@Tadlem43 honestly, the only one of the flavors they now make that can compare to what they made in their early days is their natural vanilla bean. If you look at the ingredient list for it, you’ll see why.
@pmarin@Tadlem43 Bluebell began in Brenham, Texas, and back in the days when the farthest that it had spread was to Austin and Houston, it was amazing stuff. But by the time I had moved here in 1981, it had been bought out by a big outfit whose interest was in profit rather than the quality of the product. Since then, it has merely been decent at best. A few years back, they were rocked by a major scandal in which the original creamery itself had such a horrible sanitation issue that they were shut down for months. They have never really recovered, but I am relieved by the fact that they still produced their natural vanilla bean flavor in a recipe that harks back to their origins.
@Tadlem43@werehatrack Not directly related but I remember when the “hippies” Ben and Jerry from Vermont sold-out to a megacorporation. I toured their factory right before that.
@ItalianScallion Just for grins, I’ll toss this in. I spotted something at Aldi that looked liked a pretty blatant attempt to imitate Cherry Garcia. They called it Thank You Cherry Much. To their credit, it seems like it’s slightly less bloated than some budget brands, and it definitely had some black cherry bits and pulp in it, along with decent dark chocolate shards and bits. Sadly, the cherries are not all at full ripeness, and the ice cream itself is kind of meh due to a shortage of cream feel. Overall, on a scale of 1 to 10 for duplication of B&J CG, it’s about a 4. Not great, but not so bad that I’d chuck the rest of it.
@werehatrack Thanks. You saved me from myself. If I’d gone to my local Aldi and seen this, I would have bought it without hesitation. I may buy it anyway, but at least I won’t be surprised if I’m disappointed.
@gjrupert old Baskin Robbin’s as I recall. My mother used to take me and sometimes my neighbor friend there (to keep us happy and quiet). Kind-of how I ended up as an overweight kid.
@ItalianScallion@wyvern I had the TJs coffee ice cream and yes it was good. TJ’s products change frequently and also are sometimes regional, so I’m not sure if what you buy today would be the same. But generally good I’m sure.
@pmarin@wyvern The coffee ice cream (“Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz” - thanks @Cerridwyn) Trader Joe’s sells hasn’t changed in Massachusetts in years. It’s not the triple-cream-triple-sugar-at-Dunkin weak flavor kind; it’s good and strong with not too much sugar. It’s COFFEE!
@ItalianScallion@pmarin@wyvern yeah I’ve had the Trader Joe’s coffee ice cream and it’s really good. My favorite coffee ice cream will always be Ben and Jerry’s if only for that name. It’s also very good
@ItalianScallion I am currently enjoying the Walmart brand “bettergoods” coffee ice cream and thought it was pretty good. Strong coffee flavor with a hint of chocolate and not sweet at all.
Chocolate w/ ail the options listed in the Question & Brownies, Peanut butter.
What I do is get several different flavors scoop out a couple of each & mix it!
@pakopako, America’s Test Kitchen rated Turkey Hill’s Original Vanilla Premium Ice Cream as their top ranked vanilla ice cream, so being a big ATK fan, I ran right out to get some. Passable is about all I could say too. The flavor was good, but it was far too airy for my liking. It’s overrun (measure of airiness) was, as ATK noted, “relatively high” at 97%. Ben and Jerry’s, my favorite vanilla ice cream, comes in at 21% by comparison.
@coreen2v@ItalianScallion@pakopako
I’ve looked at it several times, but the chocolate chips always throws me off. I’m not a huge fan of chocolate. It has its time and place but not mixed with fruit. If I eat chocolate in ice cream it’s something like Ben and Jerry’s American dream cone or a Reece’s blizzard or just a plain twist in a cone. Something where I’m still getting a lot of vanilla ice cream to even out the chocolate pieces.
@coreen2v@pakopako@Star2236 I get the chocolate and fruit thing. I guess it is an unexpected combination when you think about it. Nevertheless, I think chocolate goes well with fruit, especially raspberries and cherries. Maybe that’s why I love Cherry Garcia!
