In the past two days I have learned far more about myself than I expected when trying vanilla ice cream. First, I really like vanilla ice cream. I usually just eat it with chocolate cake or hot fudge sundaes; but maybe I need to start eating it plain to truly appreciate the flavor. The second, more unexpected revelation is that apparently my personality can tell me which ice cream I will like the most.
After a series of questions Vanilliology spits out this answer:

“Nothing slips by you because you’re on your game at all times. You know what’s right and what needs to be done and you take charge to make sure it happens. When it comes to vanilla ice cream, the perfectionist in you demands that it taste exactly like vanilla ought to taste. If it doesn’t have the obvious presence of real vanilla, it won’t pass your test.
Your vanilla is Edy’s Vanilla Bean. You’re most likely to swap spoons with other Vanilla Bean lovers or entertaining Vanilla enthusiasts.

And:

Flavor Profile: Cool and Spicy with Real Vanilla Specks
The Personality: A Real Go-Getter

Detail oriented, perfectionist, the Vanilla Bean lover is conscientious almost to a fault. While their devotion makes them the perfect employee, their love life may suffer if they’re not mindful of the balance in the life. They are the “take charge” sort of people who hold strong opinions as to how things should be done. Ethical, moral and of the highest integrity, Vanilla Bean lovers have a clear sense of right and wrong. Vanilla Bean lovers are most romantically compatible with those who refer either Vanilla or Vanilla Bean ice cream.

Now, I know you are thinking that this must be some kind of joke. But, real live researchers worked on this quiz: Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation. Interesting.

Now, the flavor I tried today was not Edy’s Vanilla Bean, but Edy’s Double Vanilla, which is “sweet and intense.” Now, according to the quiz I would like this vanilla if I was

“Agreeable, easy-going, well-adjusted. Patient, understanding and empathetic, the Double Vanilla lover is the perfect spouse, parent and friend. They truly care about the feelings of others above their own. As an occupation, they would make an ideal teacher, psychiatrist, coworker or an sort of supervior. In any capacity they are a pleasure to be around. Those who prefer Double Vanilla are the universal romantic, compatible with everyone.

While Double Vanilla is not “my vanilla” according to Edy’s and the researchers at Smell and Taste, I still enjoyed it immensely. It was both sweet and intense. Very vanilla-y, but not in the vanilla bean sort of way. More like a vanilla extract sort of way. It was pretty smooth and generally very good. But, I still enjoyed yesterday’s Haagen Dazs Vanilla Bean more. So, I guess I will have to give Edy’s Vanilla Bean a try and see if “Vanillaology” has me pinned.

• Flavor: 4
• Flavor intensity: 5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 3 (Vinillaology, Double Vanilla; maybe it’s desperate marketing, but at least they try to say it’s not your plain old vanilla)
• Overall: 4.5
• Cost: $3.00 on special at Safeway

The best dessert to soothe a mouth stung by spicy red curry? Haagen Dazs Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. Hands down the best vanilla bean ice cream I’ve ever had. (Besides the homemade vanilla bean my mom makes me every year for my birthday.) Haagen Dazs Vanilla Bean Ice Cream exudes vanilla bean flavor. It is smooth and creamy and extremely rich. I’m usually not a big fan of plain vanilla ice cream, but this may have converted me. There is not much more to say about it. Absolutely amazing.

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor intensity: 5
• Texture: 4.5
• Overall: 5
• Originality: 1
• Cost- $3.00 on sale at Safeway

Can’t decide between a pint of Guinness and a pint cup of ice cream? Try a pint Ben and Jerry’s new Black and Tan. While the name is extremely offensive to the Irish, Black and Tan cream probably wouldn’t offend their tongues. (As a side note, Ben and Jerry’s did issue an apology and it’s not clear as to whether they will discontinue/rename the ice cream) You can read much more about the controversy in the comments here.

Tasting Black and Tan brought me straight back to my trip to Ireland two weeks ago. The stout tasted just like Guinness. Seriously, I don’t know how they did it. Maybe I was so impressed just because I was extremely skeptical, but the stout flavored ice cream tasted just like a stout beer. Now, I will say that this did not taste like any Black and Tan beverage (Guinness and Bass Ale) I’ve ever had. Quite frankly I think they should have just stuck to the stout. The “black” was chocolate ice cream and the two just didn’t seem to go together. So, while the flavor was good, it was not great. A better word to describe Black and Tan ice cream would have been interesting. Impressive would describe the “stout” part of it. It was about what you would have expected from B&J’s in terms of texture: smooth, but not the smoothest of their ice creams. In terms of flavor intensity, I wasn’t overpowering, but strong enough.

