u/Legitimate-Bass-7547

(Goldbelly) Caffe Panna and Jeni’s are excluded, and I’m flying up to Seattle next month and have access to my first-ever pint of Graeter’s at a local grocery shop! I was checking out Clementine’s, Crank and Boom, Sloan’s, Bridgeman’s, Leopold’s, Bassetts, Anderson’s and Afters. Any brands you’d recommend I try with this coupon?

Happy Friday, Ice Cream Lovers, it’s time for another scoop and review from your favorite(?) west coast girlie, bringing you all my nonsense ice cream thoughts to sashay you into a gorgeous weekend ahead. I’m having a little staycation with my husband this weekend in San Francisco, and believe me, I WILL be hitting a local scoop shop or two!

Today I’m trying McConnell’s Vanilla w/California Brittle. I was introduced to McConnell’s last month during a road trip down the California coast, trying it for the first time in the scoop shops. I’m spoiled for choice here in California, and was incredibly excited to see SO MANY FLAVOR options available in stores. Vanilla w/California Brittle was admittedly NOT on my list. As a newbie, I wanted to taste all of the tried-and-true great flavors first (and believe me, I have been voraciously consuming all of the ice cream content here for weeks now). But after a few good reviews piqued my interest, I decided to buy it during the WF sales.

Although I have tons of access to See’s chocolate shops, I’ve never tried the California brittle before. I was happy to open the container and see a decent amount of swirls and mix-ins. Sadly there was also a thin layer of ice, so I let it sit out for a bit. My first hit was almost a malty one. The chocolate parts were reminiscent of Hershey’s syrup. The vanilla flavor was solid; creamy and fresh. The almonds provided a nice bit of texture. Occasionally I bit into an especially roasted almond, which skyrocketed that bite. I wish more almonds were roasted that deeply! All in all, this flavor profile feels a tad pedestrian. There’s no one standout flavor. The Hershey’s syrup taste really knocks this pint down a peg or two.

It’s okay but I won’t repurchase.

7.5/10

It’s me, your mother, back for another rookie review. This time I’m facing off with my very first-ever pint of VL. I know, I know… I’m way too old to just be discovering this now. You all may berate me later as my penance.

When I opened the container, it had a beautiful swirl on top and the mix-ins appeared plentiful. I’ve heard many great reviews on this ice cream so I was very excited to try it, as well as the brand as a whole.

The first hit was peanut butter; deep roasty salty peanut butter with little tiny crystals of honeycomb scattered throughout to provide a nice crunch. Did I mention the saltiness of the peanut butter? That salty hit is a perfect addition to the creaminess of the ice cream base; it’s just the right amount. The ribbon of peanut butter almost has a texture of its own; a satisfying bite akin to a soft hard-shell topping. The large, fluffy brownie pieces almost melted into my mouth; sweet and not too chocolatey. Sort of background noise to the main show. I almost don’t even need the brownies… which is almost blasphemy coming from a chocolate lover such as myself!!

This ice cream was fantastic. Lots of interesting flavors and textures to keep me interested. I’d almost like this more with extra peanut butter and honeycomb in lieu of the brownies.

9.2/10

This pint has been staring at me from the freezer for weeks. I’ve never had a cream cheese-based ice cream before, so I was literally chomping at the bit to try this one!

It’s described as “cream cheese ice cream layered with crumbles of vanilla cake and a swirl of caramel-butterscotch sauce.” When I started scooping it out, my eyes almost popped out of my head finding all of these large chunks of vanilla cake throughout. I was getting so antsy and excited that I accidentally overscooped (I weigh out my portions) and had to sadly dole some back into the container.

The ice cream smelled divine. I can’t always get a discernible scent when giving my ice cream a good sniff, but this one very clearly has a delicious cream cheese scent. The ice cream itself is super creamy and the cream cheese had the right balance. The vanilla cake pieces unfortunately felt grainy (almost graham-crackery? Albeit with a nice chew) against the smooth ice cream and I found myself searching for the caramel-butterscotch sauce. It really could use more! Overall it totally hits the spot but not sure I’d repurchase when there are so many other great flavors out there.

7.8/10

Ladies and gentleman, my time has arrived.

As a self-proclaimed chocoholic, I have been waiting for this day. However, even as a chocolate fiend, even I can admit there’s such a thing as too much chocolate, so although I was excited, I was also cautiously optimistic.

Curious of my current thoughts on “too much chocolate,” I looked up older reviews of Ben & Jerry’s ice creams that my kids and I had taste-tested years ago. I skipped over to Chocolate Therapy to double-check my eloquent review of “amazing.” I was ready to dig in.

The ice cream has a deep chocolate base; super smooth and creamy. Shards of chocolate provide a nice thin textural crunch (likely about 60-70% cocoa). The ribbons of dark fudge melted nicely into little pools within the ice cream and provided yet another flavor contrast against the deep chocolate ice cream. The cake pieces were chewy, hearty, and more brownie-like than cake. There were enough textural and flavor profiles within the chocolate to keep my taste buds alert throughout. I still can’t get over how creamy Jeni’s ice cream is (for my newbie tastes).

I already have a pint of Jeni’s salted PB with chocolate flecks open, and I can only imagine how it’ll taste when paired against the Blackout Chocolate Cake. I’ll have to experiment with some mixology tomorrow!

9.2/10

Officially tapped out. Waving the white flag. Starting to scare myself with the sheer dearth of freezer space. Whole Foods, it’s been amazing, but it’s over. Squeezed out the last few pints from your questionable freezers. Tally ho, until next time ✌🏽

Oh… my….gorsh…
This bish!!

Okay honestly where have I been all my life? What have I been doing? Obviously not consuming this heavenly pint!

