Brigham's: Coffee

Since a bunch of people tried Brigham's Coffee Ice Cream, I am just going to compile the quotes:

"It's coffee." (Yes, I have very insightful friends...)

"It's a good base for toppings."

"It's a mild, generic coffee [flavor]."

"It's great for toppings."

"It's great with hot fudge."

"It doesn't even really taste like coffee, which is a good thing because I generally don't like coffee flavored anything."

"I liked it. It wouldn't be my first pick, but I'd eat it."

"Both of these are really good." (From my mom, who tried both the Coffee and the Mocha Almond.)

By the way, after complaining that two of my stores only had limited flavors, today I stopped at a more local store and hit the motherlode. It was all I could do to not buy all of the flavors. I settled on Paul Revere's Rocky Ride. I'll report back when I try it!

Don't forget, only one more day to vote for your favorite retired Brigham's flavor for a chance to win one of ten prizes of a Sundae-in-a-Box from Brigham's!

Brigham's: Mocha Almond

I brought Brigham's Mocha Almond for my husband. I wasn't expecting to like it, but like all ice cream, I'll try it.

Clearly, it was well loved by my husband.
And he's true to his word. He ate a lot of it!

I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't bitter at all. It was quite mild. Those who really like coffee might be disappointed. I don't like coffee, but it wasn't too coffee-y! I tasted the chocolate and maybe some coffee (but not enough to bother me) and I loved crunch the almonds added (and I am also not nuts over nuts in my ice cream...)

My husband reported that "It wasn't as strong as I thought it would be, which just means I'll eat a lot of it!" He also noted that he liked that it abbreviated to MA, just like Massachusetts! (He's a little silly, sometimes.)

My mom tried it as well, simply reporting that "Both of these are really good!" (Stop by tomorrow for the other flavor she tried!)

Would I buy it again? For me? No. (There are just other flavors I'd prefer.) Would I steal some from my husband's carton? For sure!

Don't forget to vote for your favorite Brigham's flavor to return to production!

Brigham's: Peppermint

I told you in yesterday's post that there were very limited Brigham's flavors when I went to the store, and almost the same (limited) flavors when my husband went to a different store. However, coupon in hand, my husband thought he should get me something. Since we already had two of the flavors at home, and he wanted something a little more exciting than chocolate or the other vanilla, he had Salted Caramel Crunch and Peppermint Stick to choose from.

I am not sure he knows me too well. He brought home the Peppermint Stick. While I like mint chocolate chip, the idea of Peppermint Stick does nothing for me. And every Christmas I try to be all festive and eat a candy cane. And I hate them.

The trooper that I am when it comes to ice cream, I tried it. The ice cream was pretty -- white with bright red spots mixed throughout. The was mellow and sweet and very enjoyable. What I didn't like was the end -- the aftertaste of candy canes.

But this is me. I already said I don't like candy canes. But if you like candy canes, this sure is the flavor for you. And even if you don't like candy canes, it would probably be a good date ice cream, because it leaves your breath minty fresh!

Long story short, it wasn't bad. It was good. It just would have been better had I actually liked candy canes.

And if it were out of production, it wouldn't be the one I voted to bring back. Speaking of which, did you vote to bring back a Brigham's flavor? Do it while you still can! And then head back over to Scoopalicious, let us know which flavor you chose in our comments section, fill out the Rafflecopter form, and be entered to win one of ten Sundaes-in-a-Box!

Brigham's: Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

As you can see from my post on Sunday, my Sundae-in-a-Box arrived from Brigham's last week and with coupons and toppings, so I told my daughter (V) we were having sundaes for dessert and we headed to the store to pick up ice cream.

I really like Brigham's ice cream, despite the fact that they keep getting rid of my favorite flavors.

Vanilla Bean, plain and simple. And that's not a bad thing.

What I don't like is the limited stocking at my favorite stores. I went to my local Shaw's and I had the following flavors to choose from: Chocolate, Vanilla, Vanilla Bean, Mocha Almond, Coffee, and Peppermint Stick. My husband went to our local Price Chopper and he found Chocolate, Vanilla, Vanilla Bean, Salty Caramel Crunch, Coffee, and Peppermint Stick. Yes. Seven limited flavors total in two stores -- only one flavor wasn't the same in each store. I don't like coffee flavoring and I don't really like candy canes, so that left me with vanilla, vanilla bean, and chocolate to choose from on my trip.

At the store, I knew I was on a mission to write four flavor review posts, so I bought three of the flavors, just in case I didn't get out in the next couple of days to buy more ice cream (the horror!). I chose Vanilla Bean and then, being the good wife that I am, Coffee and Mocha Almond for my coffee loving husband. (He has to review them though!)

