"Everything gets hotter when the sun goes down" Which sounds like a good reason to break out the ice cream if you ask me.

Earlier this week, I went slightly out of my way on a quest for a pint of Graeter's to try. Whether through an unfortunate lapse of self control or an intelligent efficiency improving maneuver, my plan to pick up one new pint saw me leaving the store with three. Seeing peoples' love for trying out Jeni's ice cream is one of the things that inspired me to want to start trying out new brands myself. Most of the posts I see are of mix-in heavy or very creative flavor ideas, so would this endorsement of the brand flow to the more basic flavors I often prefer, or are the gimmicks what make the ice cream here? I don't know of a better way to answer that question than trying them, and seeing two options (Sweet Cream and Honey Vanilla Bean) I will get to compare not only to other brands but to each other only adds some excitement for me.

Jeni's Sweet Cream

This has a good, ready to melt in your mouth, creamy texture. It's a bit harder than Häagen-Dazs, but much softer than the other brands I have reviewed and was very pleasing to me. The flavor is very subtle at first and the dairy notes only shine prominently after mostly melting. I really appreciate the lower sweetness level and rich fattiness of this ice cream. The more plain flavor might not be for everyone, but this pint impressed me. 8.6/10

Jeni's Honey Vanilla Bean

This has a softer texture than its sister pint, I think it is slightly harder than Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean and I don't have any plain Häagen-Dazs Vanilla left to compare it to. This may be my favorite texter of anything I've tasted yet and if not, it is close. However, I don't like the increased sweetness and more caramelly notes this one picks up when compared to the Sweet Cream. Oddly enough, that's what the flavor seems like to me, more caramelly or vanilla with prominent caramel notes rather than honey. I think I'll have to keep this around to see how it compares to the standard Häagen-Dazs Vanilla, as I suspect they are very similar ice creams. 8.4/10

My Verdict on Jeni's

I was expecting this to be a brand built on the strength of gimmicky, fun sounding flavors and heavy hand with the mix-ins. I was wrong. They make a seriously good plain base and even with the high price tag, I foresee myself purchasing more from them in the future. I would recommend any Ben and Jerry's fan to pick out a Jeni's pint to try at the higher price point at least once assuming their more mix-in heavy flavors tackle the fundamentals as well as what I tasted.

The Ratings

Ice Cream	Rating	Why You Should Get It
Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean	8.7/10	This is my favorite. It is sweet, rich and melts readily into a smooth cream on your tongue right after removing from the freezer. This has some of the floral vanilla bean notes if you are looking for those.
Jeni's Sweet Cream	8.6/10	I love the richness of this fat forward, slightly less sweet ice cream. It is a bit harder and less melty than the Häagen-Dazs. You have to appreciate the less bold, dairy forward flavor with a lower sweetness level, but if that sounds like you, pick this pint up.
Häagen-Dazs Vanilla	8.4/10	This is your pick if you want a slightly more potent vanilla flavor that leans into the darker caramel/oaky notes more than the brighter floral ones and you don't mind taking a very slightly less dense and rich base to get it.
Jeni's Honey Vanilla Bean	8.4/10	I think it might be slightly difficult to recommend this over Häagen-Dazs Vanilla given the different price points. I think they are very similar but haven't had them side by side, so the following assessments might not be quite right. Pick this if you like Häagen-Dazs Vanilla, but want to lean ever so slightly brighter in flavor and sweeter.
McConnell's Vanilla Bean	7.9/10	This is a bit harder out of the freezer and less ready to melt than the Häagen-Dazs ice creams. If that appeals to you, you might be able to look past what I think is a weaker vanilla flavor. I do think I would mostly steer you towards Häagen-Dazs, but this is a very good ice cream so if you see any offerings with mix-ins that sound good, don't hesitate to pick them up.
Van Leeuwen Vanilla Bean	6.8/10	Despite falling a distant last in my ratings and being the only one I am likely to avoid in the future, this might be the ice cream I am second most likely to recommend. A big factor in this low rating is a texture issue of mine that you probably don't share. If you appreciate or don't mind an egg flavor (similar to a yellow cake or a custard) that can get in front of the weaker vanilla, you will be rewarded with what seems to be the richest, highest fat ice cream of the bunch. If having something that stays more of a stable foam than a puddle of cream as it melts (think of a deluxe version of the over stabilized ice cream you would find in cheap ice cream sandwiches), then this might be your pick.

Vanilla Tasting Updates

Last week, I made a post giving my first impressions and a comparison of four different vanilla ice creams. After living with the ice creams for a week and eating them in a more relaxed usual way, I am updating some of my ratings. First, I have decided to move all the ratings up a bit (I initially gave an arbitrary rating of 8.0 for my first ice cream, but think these are better desserts than an 8.0/10 would indicate) and I will be giving more granular ratings in increments of 0.1 rather than 0.5. Second, McConnell's and Van Leeuwen will move closer to the Häagen-Dazs entries upon further tasting. For McConnell's, it was the last ice cream I tasted, so I think my mouth may have been colder making the ice cream seem harder than it was and I may have been getting a little sick of vanilla ice cream. For Van Leeuwen, all my personal texture issues with this ice cream as it warms as well as my slight preference against this flavor profile stand. However, when I eat it straight out of the freezer and still hard, I am able to pick up that this seems to be the richest, most high fat of the bunch which I like.

Keep in mind that the number ratings are to my personal preferences that are likely different than yours. To try to get around this I have made a "Why You Should Get It" column to try to help you decide what might fit your preferences best.

