Ice Cream – Page 30 – The Impulsive Buy

REVIEW: Talenti Strawberry Hibiscus Dairy-Free Sorbetto

Marvo / May 28, 2020 / Reviews / 3 Comments

I’ve eaten a hibiscus flower before, but I can’t tell you what it tastes like. My hibiscus rosa-sinensis taste test happened in the 80s, when I was really young, naive, and could be dared to put almost anything in my mouth for the high price of one dollar.

While I can’t tell you what the flower is supposed to taste like, the internet can, and it says it has a tart cranberry-like flavor. So if Ocean Spray ever comes out with a cran-hibiscus drink, be skeptical of it.

Talenti’s Strawberry Hibiscus Dairy-Free Sorbetto features, according to its jar, “Sweet strawberries and real hibiscus flowers are blended for a perfectly sweet and tart dairy-free sorbetto with a hibiscus swirl.”

Strawberry is the second ingredient listed, behind water, but the sorbetto also contains hibiscus powder AND hibiscus flower. However, it smells and tastes like strawberry is the second ingredient listed.

When I put my nose over the top of the pint, the aroma that wafts out is similar to what comes out whenever I open the bag of Kirkland Signature Frozen Strawberries in my freezer to make smoothies. All I taste with every spoonful of the sorbetto is something similar to a tart strawberry jam, but much lighter. I don’t get that cranberry-like flavor the internet tell me I’m supposed to taste. Even when I taste just the dark colored hibiscus swirl, all I get is strawberry with a bit more tartness than the rest of the pint.

Since there’s no dairy, the texture isn’t creamy or dense, like gelato or ice cream. But it scoops easily, and the lack of dairy helps make it a light dessert that your belly won’t regret eating after a big meal. The pint also contains something that initially has a texture of seeds, but then melt away.

Although Talenti’s Strawberry Hibiscus Dairy-Free Sorbetto tastes a bit one-note to me, its fruity flavor was enjoyable enough that I don’t need a dollar to encourage me to put it in my mouth.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free sample of the product. Doing so did not influence my review in any way.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Received from Talenti
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 150 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 0 milligrams of sodium, 38 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 34 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Carvel Tie-Dye Specialty Shake

Vin / May 26, 2020 / Reviews

What is the Carvel Tie-Dye Specialty Shake?

Carvel has channeled Ben & Jerry’s hippy-inspired flavor formula with its Limited Time Only Tie-Dye Specialty Shake.

How is it?

Right out of the gate I was impressed by just how many squares of pound cake they managed to fit in the cup. Not only that, they weren’t frozen solid like I assumed they’d be. I probably ended up eating almost a full slice of cake if you factor in the tiny bits that were mixed in with the ice cream.

Despite the shake flavor being cake driven, it wasn’t very cakey. I found the Cake Mix-flavored ice cream to be pretty similar to regular vanilla, so it just kinda tasted like a vanilla shake with bits of mushy cake and sprinkles.

With that said, Carvel’s soft serve vanilla is, in my opinion, the best vanilla ice cream on Earth.

It will always hold a special place in my heart, because I love the New York Mets (sad life, huh?) and every spoonful reminds me of my childhood sitting at Shea Stadium with a little plastic helmet full of Carvel Vanilla Ice Cream.

Anything else you need to know?

I’d be remiss not to compliment the jerk (isn’t that what they used to call ice cream parlor employees?) who made this shake because it almost looked like the press photo. Rarely does the visual reality of a product like this meet the expectation, and he claimed it was his first time ever making it.

I’d also like to criticize the jerk (actual jerk) for asking, “Do you want the food coloring? You sound like an adult?”

You believe that? I just want a Tie Dye shake, why you trying to harsh my mellow by asking that?

I immediately fired back, “Damn right I want the food coloring! That’s the whole point of the shake, bro! Why you judging me? Who’re you?!”