I guess truth be told, I think vanilla is the best base for a sundae.

First I tried the Vanilla Bean alone. It was nice and light, and had a nice vanilla flavor. It was creamy and had the beautiful specks of Vanilla Bean in it. It did not compare to my favorite vanilla ice cream...Brigham's no-longer-existing French Vanilla. It did not have that rich custard flavor I loved in the French Vanilla. But that aside (since it's not one I can bring back with Brigham's flavor contest) the Vanilla Bean was really a nice flavor and made an excellent base for sundaes.

V was not complaining. (See her sundae at left)...

Nor was I when I had it plain or a few days later topped it with peanut butter sauce and whipped cream.

Well done, Brigham's!

Want to try this flavor or another Brigham's favorite? Head over to our post from Sunday and enter to win your own Sundae-in-a-Box from Brigham's!

Review: Breyers, Klondike, Reeses, and Popsicle Treats

I have an apology. I love getting samples. I love sharing samples with friends. I then have a bad habit of taking a while to actually write about the samples.

It's not that I don't want to. I do. Here's the thing. This blog, though it's a passion of mine and Tina's, isn't a paid gig. While we love samples, they don't put supper on the table -- well, once in a while we like to consider ice cream our supper, but it can't be all the time! So long story short, it's a hobby for us, and sometimes (all too often) it gets put on the back burner and then sometimes a post gets misplaced until I find the photos on the camera. So Breyers, Klondike, Popsicle and Reese’s, thanks for the treats and sorry for the delay in this post.

A few months ago, the rep for Breyers, Klondike, Popsicle and Reese’s sent us some lovely treats. We broke open the treats during one of our monthly playdates with our daughter's friend Rebecca and her parents.

My favorites were the Breyers Blasts. As Breyers describes the line, the ice creams feature "delicious mix-ins from America’s best-loved candy and cookie brands blasted into every bite." I love love love Oreo ice cream. I usually get it in vanilla or cake base, but I actually really liked the new twist on an old treat with a chocolate base. So my favorite of the bunch was the Oreo Ice Cream.

Husband was a huge fan of the Whoppers Ice Cream. I don't think he was thrilled when the rest of us dipped into the carton -- less for him! As he tasted the first bite he said "It's like Whopper Ice Cream and then there are actual Whoppers in it." Deep, husband, very deep thoughts. But it was. It was a perfect marriage of a Whopper (or malted milk) base dotted with actual Whoppers.

Fifteen month old Rebecca also gave the Whopper's Ice Cream glowing reviews. As her mom said, "Rebecca, who only likes strawberry [ice cream] now officially likes malted milk ball [ice cream]...sans milk balls." So she liked the flavor, just not the chunks. Chunks might be a bit much for a toddler. Either way, Rebecca, who is most definitely a picky eater, chose to include Whopper Ice Cream into her discerning list of foods she will eat. Husband will be hiding that ice cream next time Rebecca comes to visit.

While I wasn't a huge fan of the What the Fudge? Brownie Sandwich, the rest of the gang was. "It's like soft cookies, except they're soft when frozen. It's magic!" "The right combination of gooey and gooey." "Double gooey -- so good!" "Gooey goodness." "Like gooey brownies right out of the oven except their cold." 'Nuff said.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups fantastic. Ice Cream is fantastic. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups + Ice Cream = Super Fantastic. Quote of the evening: "Where's mine?!...oooooooooh!"

The Jolly Rancher Awesome Twosome Popsicles weren't shared that night because I think we reached our limit on treats! But, I tried those on my own. They brought back fond memories of fifth grade, where Jolly Ranchers were the candy of choice that year. I'm not a huge popsicle eater (I prefer ice cream when I go into the freezer for a frozen treat) but these popsicles made me happy in taste and in memories!

The samples I got in the mail didn't disappoint and I certainly felt like hostess of the year as I brought the treats to the table! Thanks Breyers, Klondike, Popsicle and Reese’s!

P.S. This isn't really relevant to this post, but as I was gathering the links for this post, I saw this little thumbnail of a sundae that looked super yummy. The I followed the link and there were lots of little thumbnails of sundaes that look super yummy.

Reena's Ice Cream

I was hanging out with my daughter and my dear friends from high school the other day, and mango ice cream came up. (Really, when does ice cream not make it's way into my conversations?) I said I really wasn't a fan. 

The friends said I had to try Reena's Mango Ice Cream. I was willing to give it a shot -- I mean, once upon a time I didn't even like mangoes, but now I really do!

Today another friend and I went to the Waltham Indian Market on Moody Street and (hurrah!) they had Reena's.

