Fairlife Archives - The Impulsive Buy

Fairlife Light Ice Cream

When you were younger, did you ever think ahead to being an adult and being able to “do whatever you want”?

I used to think along those lines, but even my adolescent hopefulness couldn’t have predicted the pure joy in buying every single flavor of a new ice cream release because I was “supposed to” for a product review. That was my reality when I found the new seven-flavor lineup of Fairlife Light Ice Cream.

You’re probably familiar with Fairlife from its presence in the fluid dairy aisle. Its most significant point of difference is the use of and direct-to-consumer sale of ultra-filtered (UF) milk, which is, in my opinion, as a dairy scientist, VERY NEAT.

Ultra-filtered milk is simply milk that has been passed through a membrane that separates out some of the water, lactose, and small minerals. What’s left is milk that is higher in protein and has much less lactose. Fairlife also does other super nifty things like adding lactase enzymes to its chocolate milk which breaks lactose into glucose and galactose, which together can be as sweet as sugar, so the chocolate milk needs less added sugar to be just as sweet! Science can be delicious! Okay, with all of that said, let’s bring it back to performance because it doesn’t matter how clever your ice cream is if it doesn’t deliver on taste.

Cookies & Cream

Fairlife Light Ice Cream Cookies Cream

I chose to start with Cookies & Cream because I think it’s a crowd-pleasing favorite. The Fairlife version lived up to expectations. The cookies were chocolatey and soft, and the pieces weren’t skimpy. The vanilla had a nice flavor as well, but I did think the texture overall was a little icy and it could have been more creamy and melty. But considering these are light ice creams, I wasn’t shocked.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/3 of the container) 190 Calories, 11 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 13 grams of sugar, and 9 grams of protein.

Double Fudge Brownie

Fairlife Light Ice Cream Double Fudge Brownie

I’m always a little wary when “light” versions of products shoot for flavors like Double Fudge Brownie. In the case of Fairlife, I think this flavor is fine, but not amazing. The chocolate ice cream was decent. It’s like their chocolate milk, but frozen. The brownie pieces were surprisingly good. They were soft and pillowy, sort of like a Fiber One brownie.

The fudge sauce was not for me. It had a very harsh acidic canned chocolate syrup flavor that didn’t mesh well with the sweetness level in the ice cream. Keep the brownies, lose the fudge swirl.

Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: I’m SO sorry, but this pint was tossed from our freezer to make room for frozen goods before I could snag a picture of the nutrition label.

Chocolate and Vanilla

Fairlife Light Ice Cream Chocolate

Fairlife Light Ice Cream Vanilla

Honestly, the staple flavors were a little icy, but pretty good. The Vanilla had little flecks of vanilla bean and the Chocolate flavor was mild, but pleasant. With more fat, the chocolate would have been more luscious. I’d accept a scoop of either as my à la mode any day. Especially considering a serving of the vanilla is basically the nutritional equivalent of a glass of 2% milk with a little sugar. Keep your expectations level, folks.

Rating: 7 out of 10 (Vanilla)
Nutrition Facts: (1/3 of the container) 140 Calories, 6 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 125 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 9 grams of protein.

Rating: 6 out of 10 (Chocolate)
Nutrition Facts: (1/3 of the container) 190 Calories, 6 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 85 milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 9 grams of protein.

Chocolate Peanut Butter

Fairlife Light Ice Cream Chocolate Peanut Butter

The Chocolate Peanut Butter flavor was my only huge letdown. There is no peanut butter in this product. There is only added peanut flavor. I get that these are light ice creams, so maybe you can’t add peanut butter, but in that case, maybe don’t make this flavor at all? The pieces of chocolate flakes were mildly redeeming, but overall this one was pretty rough.

Rating: 3 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/3 of the container) 190 Calories, 11 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 13 grams of sugar, and 9 grams of protein.

Java Chip

Fairlife Light Ice Cream Java Chip

It was GREAT. Again, this is clearly lower fat than other ice creams, but for some reason, I didn’t notice that as much in this coffee version. The chocolate flakes, much like in the peanut butter version, are nice. They break down and aren’t waxy. Slow melt, but I really liked the coffee flavor in this one.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: I’m SO sorry, but this pint was tossed from our freezer to make room for frozen goods before I could snag a picture of the nutrition label.