Back to deciding between Guinness and ice cream. I’ve always felt that since there are root beer floats, there should also be beer floats. Never have I thought of an ice cream flavor that would work well in a pint of beer though. I think I’ve found it. If you happen to really want both Guinness and ice cream I suggest creating your very own “beer float,” then let me know how it tastes…

• Flavor: 3.5
• Flavor Intensity: 3.5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 5
• Overall: 3.5
• Cost: $3.99 at Whole Foods

Any disappointment I felt after our kickball team lost tonight vanished with one bite of Maggie Moo’s Chocolate Peanut Butter. I have never been to a Maggie Moo’s before, though I recently learned that they are a growing franchise and have a number of locations other than the one I went to in Adam’s Morgan. Like Cold Stone Creamery, MaggieMoo’s does “mix-ins,” one free mix-in per cone. Tonight I opted for just plain ice cream though and I’m glad I did. MaggieMoo’s Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream was some of the best I’ve had since I started eating an ice cream a day over two weeks ago. Unlike other brands’ chocolate peanut butter ice creams, MaggieMoo’s is completely smooth. The smoothest, creamiest ice cream I’ve had in the past two weeks. The flavor was an excellent mix of chocolate and peanut butter, neither overpowering the other. It was extremely rich and had a more intense flavor than I expected. The only disappointment was the cone. I don’t know what the deal is, but no one seems to be able to get their cones right. My sugar cone was definitely stale. It tasted really good in terms of flavor, but the crunchiness was almost like chewing on Styrofoam. (Ok, it wasn’t quite as bad as Styrofoam, but I’m growing bitter at companies’ inabilities to have fresh cones.) Maggie Moo’s also offers cake cones for the same price as a sugar cone, but I have always preferred sugar. Maybe next time I will give the cake cone a whirl, or better yet, just play it safe and stick to the ice cream.

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor Intensity: 4
• Texture: 5
• Originality: 3
• Cone: 1
• Overall: 4.5
• Cost: $4.95

I promise after today I will start eating more “real” ice cream. There have been too many ice cream bars and other non-ice cream ice creams for my liking. This site is about ranking real ice cream. Not ice cream bars or Wendy’s Frosties (is that the plural of “Frosty”? I don’t know). So, I will be traveling less and eating, making and rating ice cream more. Also, since several people have asked how I plan on not gaining weight during the next year, I am going to start exercising everyday and cutting most meat and processed food out of my diet.

But, back to the Wendy’s Frosty. On the drive home from the conference today we made a stop at Wendy’s. I haven’t been there in awhile and I’ve always been a big fan of the Frosty. So, I ordered one and wasn’t disappointed. The Frosty in at the Wendy’s somewhere on I-95 in VA tasted just as I had remembered. Frosties (or is it Frosty’s?) aren’t known for their smoothness. They are textured with small grains of ice evenly spread throughout their thick mass. But, they melt quickly into runny pools. I love the bites where some of the Frosty is completely melted and some is still frozen. The flavor is good, nothing spectacular; possibly just good because it is familiar. It isn’t an intense chocolate flavor, though it isn’t subtle either. Overall, just as Wendy’s new slogan says, it “tastes right.”

• Flavor: 4
• Flavor Intensity: 2
• Texture: 3.5
• Originality: 2.5
• Overall: 4
• Cost: $1.12

Today’s issue of USA Today (which is, of course, the only “newspaper” my hotel carries) features an article in the Money section about the rapid expansion of Cold Stone Creamery. According to the article “Cold Stone doesn’t just sell sundaes and sorbet, it sells sizzle.” I kept the article for future reference for the day when I would give Cold Stone a try. I didn’t expect that day to be today.

At the information desk in the Student Commons of VCU I asked the student working at the desk if there was an ice cream shop near by. The only place he could point to was a Cold Stone Creamery a few blocks away. At the store I picked out “Delicious Dirt”, which according to the marketers at Stone Cold, leaves me with only 11,499,999 flavor combinations left to try. Delicious Dirt is chocolate ice cream with Oreos mixed in. Unlike the USA Today article indicated there was no:

“raucous show of plunking, dunking and stuffing made-to-order ice cream creations and slamming them with gummies, M&Ms and Oreo bits. As they serve up the high-calorie concoctions, they juggle their ice cream spades, wiggle their hips and sing off-the-wall songs.”