I have so much ice cream in my fridge as I stock up for the annual ice cream party, and I had also mixed up a batch of the Nutella ice cream Tina just posted about for my husband (this turned out to be amazing, by the way), so I really didn't have too much room to bring home more ice cream, so I picked up three single serves...two mango and one tutti frutti...there were a lot of other flavors I'd like to try, but I didn't even know where to begin -- I couldn't even tell what the flavors were from their pictures and unfamiliar names. 

Both were, um, awesome. The tutti frutti was different than I expected (ok, in full disclosure, I don't know what I expected, as I never really knew what tutti frutti was -- until I just looked it up!), but still very good. The mango was super creamy and not too sweet as mangoes can sometimes be. It was best after it had melted just a bit (right out of the freezer it seemed a little too hard/icy.) It kind of inspired me to try my hand mango ice cream this year and one of the two high school friends I spent the day with suggested this recipe, so I might just have to try it! (The recipe says "super chunky" but there is also a smooth variation, which, after trying Reena's, I am leaning toward.)

Anyway, mango ice cream, I may have had a change of heart. 

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]

Reviews: Ben & Jerry's Late Night Snack and Clusterfluff

In my last post I wrote about the danger of going to the grocery store on an empty stomach. At right is the result. Three different flavors of Ben & Jerry's!

So Clusterfluff* had real potential to be a favorite. My favorite ice cream sundae at Friendly's is the Reese's Pieces Sundae. Probably my all time favorite ice cream ever was Brigham's short run Fluffernutter Ice Cream. I like peanut butter and fluff in my ice cream. So when I saw Clusterfluff (Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Caramel Cluster Pieces, Peanut Butter & Marshmallow Swirls.) in the freezer cabinet, it went right into the cart. I knew my husband would love it too, so it was for sure a winner.

While overall I thought it was yummy, there were two things that disappointed me...I didn't really see any marshmallow swirls, and in turn didn't really specifically taste them. Perhaps though, I was distracted by my other huge disappointment. I found the "caramel cluster pieces" to have the texture of stale, um, I don't really know. The closest I can come to describe the texture is stale popcorn or ice cream cones.

Of all three, Late Night Snack (Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Salty Caramel Swirls & Fudge Covered Potato Chip Clusters) was my favorite of the three. (Yes, Drea, I finally tried it, and yes, Leah, good choice in favorites!) I loved the caramel swirls in the vanilla base -- I have concluded that I think that vanilla is the best base flavoring for mix-ins. As for the fudge covered potato chip clusters? Yum! I liked surprise saltiness in the sea of sweetness. It was a nice complement.

Maybe I am a little biased because I love love love Jimmy Fallon, who inspired this ice cream. My all time favorite Saturday Night Live sketches is Jeffrey's where Jimmy Fallon and Sean Hayes start laughing so hard in the middle of it...I so wish I could find a video link but I can't! For some reason it's really really hard to come by!) A couple of months ago I was invited last minute to a B&J press release in NYC. My sister and I tried to arrange getting down there, but it didn't happen. They didn't say what for and how long it would be, and the logistics of getting me from Massachusetts, to meet Arianna in Connecticut, to have someone watch baby Violet and finally get to NYC for something that could have lasted five minutes seemed a little much for one day. Later on we found it was a press release for Late Night Snack and Jimmy Fallon was there -- we both knew it still would have been too hard to get to it, but we were SO sad we missed Jimmy!

Anyway, I truly digressed there, but just as I like Jimmy Fallon best, of the three ice creams I tried, I liked Late Night Snack the best as well. Jimmy, I'd be proud to put my name to that flavor, too. Jimmy, though my husband likes you too, he's a fair weather friend, and when push came to shove, he chose Clusterfluff as his favorite of the three.

*Note: Ben & Jerry's site, as I said in my previous post, is kind of frustrating because it is done in Flash rather than HTML. While it's pretty to the eye, it's not searchable and it's not easy to link directly to any of the flavors I write about. If you want to learn more about them, you need to go to their "freezer case" and scroll through to find the flavor you are interested in. Sorry we can't link you directly.

Review: Ben & Jerry's Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream

I went to the grocery store today, hungry. Bad idea. Even worse idea? On my way to the cash register I thought that the best route would be past the frozen treats. I bought three pints of Ben & Jerry's. That's after the package of cookies I picked up, but I don't really think they count because in the end they were just horrible.