Mint Chip

Fairlife Light Ice Cream Mint Chip

Ahh, mint chip. You can’t go wrong with mint chip. Minty flavor makes everything seem refreshing. Would a full fat mint chip melt better and taste better? Yeah. But this ain’t bad. I would love a mint chip ice cream sandwich made with this.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/3 of the container) 170 calories, 8 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 9 grams of protein.

Overall:

Fairlife Light Ice Cream POWER BOWL

Overall, it’s no surprise these light ice creams made from ultra-filtered milk deliver a slightly inferior texture to full-fat regular ice cream, but that’s par for the course in the rapidly expanding world of light ice creams.

Set these bad boys on the counter for five minutes before you scoop and they do pretty well. I also still think UF milk and some of the techniques used at Fairlife are really interesting. I would buy Java Chip, Mint Chip, Vanilla, or Cookies & Cream again for SURE. But I don’t care much for the flavor trade-offs when you get to flavors like Chocolate Peanut Butter that doesn’t have any actual peanut butter.

Purchased Price: $3.99 each
Size: 14 fl. oz.
Purchased at: Jewel-Osco

Fairlife Chocolate Reduced Fat Milk has 50 percent more protein, 30 percent more calcium, and 50 percent less sugar than regular reduced fat chocolate milk. It has no lactose, it’s been ultra-filtered, and comes from cows that are not treated with rBST. The cows that produce Fairlife milk listen to classical music all day, receive daily massages, go to cow hot yoga classes twice a day, are read bedtime stories, eat grass from silver troughs, and have the sound of crashing waves play while they sleep.

Actually, that last sentence I’m not sure about.

According to the bottle, the producers of Fairlife milk provide “extraordinary care for our cows.” I don’t know what that means, so I just assumed they are treated better than the wagyu cattle used to make Kobe beef.

Speaking of producers, if you think this milk comes from some farm in the middle of Indiana, you’d be wrong. It’s comes from some farm in the northwestern part of Indiana. Also, it’s distributed by some small beverage company that you’ve probably never heard of. I believe their name is Coca-Cola.

So how does this milk have more protein and calcium and less sugar than regular chocolate milk? You could watch this video that’ll explain it with cute animation. Or you could read the following boring words: ultra-filtering involves separating the different parts of the milk and then recombining them, but including more of the protein and calcium and leaving out the sugars.

Fairlife Chocolate Reduced Fat Milk smells and looks like every other chocolate milk on the market. It also has a nice thickness, thanks to the added carrageenan. Its flavor is mostly similar to other reduced fat chocolate milks, but it has a different aftertaste. It’s probably because of the added ace-K and sucralose sweeteners (sugar is also added), but I should make clear that the difference in flavor isn’t as dramatic as regular cola and diet cola. The aftertaste is not a deal breaker for me and my diet soda drinking taste buds, but I can see how it might be an issue for others.

Another issue others might have is the milk’s price. Fairlife is being marketed as a premium milk, so it has a premium price. A half-gallon…oh wait. A 52-ounce bottle retails for $3.99, which is more expensive than the average price for a gallon of whole milk, which I obtained from the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics website.

You’re probably thinking, “Holy crap! That is some expensive milk.” And it’s probably being followed by, “Holy crap! You did actual research for this review.”

Fairlife’s Chocolate Reduced Fat Milk is pricey, contains artificial sweeteners, goes through an unfamiliar filtering process, and is distributed by one of the world’s largest beverage companies, but I really like it. I think it has a surprisingly nice flavor for something that has artificial sweeteners, I’m all for more protein and calcium, and the price doesn’t bother me too much because of what it offers over regular milk.

Dairy milk hasn’t changed much over the years. It’s the same milk that did the body good when I was growing up. That milk is still fine, but I like having the option for “super” milk that does the body better.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 cup – 140 calories, 40 calories from fat, 4.5 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol, 280 milligrams of sodium, 13 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, 13 grams of protein, 10% vitamin A, 40% calcium, and 25% vitamin D.)

Item: Fairlife Chocolate Reduced Fat Milk
Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: 52 oz. bottle
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Tastes like chocolate milk. Surprisingly good flavor for something that has artificial sweeteners. 50 percent more protein, 30 percent more calcium, and 50 percent less sugar than regular reduced fat chocolate milk.
Cons: Pricey. Contains artificial sweeteners. Slightly off aftertaste. Not sure what “extraordinary care for our cows” mean.

Tag: Fairlife

REVIEW: Fairlife Light Ice Cream