonde brownie chunks are spread through the entire pint as well. Very nice and chewy texture with sweet brown sugar flavor. Good amount of sweet maple flavored caramel swirled around the pint, putting in some more sweetness to this pint. Great balance of all flavors in this pint as well, one does not take over another. Overall, this is a fantastic flavor, glad I revisited it. Fans of maple syrup should definitely give it a shot. It will probably be around for quite a while longer.

9.5/10

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Ice Cream

It has been a while since I had Starbucks ice cream. This one is the winter seasonal limited edition flavor. It has swirled peppermint and mocha ice creams, with dark chocolate chunks. First off, the ice cream texture is nice, and very smooth as well as being creamy. Big mocha flavor, complimented by the cool flavor of peppermint as well. Plenty of dark chocolate chunks throughout the pint, that add a ton of flavor and great texture to this pint. Not really much else to say about this one, but if you are a fan of simplicity and a lot of great flavor, then this is a good choice(though you may have to wait around till the winter to have it).

8/10

Ben & Jerry's Clusterfluff

Another new Ben and Jerry's flavor right here. It is Peanut butter ice cream, with caramel cluster pieces, marshmallow swirls, and peanut buttery swirls. First off, the ice cream is downright fantastic. Great texture(from what I can tell, the mix ins are overwhelming) and huge peanut butter flavor. Tons of caramel cluster pieces as well that add nice texture and decent caramel flavor to this. Nice and thick peanut butter swirls as well, with tons of flavor, wow. The marshmallow is mostly in the middle, but has very creamy texture, and obviously compliments all the PB flavor perfectly. I am also a huge fan of Fluffernutters, so this was just heavenly as a whole. This very well may be the best BnJ's flavor I have ever had. Super rich, creamy, and loaded with mix ins.

11/10

Häagen-Dazs Caramel Cone

Another flavor I have not had in a while here. Caramel ice cream with chocolate covered cone pieces and a caramel swirl. There is an insane amount of cone pieces in the pint, it actually makes it difficult to dig into the pint. The caramel ice cream itself is good and has decent texture and strength of flavor. Big caramel swirl that mostly takes up the center of the pint, but it is great. The chocolate covered cone pieces are definitely in the spotlight for this pint. They put out the strongest amount of flavor in this, and the caramel gets the back seat in the flavor profile. Big crunchy texture throughout the entire pint due to cone pieces in every bite. Overall, a great flavor. I just wish that the caramel had a little more prominence.

9/10