@coreen2v@ItalianScallion@pakopako@Star2236 I suspect that some Americans dislike the combination of fruit with chocolate because of the way most American chocolate tastes. The usual American milk chocolate really doesn’t pair with many fruits in my estimation, which may be part of why I avoid it. Typical European chocolate tends to have an inherently slightly fruity note. I picked up some German-made chocolate-coated wafer rolls at Aldi today, and the chocolate in them has a particularly pronounced fruitiness that I like rather a lot.
@coreen2v@ItalianScallion@pakopako@werehatrack
I can see that. I remember wine tasting in traverse city like 20 years ago, we went in right as they were closing so we were the only in there. The manager or owner stayed with us to let us sample whatever we wanted. He gave us different cocoa nibs to try with different wines bc of how they enhanced the flavors and I remember how some did taste a little fruity with the wine. It was truly a one of a kind experience that I’m sure I’ll never get again at any winery. I’m so glad he didn’t make us leave (we really came in when they were kicking everybody out) when we were yelling that we just wanted to buy a bottle of ice wine (mind you it was a $90 bottle).
@macromeh Not normally my style but I would try that. I am in Umpqua territory. I like that some things like this are still regional and have some local history (though not seen Blue Bell here)
A very long time ago I was in high school and true Italian-style Gelato was a trendy thing. Small servings of incredibly dense flavor and texture. Very different from our normal ice cream, even the better varieties.
I recently saw something on some clip from social media (kids these days…) asking “what’s Gelato?” I was thinking when I was your age 50 years ago, we already had it!
@pmarin I had gelato for the first time in Italy, and no other ice cream has ever come close. It’s lower in fat and sugar with much more flavor than American ice cream. One particular variety in Italy was vanilla with nuts and fruit and a thin shell of chocolate. I would love to find something close to that here.
@pmarin There was a chain for a while at least in California that did gelato period I had it for the first time in San Francisco Downtown somewhere period And later in a location in Southern California South Bay I think Period Don’t see them anymore and I can’t even remember what they were called
@Cerridwyn@werehatrack Someday as the AI grows older it will look back on history (it’s all in the cloud) but it won’t feel embarrassed. It might lash out against some communities that mocked it. (Like us)
One particular variety in Italy was vanilla with nuts and fruit and a thin shell of chocolate. I would love to find something close to that here.
The nuts were most likely hazelnuts; Italian ones are hard to find here, but Trader Joe’s has hazelnuts from other places at a decent price. The fruit was candied, right? Specialy grocery store = good candied fruit. Chocolate shell is easy to make: melt a chocolate bar in the microwave and stir in a little coconut oil. It’s Crisco consistency at room temperature, turns liquid when heated, and really solid when it gets cold, i.e., hits the ice cream. The result is a chocolate shell, just like at Dairy Queen.
@pskemp2 I went modern, first with the electric one where you put the bowl thing in the freezer, then I cashed in credit card points and got one with built-in refrigeration so I can keep cranking out the ice cream without having to put the bowl thing in the freezer overnight to do a second batch. It works really well!
@pakopako Tillamook is my go-to ice cream when I self-chastise for paying so much for Ben and Jerry’s, Haagen Daz, Talenti, etc. Of course, Tillamook pulled the ol’ shrinkflation a while back: made the container size smaller but kept the price just about the same as the previous size, and it seems like they increased the amount of guar gum to the point that some flavors seem a bit weirdly smooth. It’s not so bad, though, and Tillamook’s flavors are great. I like Malted Moo Shake, Chocolate Hazelnut, and Oregon Dark Cherry, in particular. Ok, that’s the fourth thing I’m adding to my shopping list in less than 24 hours after reading about it here on Meh…
Chicolate and fudge with more chocolate stuff added to it.
Homemade.
Trad Italian
Ben and Jerry’s
That place in Somerville, MA. Hoping it’s still there.
(When it’s blizzard season, people stand outside waiting for it to open. They come on snowshoes or x-country skies or trudging thru the snow but they always show up.
Because it’s good.
@f00l You must be thinking of Steve’s. It’s long, long gone. Herrell’s Ice Cream, which was started by Steve after he sold his original business, is still around, though, in western Mass.
Vanilla.
White Chocolate Almond…but Blue Bell doesn’t make it anymore.