Also, unlike the what the article said, there was no line out the door(despite it being a hot sunny day) nor did it take the employee ten minutes to scoop the ice cream. But, the article was right about one thing, the ice cream was good. It was very very chocolaty, fudgy even. I had to look to see if they had also mixed in a ribbon of fudge by mistake. The ice cream was thick and creamy, almost a malt consistency. The Oreos complimented the ice cream and were evenly distributed. They only disappointment was that the only cone they offered was a waffle cone, for an additional price. So, I stuck with Styrofoam.

• Flavor: 4.5
• Flavor Intensity: 5
• Texture: 4.5
• Originality: 3.5
• Overall: 4.5
• Cost: $3.50

Since my hotel has internet access, I decided to use Google Maps to plot my hotel’s address and search for “ice cream” in nearby businesses. Located less than ¼ mile from the hotel, Terrace Ice Cream Parlour at 101 East Franklin Street seemed to be the best choice Google gave me.

After the previous night’s presentation given by a Richmond police Major about the exceptionally high (though dropping) homicide rate of the city, my imagination implored me to walk quickly in the growing darkness toward my destination avoiding eye contact with all potential murders. I arrived at 101 Franklin to discover a stunning hotel the midst of abandoned businesses and dilapidated buildings. Clearly the most upscale and haughty of the hotels in Richmond, the Jefferson Hotel was incredibly imposing and most certainly was home to “Terrace Parlour”. Two different bell men rushed to open what seemed to be an automatic door. Inside this classy establishment I felt severely underdressed in my Khaki pants, navy blue t-shirt, Birkenstocks and messenger bag. Nevertheless, I did my best to act as though I belonged and wandered among the bouquets of flowers, portraits of Confederates, Mahogany furniture and Old Money. (And a swarm of private schooled prom kids).

I couldn’t seem to locate any ice cream parlour, though there were at least two restaurants with mains starting at $34. I decided to approach the concierge and in my best southern drawl asked if there was an ice cream shop within walking distance. (Actually, there was no southern drawl, but that would have been fun). The concierge told me that the only place he knew of was over two miles away.

Walking back to the hotel, cursing Google Maps for the lack of Terrace Parlour (and myself for not calling first), I realized that I still had not eaten dinner. I stumbled upon “3^rd Street Diner” on the corner of 3^rd and Main. It was a fun little diner with great old signage and a jukebox (and an awesome waitress with a mohawk). I ordered apple pancakes and asked for vanilla ice cream on top instead of whipped cream. The waitress looked at me like I was a little strange, told me she would have to charge me extra, and brought back my food less than 10 minutes later. As you can see this was quite a feast. The pancakes were amazing. I think they had cinnamon in them and I’m not sure what else. The apples were perfectly cooked, a little sweet, a little sour; a little crunchy, but still mushy. The ice cream was the perfect addition. Since this website is supposed to be about the ice cream, I will write about that. It was your standard vanilla ice cream. It was fairly smooth, but not the creamiest. It was extra vanilla-y and had a pretty intense New York Vanilla type flavor. Overall, I was very satisfied. Honestly, if the ice cream was too good, I think I would have felt bad contaminating it with the pancakes. (Though, it would have been hard to imagine those amazing pancakes “contaminating” anything…). All in all, it was exactly what I had hoped for and I’m glad that Google Maps Business finder failed me.

• Flavor: 3.5
• Flavor Intensity: 4
• Texture: 3
• Originality (on my part): 4
• Overall: 4.5
• Cost (of just the ice cream) : $1.25

I’m in Richmond, VA for a conference and the only thing I had time to get today was a Good Humor Chocolate Éclair Bar from the market in the VCU Commons.  When I was in middle school we had an ice cream vending machine in the cafeteria and I would occasionally get the Chocolate Éclair Bars.  Today’s wasn’t quite how I remembered them from middle school.  I have a feeling that a good portion of the blame lies with the market at VCU for not storing their ice cream well.  This bar was icy lacked flavor.  It actually tasted like food that sits in the freezer too long and gets bland.  Maybe my memory is failing me, but the Good Humor Bars I had in middle school were way better than this.