Ok, in reality, I semi-panicked and said, “Uhhhh, yeah ya know what? Go for it.” It’s because I’m a massive coward who is afraid of an ice cream man. It’s the Mets fan in me.

Oh, and yes, it’s just food coloring. Don’t get excited expecting a Roy G. Biv of flavors, because the tie-dye inspired swirls are just for show. They look cool though, no?

Conclusion:

If you’re lucky enough to live by one of Carvel’s 400 locations and want a fun five-minute distraction, this is definitely worth a shot. I’d actually love to see what your shake ends up looking like, because I feel like there’s very little margin for error.

Purchased Price: $5.99
Size: Small
Purchased at: Carvel
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Unavailable, but here is a standard Vanilla shake) 650 calories, 240 calories from fat, 27 grams of fat, 18 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 290 milligrams of sodium, 89 grams of total carbohydrates, 79 grams of total sugars, 11 grams of protein.

Carvel Fast Food Ice Cream

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Exclusive Flavor Berry Sweet Mascarpone Ice Cream

Sean / May 20, 2020 / Reviews

What is Ben & Jerry’s Berry Sweet Mascarpone Ice Cream?

While it’s commonplace for Target, Walmart, Safeway, and even 7-Eleven to have their own exclusive Ben & Jerry’s flavors, the now Amazon-owned Whole Foods enter spring 2020 with its first special pint. Berry Sweet Mascarpone combines blackberry and mascarpone ice creams with shortbread cookies and fudge-covered almonds.

How is it?

I love blackberry ice cream, and sadly, this one really misses the mark. I get virtually no berry flavor at all from the pleasantly light purple base, and its blandness completely confuses my mind while I eat. It looks so pretty but tastes like nothing. On the plus side, the mascarpone ice cream is the same one used in the recently revived Cannoli, and it has a solid creamy and cheesy flavor with a sweet frosting finish.

The mix-ins here are good but not good enough to offset the bland berry base. The shortbread is soft and sweet with a vanilla flavor and a texture that reminds me more of cake than cookies, akin to a madeleine soaked in milk. Tasty.

I love chocolate covered nuts in ice cream, and these are the same almonds that absolutely sing in Target’s exclusive Glampfire Trail Mix. But here, without any salty component to balance out their crunch, they aren’t nearly as good and generally feel out of place.

Anything else you need to know?

As is the case with most Ben & Jerry’s pints, if there isn’t a gooey swirl of some sort to tie things together, I always wish there was. And this is no exception. Something sweeter or saltier than the other elements could elevate this mishmash of flavors. But as it stands, it just feels flat.

Conclusion:

While it’s far from inedible and far from the floppiest of Ben & Jerry’s flops, this springy pint is lacking the tart berry punch I had hoped for and is simply a franken-flavor that just doesn’t deliver.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Whole Foods (Exclusive Flavor)
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 350 calories, 22 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 95 milligrams of cholesterol, 90 milligrams of sodium, 32 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 27 grams of sugar, and 7 grams of protein.

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

REVIEW: Nestle Drumstick Mini Drums Vanilla Simply Dipped Mini Cones

Marvo / May 13, 2020 / Reviews / 8 Comments

The image on the front of the Nestle Drumstick Mini Drums Vanilla Simply (I need to catch my breath because the name is so long) Dipped Mini Cones box claims that it’s the actual size of the cones, but that’s simply not the case.

At this point, some of you might have some rage smoldering in you with the assumption that the cones are smaller.

But, I’m happy to report that in real life, they’re actually BIGGER than what’s on the box. But they’re still “Fun Size” frozen dessert dairy cones, and there are 20 of them in the box, which means they’re small.

To give you an idea of how mini they are, one of them weighs 17 grams, and it would take about 5.5 of them to equal the weight of a regular Drumstick Simple Dipped Vanilla Cone.

While the cones are mini, they have all the components of their bigger sibling — the same vanilla frozen dairy dessert, chocolatey coating, sugar cone, chocolatey cone lining, and chocolatey nugget at the bottom of the cone to prevent any leakage from the tip of the cone. They also taste like the larger cone, which probably isn’t a big surprise.