@Tadlem43 But there are so many other great Blue Bell classics
@Tadlem43 honestly, the only one of the flavors they now make that can compare to what they made in their early days is their natural vanilla bean. If you look at the ingredient list for it, you’ll see why.
@Tadlem43 @werehatrack What region is Blue Bell sold in? I’m West now and I don’t think we have it.
@pmarin @Tadlem43 @werehatrack Colorado has it.
@pmarin @Tadlem43 Bluebell began in Brenham, Texas, and back in the days when the farthest that it had spread was to Austin and Houston, it was amazing stuff. But by the time I had moved here in 1981, it had been bought out by a big outfit whose interest was in profit rather than the quality of the product. Since then, it has merely been decent at best. A few years back, they were rocked by a major scandal in which the original creamery itself had such a horrible sanitation issue that they were shut down for months. They have never really recovered, but I am relieved by the fact that they still produced their natural vanilla bean flavor in a recipe that harks back to their origins.
@Tadlem43 @werehatrack Not directly related but I remember when the “hippies” Ben and Jerry from Vermont sold-out to a megacorporation. I toured their factory right before that.
@pmarin @Tadlem43 Bluebell has spread east and north more than west, which makes sense given population density.
Rocky Road
Neopolitan
Blue bell has a new flavor, Banana Fudge. Taste just like the old fudgesicle bomb pops
@ironcheftoni Intrigued and grossed-out at the same time. I’m not a fan o’ bananas.
@ironcheftoni @pmarin I am a fan of bananas. This flavor still weirds me out though.
@ironcheftoni @pmarin
/showme banana for scale compared to “banana fandom”
Strawberry
Blue Moon (mostly because of the name/aesthetic), but second and third would be dark chocolate and the Homemade Vanilla from Blue Bell.
Ben & Jerry’s The Tonight Dough.
Carmel cone, or the base ice cream of the novelty, dulce de leche.
(1) chocolate brownie
(2) butter(ed) pecan
In my opinion, the best commercial flavor is Ben& Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. But the best flavor I’ve ever had was peach from Amy’s.
@werehatrack Cherry Garcia is Ben & Jerry’s best! Well, that and their vanilla!
@ItalianScallion Just for grins, I’ll toss this in. I spotted something at Aldi that looked liked a pretty blatant attempt to imitate Cherry Garcia. They called it Thank You Cherry Much. To their credit, it seems like it’s slightly less bloated than some budget brands, and it definitely had some black cherry bits and pulp in it, along with decent dark chocolate shards and bits. Sadly, the cherries are not all at full ripeness, and the ice cream itself is kind of meh due to a shortage of cream feel. Overall, on a scale of 1 to 10 for duplication of B&J CG, it’s about a 4. Not great, but not so bad that I’d chuck the rest of it.
Recommendation: Not worth grabbing.
@werehatrack Thanks. You saved me from myself. If I’d gone to my local Aldi and seen this, I would have bought it without hesitation. I may buy it anyway, but at least I won’t be surprised if I’m disappointed.
Jamaica Almond Fudge, or Pralines and Cream.
@gjrupert old Baskin Robbin’s as I recall. My mother used to take me and sometimes my neighbor friend there (to keep us happy and quiet). Kind-of how I ended up as an overweight kid.
Vanilla (real vanilla)
@hchavers For this, I can actually recommend the Bluebell natural vanilla bean
@hchavers @werehatrack I’m totally in for Ben and Jerry’s vanilla.
Probably technically not ice cream but my favorite is lime sherbet.
@tweezak it is made with dairy, so technically it is.
@tweezak Now you’ve got me putting lime sorbet on my grocery list!
Coffee or peanut butter
@kshayabusa mmm… Mocha fudge peanut butter
Coffee!! preferably from Trader Joes
@ItalianScallion Definitely. Coffee ice cream is the best. I have not tried Trader Joes brand though.
@ItalianScallion
Coffee coffee buzz buzz buzz
@ItalianScallion @wyvern I had the TJs coffee ice cream and yes it was good. TJ’s products change frequently and also are sometimes regional, so I’m not sure if what you buy today would be the same. But generally good I’m sure.
@pmarin @wyvern The coffee ice cream (“Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz” - thanks @Cerridwyn) Trader Joe’s sells hasn’t changed in Massachusetts in years. It’s not the triple-cream-triple-sugar-at-Dunkin weak flavor kind; it’s good and strong with not too much sugar. It’s COFFEE!