It’s me again, the 43-year-old mom just NOW discovering the world of premium ice creams! As a reminder, my tastes run chocolatey, peanut butter, coffee, toffee, caramel, cookies, salted anything. I lean sweet, dislike tart.

When I opened this pint, I was instantly worried because I could see the thin icy layer on top. It was obviously one of the casualties of the “standing with the freezer doors open” monstrosity of this WF sale.

Being the good calorie-counter that I am, I carefully weighed out 127 grams. I’m still mind-boggled at how much ice cream it ends up being! I set up my couch with all my pillows and a tall cup of water nearby, and queued up Worst Neighbor Ever on Netflix. Ready to dive in!!

First hit was instant: salt and creaminess. Oh man, that creaminess!! The peanut butter was so strong and so thick, it was almost chewy. The initial salty hit dissipated slightly as the peanut butter became more and more forefront. The chocolate flecks were plentiful and in a variety of shapes and sizes. It was slightly bitter, likely about 70% dark chocolate, but it was SUCH a great pairing against the salty smooth peanut butter. I adore dark chocolate, especially a 70%, so this was really heavenly. Honestly, I’ll speak to the creaminess again because this might have been one of the creamiest pints I’ve had so far (in my short time tasting premium ice creams).

Near the end, I did get a few hits of the thin icy layer but thankfully it was only confined to the top and the rest was perfect!

10/10 no notes

I just started diving into the world of premium ice cream and voraciously consuming all of the content here and in other ice cream forums. As a 43-year-old mom of two kids, I know I’m woefully behind; but in my defense I spent the majority of my years settling my sweet tooth with donuts.

I purchased about 10 pints so far during the WF sale, and this one peaked my interest. I had read some polarizing reviews online, and to be honest, I’m still muddled on my thoughts. As a background, my taste buds run quite sweet. I prefer chocolate, caramel, peanut butter, toffee, coffee, cookies, salted anything, but not too many fruity flavors and absolutely nothing tart.

This one has a wonderfully smooth and creamy sweet cream base, so it really lets the mix-ins shine. The cheesecake mix-in was very chewy, and at first I had to double-check that it wasn’t actually cookie dough. It has that sort of grainy, cookie-dough texture to it. But the chewiness was pleasing, and the flavor of cheesecake was really bursting through. But the brownie mix-in? Gone. Nada. Poof, twas not there. I scooped a third of the pint out but no brownies within sight, and none in my bowl. The caramel, however, was absolutely present and the ribbons were just the right touch. I almost wish the actual ice cream was cheesecake flavored too, that way the cheesecake flavor would be more present throughout, rather than in just chewy chunks here and there. Maybe someday I’ll be able to comment on the brownies too lol.

As someone who is watching their calories, I appreciated the relatively low(er) calorie content of this one, especially with the creaminess being pretty high.

7.5/10

I just started diving into the world of premium ice cream and voraciously consuming all of the content here and in other ice cream forums (psst: this one is the best). As a 43-year-old mom of two kids, I know I’m woefully behind; but in my defense I spent the majority of my years settling my sweet tooth with donuts 🍩

I purchased about 10 pints so far during the WF sale, and this one peaked my interest. I had read some polarizing reviews online, and to be honest, I’m still muddled on my thoughts. As a background, my taste buds run quite sweet. I prefer chocolate, caramel, peanut butter, toffee, coffee, cookies, salted anything, but not too many fruity flavors and absolutely nothing tart.

This one has a wonderfully smooth and creamy sweet cream base, so it really lets the mix-ins shine. The cheesecake mix-in was very chewy, and at first I had to double-check that it wasn’t actually cookie dough. It has that sort of grainy, cookie-dough texture to it. But the chewiness was pleasing, and the flavor of cheesecake was really bursting through. But the brownie mix-in? Gone. Nada. Poof, twas not there. I scooped a third of the pint out but no brownies within sight, and none in my bowl. The caramel, however, was absolutely present and the ribbons were just the right touch. I almost wish the actual ice cream was cheesecake flavored too, that way the cheesecake flavor would be more present throughout, rather than in just chewy chunks here and there. Maybe someday I’ll be able to comment on the brownies too 🙈

As someone who is watching their calories, I appreciated the relatively low(er) calorie content of this one, especially with the creaminess being pretty high.

7.5/10

Whole Foods in Silicon Valley, CA. I did a pickup order and every single pint that I wanted was available! Big shout out to all the posters here (especially u/madisonguy76 for his thorough reviews!) who helped me narrow down my choices for my first-ever sale haul. Can’t wait to dig in!

I know it’s not easy to tell from the pics, but I bought my very first pint of Jeni’s from WF (before the sale, so it was $11 in Silicon Valley, NOT cheap). I bought three pints of Jeni’s total, and two pints of McConnell’s.

When I arrived, most of the pints were covered in ice. I hesitated but decided to go for it since I really wanted to try a premium ice cream, and I never shop at WF. I tried to select ones that weren’t covered in ice.

I drove straight home (15 min) and then put them in the back of my freezer.

Just opened my first pint (Jeni’s Miso Butterscotch Brownie) and the whole thing is icy. I tried leaving it out for a bit, mixing it up, but the creaminess was absolutely not present. It was a total icy mouthfeel.

I hate that this is my first impression of Jeni’s after reading all the rave reviews here, and my heart is sinking at the possibility of all five pints also being icy. The cost was almost $50 total :(

I emailed Jeni’s to let them know, but I really think this was an issue with WF.

I wasn’t expecting a full meal for such a short flight, but here it is. We had the option of a turkey or veggie sandwich.

The chips were ok, the chocolate cookie bar was awesome.

Sandwich was dry and incredibly bready, with just a single slice of turkey. I choked it down, but hey, a meal is a meal I guess.