But these small cones offer an experience you can’t get with the bigger one — you can pretend you’re a giant, stick an entire cone in your mouth, and then say, “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I just ate an entire Nestle Drum…stick.”

Hmmm. Maybe that’s why these are called “Fun Size.” Of course, your results may vary when it comes to sticking an entire Fun Size cone in your mouth.

While Nestle Drumstick Mini Drums Vanilla (catching my breath, again) Simply Dipped Mini Cones are a nice little treat, I can’t help but look at the trays they come in and think of a fun idea for the Fun Size treats.

Instead of having just one variety, have ten different frozen dairy dessert flavors under the chocolatey coating, since each tray holds that many cones. One has to be a super oddball flavor that’s either gross or spicy to make it like Russian Roulette.

Also, don’t give us any hints about what flavors they could be. Just make the front of the box white with the Nestle and Drumstick logos, include an image of a cone that’s smaller than the actual size, and call the product, Mystery Mini Drums.

Dun dun drums!

Feel free to use this idea, Drumstick.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free sample of the product. Doing so did not influence my review in any way.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 16.9 fl. oz./20 cones
Purchased at: Received from PR firm representing Nestle Drumstick
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cone) 70 calories, 4 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 20 milligrams of sodium, 7 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 5 grams of sugar, and less than 1 gram of protein.

Drumstick Ice Cream Nestle

REVIEW: Cado Vanilla Bean Non-Dairy Avocado Frozen Dessert

Marvo / May 1, 2020 / Reviews / 1 Comment

Like instruction manuals and terms of service agreements, I didn’t read everything on the Cado Avocado Frozen Dessert container. And because I didn’t, I ate it thinking it was made with frozen avocados that have been mashed into a creamy texture.

I’ve had ice cream made with the fruit. Yes, it was avocado-flavored and green. It was also not bad. And because of that, I thought, why wouldn’t Cado be like that too?

When I finally got around to reading the ingredients list because I wanted to know why my lips feel as if they’ve been making out with the spout of an olive oil bottle, I was disappointed to learn that Cado is made with avocado oil. Yes, technically, it’s made from avocados, but not in the way I expected.

Looking back, though, I really should’ve figured that out the moment I peeled back the lid because the vanilla-flavored frozen dessert is as bright white as celebrity teeth, and not at all green.

Cado is dairy-free, vegan, has been available for a few years, and I’ve passed by it many, many times at my local Target where it’s stuffed between Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy stuff and Archer Farms’ non-dairy stuff. I’ve always been curious about it, looking at it every time I’ve driven my cart past the dessert. But it’s expensive $5.99 price tag kept me away. Well, as you can see, I finally picked it up because it was on sale for the still expensive price of $5.

For the most part, it scoops like regular ice cream, although to achieve that, it needs to sit for a little bit. Its vanilla flavor is adequate and there are vanilla bean specks throughout the pint. Also, I didn’t taste anything that would suggest avocado oil is the main ingredient. But, again, it makes my lips feel as if I’m using Pam Cooking Spray as a lip gloss.

I didn’t dislike it, but at the same time, its flavor didn’t encourage me to eat the entire container, as I’ve experienced with other non-dairy frozen desserts. Then again, I did pick a basic flavor.

But if you’re looking for a vegan frozen dessert that’s nut, soy, and gluten free, this is a good option. Also, because it’s made with avocados, it’s low is saturated fat, but contains “good” fats like monounsaturated fat. Unfortunately, the website doesn’t seems to list how much a serving has.

Will there be a second time with Cado Avocado Frozen Dessert?

There are other flavors, like Deep Dark Chocolate, Java Chip, Salted Caramel Swirl, Cookies & Cream, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Simply Lemon. I wouldn’t mind trying a different one when they go on sale again.

Purchased Price: $5.00 (on sale)
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 170 calories, 11 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 45 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

Ice Cream