@ItalianScallion @pmarin @wyvern yeah I’ve had the Trader Joe’s coffee ice cream and it’s really good. My favorite coffee ice cream will always be Ben and Jerry’s if only for that name. It’s also very good
@Cerridwyn @ItalianScallion @pmarin I will have to give it a try…too many “coffee” flavored things are too sweetened for me.
@ItalianScallion I am currently enjoying the Walmart brand “bettergoods” coffee ice cream and thought it was pretty good. Strong coffee flavor with a hint of chocolate and not sweet at all.
Spumoni
@kittykat9180 as much fun to say as to eat
Chocolate w/ ail the options listed in the Question & Brownies, Peanut butter.
What I do is get several different flavors scoop out a couple of each & mix it!
Peanut butter
Pistachio
@Dstraktd If you read down a bit, combine this flavor with true Italian-style gelato. Pistachio gelato was magical.
@Dstraktd @pmarin
Sono d’accordo!
Should have had the option of All the Above !
My favorite was Ben and Jerry’s Urban Bourbon, but it’s in their graveyard now.
@Harbingerdc … but what a way to go. I would like my ice cream float with bourbon, please.
Black Raspberry!!
@coreen2v Ohh,yes there are a few better things than that if it’s properly made.
@coreen2v
Who makes a black raspberry ice cream?
@coreen2v @Star2236 Turkey Hill off the top of my head. It’s passible.
@coreen2v @Star2236
@pakopako, America’s Test Kitchen rated Turkey Hill’s Original Vanilla Premium Ice Cream as their top ranked vanilla ice cream, so being a big ATK fan, I ran right out to get some. Passable is about all I could say too. The flavor was good, but it was far too airy for my liking. It’s overrun (measure of airiness) was, as ATK noted, “relatively high” at 97%. Ben and Jerry’s, my favorite vanilla ice cream, comes in at 21% by comparison.
@coreen2v @pakopako
Can’t find it anywhere near me, even looked on Amazon. I’m soooo disappointed
@coreen2v @pakopako @Star2236 Talenti sells a really delicious Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip gelato. It’s one of my favorites of theirs.
@ItalianScallion It’s excellent.
@coreen2v @ItalianScallion @pakopako
I’ve looked at it several times, but the chocolate chips always throws me off. I’m not a huge fan of chocolate. It has its time and place but not mixed with fruit. If I eat chocolate in ice cream it’s something like Ben and Jerry’s American dream cone or a Reece’s blizzard or just a plain twist in a cone. Something where I’m still getting a lot of vanilla ice cream to even out the chocolate pieces.
@coreen2v @pakopako @Star2236 I get the chocolate and fruit thing. I guess it is an unexpected combination when you think about it. Nevertheless, I think chocolate goes well with fruit, especially raspberries and cherries. Maybe that’s why I love Cherry Garcia!
@coreen2v @ItalianScallion @pakopako @Star2236 I suspect that some Americans dislike the combination of fruit with chocolate because of the way most American chocolate tastes. The usual American milk chocolate really doesn’t pair with many fruits in my estimation, which may be part of why I avoid it. Typical European chocolate tends to have an inherently slightly fruity note. I picked up some German-made chocolate-coated wafer rolls at Aldi today, and the chocolate in them has a particularly pronounced fruitiness that I like rather a lot.
@coreen2v @pakopako @Star2236
Excellent perspective, @werehatrack!
@coreen2v @ItalianScallion @pakopako @werehatrack
I can see that. I remember wine tasting in traverse city like 20 years ago, we went in right as they were closing so we were the only in there. The manager or owner stayed with us to let us sample whatever we wanted. He gave us different cocoa nibs to try with different wines bc of how they enhanced the flavors and I remember how some did taste a little fruity with the wine. It was truly a one of a kind experience that I’m sure I’ll never get again at any winery. I’m so glad he didn’t make us leave (we really came in when they were kicking everybody out) when we were yelling that we just wanted to buy a bottle of ice wine (mind you it was a $90 bottle).