The ice cream though? I thought it was in my best interest as an ice cream blogger to pick up three new flavors: Red Velvet Cake, Clusterfluff and Late Night Snack (to find out more, you'll have to visit their flavor case because unfortunately their Flash-heavy site does not allow you to link to a particular flavor. Tonight I opened the Red Velvet (described as "Red Velvet Cake Batter Ice Cream with Red Velvet Cake Pieces & a Cream Cheese Frosting Swirl" on the container) and I can't say I was impressed. Maybe I'm biased with my own made-it-to-Craftzine Red Velvet Ice Cream, but not only did I not find B&J's Red Velvet to be that yummy, but I also didn't find it to be too Red Velvet-y.

First of all, when you open the container, it's not bright red like you'd expect (which might be a bonus, because that would be a super lot of food coloring additive!), but it looked like strawberry ice cream. I mean, completely -- strawberry chunks and everything. And I couldn't see any cream cheese swirls in the pale pink ice cream. I actually found the first bite to be super sweet, but not with any particular flavor. Eventually, I got a little bit of cream cheese taste, but really no striking Red Velvet taste. In the end, I kept thinking I was eating strawberry ice cream, so I don't know if it is what I expected to taste, but I kinda did taste strawberry! (No, I did not buy strawberry by accident!) I am a fan of lots of Ben & Jerry's flavors, so I can afford to be picky -- it's not like I will open the grocery freezer and find nothing I like -- so I think this flavor is going to be on my "not again" list. But it was worth a try.

I just saw Blue Bunny has a new Red Velvet Ice Cream in collaboration with Duff of Charm City Cakes and Ace of Cakes fame. They also created a wedding cake ice cream together too, so maybe those two Blue Bunny flavors are the next I will have to try, because with the price tags on those Charm City Cakes, the ice cream is the closest I'll get to an actual Duff creation!

Right now though, Stone Ridge Creamery is my top contender in the Red Velvet craze category.

Stay tuned for the Late Night Snack and the Clusterfluff review!

Note that when I took the camera out to take photos this morning to take photos of the ice cream (I wrote the post last night), I have to admit I had a couple of spoonfuls of the ice cream -- it's not bad, just not my favorite! I mean, it still is ice cream...and I like ice cream!

Magnum Ice Cream Bars Make a "Red Carpet Premiere" in the U.S.

A couple of weeks ago, we got an email from Magnum Ice Cream asking if we wanted to try their new ice cream bars. It's funny: to me it's never a question of "Do we want samples?" (Of course we do!) but instead should be "We have ice cream to send you. What's your address? Can we send it to arrive on Tuesday morning?" (Yes. You can keep my address on file. You don't even need to ask about sending ice cream -- well actually, you do. Unfortunately with ice cream, you have to plan to be home to receive the package or you come home to melted ice cream and empty bags that once held dry ice, but you know what I mean…)

But I digress. They sent three boxes of bars to each of us: Classic, Almond, and Double Chocolate. Normally, I'm a classic girl. I love vanilla ice cream enrobed in chocolate. And the Magnum vanilla ice cream enrobed in chocolate…it was yummy. I mean, really really yummy. But then a few days later I took out a Double Chocolate bar. I can't say that's what I really wanted, but I had to try them all (in the name of fair reporting, right?). Well, wow. I hadn't really read the package and I was surprised by a layer of gooey fudge between the chocolate ice cream and the hard chocolate shell. Yum. All I kept doing was wishing my mom lived closer so I could bring her one. She's a huge chocolate fan and I could see her LOVING it.

But good news for mom and the rest of you -- even if you aren't as blessed as Tina and I to get ice cream samples delivered to your front door -- Magnum, a classic that has been around in many parts of the rest of the world for years -- is now available in the states!

If you visit Magnum via their Walmart link, you can vote for your favorite flavor (or, if you haven't tried them yet, what you think would be your favorite flavor) and get $1 off a three pack of bars.

Further news is that tomorrow at the Tribeca Film Festival, Magnum be premiering films that they have collaborated with Karl Lagerfeld -- Lagerfeld has created, produced, and directed these films and they star Rachel Bilson. If you are as curious as we are about these short films, follow Magnum Ice Cream on Facebook for updates and the consecutive release of these three short films over the coming weeks. We're hoping they are films about ice cream. Wouldn't that be sweet...

The Perfect Scoop's Aztec "Hot" Chocolate Ice Cream.

I know I have written before about how much I love custard based ice creams, but just the other day I really wanted to make a chocolate ice cream and found a recipe that didn't use eggs and thought I would give it a try. Um, YUM.

