@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.
@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.
@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!
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.
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.
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!
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
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.