The Ratings

Ice Cream	Rating	Why You Should Get It
Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean	8.7/10	This is my favorite. It is sweet, rich and melts readily into a smooth cream on your tongue right after removing from the freezer. This has some of the floral vanilla bean notes if you are looking for those.
Häagen-Dazs Vanilla	8.4/10	This is your pick if you want a slightly more potent vanilla flavor that leans into the darker caramel/oaky notes more than the brighter floral ones and you don't mind taking a very slightly less dense and rich base to get it.
McConnell's Vanilla Bean	7.9/10	This is a bit harder out of the freezer and less ready to melt than the Häagen-Dazs ice creams. If that appeals to you, you might be able to look past what I think is a weaker vanilla flavor. I do think I would mostly steer you towards Häagen-Dazs, but this is a very good ice cream so if you see any offerings with mix-ins that sound good, don't hesitate to pick them up.
Van Leeuwen Vanilla Bean	6.8/10	Despite falling a distant last in my ratings and being the only one I am likely to avoid in the future, this might be the ice cream I am second most likely to recommend. A big factor in this low rating is a texture issue of mine that you probably don't share. If you appreciate or don't mind an egg flavor (similar to a yellow cake or a custard) that can get in front of the weaker vanilla, you will be rewarded with what seems to be the richest, highest fat ice cream of the bunch. If having something that stays more of a stable foam than a puddle of cream as it melts (think of a deluxe version of the over stabilized ice cream you would find in cheap ice cream sandwiches), then this might be your pick.

What's Next?

I may slowly pick up more ice creams to add to my reviews, but I also want to do a bit of a runthrough of some toppings that are nice to spruce up a pint of vanilla. If you have anything to recommend, feel free to.

My Vanilla Tasting

Earlier, I asked you for vanilla Ice cream recommendations and received a few, thanks! This is my first time trying to do a tasting like this so while I was so excited to get going, I may have made some oversights that could have affected the results. Trying to keep things frozen by moving the pints to the freezer while I wasn't tasting them may have left me comparing pints served at different temperatures and degrees which affects how they feel on the palate. I also forgot to consider having something to cleanse the palate when trying to compare very similar flavors. I grabbed a bag of pretzels halfway through the tasting but I think I would have been better off with some water crackers or something lighter in flavor.

The Contenders

Two entries from Häagen-Dazs that I am familiar with, and two brands that are new to me: Van Leeuwen and McConnell's.

Häagen-Dazs Vanilla

This is the first ice cream I tasted here and I planned to use it to set a baseline to compare the others to. It is a delicious, dense ice cream with a strong vanilla flavor that boasts some caramel-like notes. It melts as soon as it hits your tongue. I know from past experience that this is a favorite of mine so I will give it a strong baseline score, but still allow some room for improvement. ** 8.0/10 **

Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean

In comparison to their traditional vanilla, this one has a slightly softer, sweeter, less potent vanilla flavor that drops the more caramel notes and might let a few more floral notes shine through when I try to pay close attention. The difference maker for me is that this seems to have a slightly creamier, smoother mouthfeel than the standard vanilla and may be melting in the mouth a bit more readily. 8.5/10

Van Leeuwen Vanilla Bean

This has a firmer, maybe richer base with a much weaker vanilla that makes the dairy and even an egg flavor come through. The egg flavor may not be my preference, but it's not bad or too out of place; the way yellow cake has egg flavor, not the way scrambled eggs do. This ice cream is more set and stable than Häagen-Dazs and is less ready to melt. It has a slightly more clay-like mouthfeel that seems less creamy. My biggest problem with this ice cream is the way it stays set as it warms rather than readily melting. Think of the way a more heavily stabilized ice cream in a traditional ice cream sandwich acts. Mostly for this reason, this ice cream is not for me, but if you want something like the custard in a pie (A texter I have never been able to tolerate, so forgive me if this comparison is off), this may be for you. 6.0/10

McConnell's Vanilla Bean

This one seems sweeter than the others. That is not my preference, but it is not losing many points for that. The vanilla flavor is light with few floral or caramelly undertones leaving some more room for a sweet milk taste. No egg flavor stands out the way it did in Van Leeuwen. This one seemed firm and dense and less ready to melt than the others. It seems to take a higher temperature to melt than Häagen-Dazs, but when it does it melts to a similarly satisfying creamy texture. I do slightly prefer the way Häagen-Dazs acts though. 7.0/10

Notes

These ratings are subject to change. I think I will need to come back at a later date to test again and make some adjustments. After that I may add some more conclusions to my results here. I had to eat a significant amount more ice cream than I usually do to evaluate and compare these, so McConnell's at the end may have unfairly suffered. For tonight, I can go to bed happy knowing that I enjoyed some good ice cream and have plenty more in the freezer.

"I like vanilla, it's the finest of the flavors"

TLDR:

I'm looking for your recommendations for vanilla or sweet cream ice creams to try. What are your favorites?

For a long time Haagen Dazs Vanilla Bean has been my go to vanilla ice cream. I know I prefer it over their standard vanilla as well as Ben & Jerry's and many standard higher overrun lower fat brands. However, while browsing here more recently, I have seen many brands I was not previously familiar with some of which I will have access to by making a trip to Whole Foods. I go through ice cream slowly and get quite exited sampling new things, so keeping quantity low is more important to me than low prices for now. Do you have any brands that you recommend the vanilla or sweet cream flavors of and a bonus if you give a comparison to Haagen Dazs?

Looking online, a few examples of brands I see are available to me that I have not tried are: Van Leeuwen, Straus, Mcconnell's, Jeni's, Alec's. Feel free to recommend something not on this list though.