Chocolate-peanut butter from Umpqua Dairy
@macromeh Not normally my style but I would try that. I am in Umpqua territory. I like that some things like this are still regional and have some local history (though not seen Blue Bell here)
A very long time ago I was in high school and true Italian-style Gelato was a trendy thing. Small servings of incredibly dense flavor and texture. Very different from our normal ice cream, even the better varieties.
I recently saw something on some clip from social media (kids these days…) asking “what’s Gelato?” I was thinking when I was your age 50 years ago, we already had it!
@pmarin I had gelato for the first time in Italy, and no other ice cream has ever come close. It’s lower in fat and sugar with much more flavor than American ice cream. One particular variety in Italy was vanilla with nuts and fruit and a thin shell of chocolate. I would love to find something close to that here.
@pmarin There was a chain for a while at least in California that did gelato period I had it for the first time in San Francisco Downtown somewhere period And later in a location in Southern California South Bay I think Period Don’t see them anymore and I can’t even remember what they were called
@Cerridwyn @pmarin And the speech-to-text transciber went into full fail mode there. AI=RealStupidity
@pmarin @werehatrack it did. And I just decided to leave it.
@Cerridwyn @werehatrack Someday as the AI grows older it will look back on history (it’s all in the cloud) but it won’t feel embarrassed. It might lash out against some communities that mocked it. (Like us)
@pmarin @rockblossom
The nuts were most likely hazelnuts; Italian ones are hard to find here, but Trader Joe’s has hazelnuts from other places at a decent price. The fruit was candied, right? Specialy grocery store = good candied fruit. Chocolate shell is easy to make: melt a chocolate bar in the microwave and stir in a little coconut oil. It’s Crisco consistency at room temperature, turns liquid when heated, and really solid when it gets cold, i.e., hits the ice cream. The result is a chocolate shell, just like at Dairy Queen.
Baskin Robins burgundy cherry!
@ScooterMcFly I had forgotten about that.
Jenny’s Brambleberry crisp, I also love the stracciatella gelato but it’s hard to find.
@Star2236 I think I would say stracciatella is my favorite gelato flavor, but there are so many good flavors in Italy!
Gold Medal Ribbon or Rocky Road
any flavor if it’s hand-cranked with the ice cream churn. usually when friends and grand kids gather.
@pskemp2 I went modern, first with the electric one where you put the bowl thing in the freezer, then I cashed in credit card points and got one with built-in refrigeration so I can keep cranking out the ice cream without having to put the bowl thing in the freezer overnight to do a second batch. It works really well!
Tillamook peach ice cream is great on a summer’s day.
I’ve had some fun with Friendly’s Watermelon roll in recent years (watermelon ice cream, dark chocolate nibs, and lemon sorbet shell).
I’m very much nostalgic about Carvel’s fudge whale and peanut butter though.
I’ve had some adventures making a ginger ale ice cream during 2020. I needed to add actual ginger bits or else the thing wound up being very cloying.
@pakopako Tillamook is my go-to ice cream when I self-chastise for paying so much for Ben and Jerry’s, Haagen Daz, Talenti, etc. Of course, Tillamook pulled the ol’ shrinkflation a while back: made the container size smaller but kept the price just about the same as the previous size, and it seems like they increased the amount of guar gum to the point that some flavors seem a bit weirdly smooth. It’s not so bad, though, and Tillamook’s flavors are great. I like Malted Moo Shake, Chocolate Hazelnut, and Oregon Dark Cherry, in particular. Ok, that’s the fourth thing I’m adding to my shopping list in less than 24 hours after reading about it here on Meh…
@pakopako I bought some Tillamook Peaches and Cream yesterday. Great recommendation! Thanks!
The one in my bowl currently (AKA “yes, please”)
Chicolate and fudge with more chocolate stuff added to it.
Homemade.
Trad Italian
Ben and Jerry’s
That place in Somerville, MA. Hoping it’s still there.
(When it’s blizzard season, people stand outside waiting for it to open. They come on snowshoes or x-country skies or trudging thru the snow but they always show up.
Because it’s good.
@f00l Maybe Harold’s? Good stuff the last time I was there, but it’s been 30-ish years.
@f00l You must be thinking of Steve’s. It’s long, long gone. Herrell’s Ice Cream, which was started by Steve after he sold his original business, is still around, though, in western Mass.