I whipped out my copy of The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments and was about to make the regular chocolate ice cream until I came across the recipe for “Aztec ‘Hot’ Chocolate Ice Cream” and decided to be a little daring. I pretty much followed Lebovitz's recipe, but made one replacement because I am trying to clear out my cupboards of things I don't use that much. Following a tip at the bottom of the recipe, I put in the ancho chile powder instead of regular chili powder to give it an extra oomph. Additionally, I made the executive decision to replace regular cinnamon with Saigon Cinnamon, something I once thought was a good idea to buy from Costco even though I had never tried it. Now while it has a nice flavor with a nice little kick, I don't have a clue what to do with seven ounces of Saigon Cinnamon. Well, now I do.

The combination of the Saigon Cinnamon and the Ancho Chili Powder mixed in with the chocolate was wonderful. First you get a lovely taste of chocolate with a touch of spiciness. As the ice cream is melting onto your tongue, you are left with a surprise kick (which I found to be "kickier" in some spoonfuls than in others).

The texture of this eggless ice cream was not icy as I often find eggless ice creams to be, but incredibly smooth and silky.

A definite must try.

Guest Posting: Intercourse & ice cream post

Bethany's favorite younger sister Arianna surprised her last night with a guest post about ice cream in a little town called Intercourse, Pennsylvania. She mentions that she had previously been in Lancaster, so I hope she sent a little "shout out" to our friends there. Anyway, I'll let Arianna's awesome post do the talking.


My friend Sarah and I took a trip down the coast recently, with not much of a plan in mind, and made some fun stops in various places. On a whim, we decided to check out Amish country, so we headed over to Lancaster, PA. Once there (after an awesome ride in the restored Strasburg train), I realized we were very close to Intercourse, PA, and knew that we just had to make that a stop. I had grown up seeing "I heart Intercourse" (with a very small "PA" underneath) t-shirts, and I definitely wanted to head over there and pick up some fun souvenirs! (I'm not much of a souvenir shopper, so this was actually a big deal to me.) So we made the short drive over, through beautiful PA countryside, and boy was it worth it for a nice afternoon break before hitting the road again. I should admit here that I actually had two goals in mind that day: the second was handmade ice cream.

When we stumbled across Lapp Valley Farm's ice cream stand, I was thrilled! (I am Bethany's sister, after all - it should come as no surprise that our whole family is addicted to ice cream!) I had a difficult time making a decision from about a dozen or so flavors (nothing out of the ordinary, save for "Butter Brickle", which I now wish I'd been in the mood to check out), but settled on an old favorite, listed as "COOKIES' n. CREAM" (don't worry, they didn't lose too many points with me for the grammar!).

As you can see, the scoop I ordered was an unexpectedly brown ice cream, with no actual cookie chunks in the batter - it appears it was mixed in so thoroughly that it became sort of a light chocolately ice cream instead of the usual vanilla-with-cookies-mixed-in. Perhaps that was because of the hand-mixing. In any case, I wasn't disappointed - the ice cream was very rich and creamy, and delicious on a hot, sunny day! The perfect refreshment.

The location of the stand is worth a trip, ice cream or no (although I do highly suggest a cold treat from Lapp Valley!). It was very busy even on a Tuesday afternoon in August, which makes sense as it is located within an adorable setting: a little old-style bricked seating area of tables with umbrellas is surrounded by various shops, including a kettle corn/homemade potato chips stand, a toy store, artisan shops, souvenir shops, and the like - there are even pony rides for the kids! And of course, the ubiquitous horse and buggy were parked nearby....

The ice cream itself was served up by girls dressed in Amish costuming (but I noticed, they did work in an air-conditioned booth!). The setting is quaint but still modern enough, and filled with groups of people doing the tourist thing on a late summer afternoon. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area; it's a very pleasant day trip destination. What little I saw, I have to say: I adore Intercourse! :)

(Pricing is $2 for 1 scoop; fresh, homemade waffle cones are $2.50 for 1 scoop. Slightly more for 2 scoops, but all less than $5.)

Thanks, Arianna! Should we add this to Our Readers Recommend?

Guest Post: Wai Wai, Chinatown, Boston

Bethany's husband takes us to Chinatown in Boston for his favorite ice cream...

I was in Boston's Chinatown last night and realized that one of my all time favorite ice cream places EVER was one block over. The sign had changed since I last visited about a decade ago, but it's still there. Wai Wai on Oxford St:


It's below street level and the first thing you see is roasted duck, but don't let that fool you. To the left of the duck is a small ice cream case and the only flavor I've ever tried is Coconut. I never want to risk any other flavor just because the Coconut is so singularly awesome.

Bethany would use fancier words to describe this, but it super soft, very coconutty, and I noticed a few small ice chunks in it. Whatever is in this ice cream, they should keep doing it, and I'll keep stepping in whenever I can.

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]