• Flavor: 3
• Flavor Intensity: 2
• Texture: 2
• Originality: 3.5
• Overall: 2.5
• Cost: $0.99

I went to Union Station over lunch today and got gelato from a little Italian shop in the food court.  I hadn’t been to this shop before and found the pistachio gelato I ordered to be enjoyable.  It had a strong pistachio flavor and looked pretty with its intense green color.  The texture was a little icy and they didn’t have any cones.  As good as this pistachio was it doesn’t compare to Ben and Jerry’s Pistachio Pistachio.

• Flavor: 4.5
• Flavor Intensity: 5
• Texture: 3
• Originality: 3.5
• Overall: 4
• Cost: $4.24

The perfection is really lacking in Dove’s Caramel Pecan Perfection.  I’m a huge fan of the Miniature Dove Bars and was hoping to be a fan of Dove’s line of regular ice cream flavors.  Thus far, that’s not going to be the case.  The flavor of Caramel Pecan Perfection is bad and the texture is worse.  The only thing I liked about this ice cream was that it had a hard chocolate coating on top.  I think I’ll stick to the Dove Minatures from now on

• Flavor: 2.5
• Flavor Intensity: 3
• Texture: 3
• Originality: 3
• Overall: 2.5
• Cost: $3.99 at Safeway

Winning our first playoff game in the Dupont Kickball league had me exhausted and in need of a refreshing ice cream cone. (Is it necessary to mention that we won because the other team forfeited due to lack of players?) On this warm- but not hot-June evening, I was in the mood for a fruity flavor. I headed to Sweet Licks, a local ice cream shop on 17^th and R and chose Raspberry White Chocolate. Having been to Sweet Licks only one time before, I was unaware that they do not make their own ice cream. White Chocolate Raspberry is made by Great Falls Ice Cream in Silver Spring, MD. The last time I went to Sweet Licks was about nine months ago, and the ice cream did not make enough of an impression for me to return, until now. Now, I can say without a doubt that I will go back, probably sooner rather than later. I loved Raspberry White Chocolate. In terms of texture, this was not a smooth ice cream. In most ice cream, the chunks are distinguishable from the ice cream itself. But, in Raspberry White Chocolate this wasn’t the case. Every bite had little itty bitty slivers of white chocolate. Normally I am a big fan of smooth creamy textures, but I thoroughly enjoyed the course texture of this ice cream. Moreover, I loved the flavor combination. The raspberry was not too intense or sorbet-like, rather it was creamy. And the white chocolate also was perfectly flavored (sometimes I find white chocolate to be extremely bland). The only un-enjoyable aspect of my ice cream cone was the cone itself. I love sugar cones and this cone had an excellent flavor, but it just wasn’t crispy enough for me. Overall, the fantastic flavor and tantalizing texture of White Chocolate Raspberry at Sweet Licks in Washington DC left me wanting more.

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor intensity: 3
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 3.5
• Cone: 3
• Overall: 5
• Cost $3.12

There nothing like returning home from a long vacation and enjoying comfort foods.  Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia is one of my comfort foods.  I usually get the frozen yogurt because I enjoy the softer texture (and it has fewer calories), but I figured that since today still counts as vacation I would splurge and go for the real thing.  I’m not usually a fan of cherry flavored things, But Cherry Garcia doesn’t taste artificial.  And the bits of chocolate in it are so good.  I’m glad they use high quality chocolate.  What it comes down to is simply: I love Cherry Garcia and it really hit the spot tonight.

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor Intensity: 4
• Texture: 5
• Originality: 4
• Overall: 5
• Cost: 3.99 at Whole Foods

I spent some time on the internet trying to find a good ice cream shop in Dublin. I even asked the people at the hostel. The only thing I found online was a place started by two American girls—recent graduates from Brown who moved to Dublin to open an ice cream shop. We went over to the location and it no longer existed. So, we wandered around some more and came across a Haagen Dazs. I was getting a little sick of searching for ice cream, but I didn’t come to Ireland to eat ice cream I can get in the States. We finally found Botticelli Gelateria Artigianale. I ordered Gianduia which is chocolate and hazelnut. The flavor was really good and the texture was excellent. I’m sad we never found the Brown University girls’ place since it would have been interesting to talk to them, but Botticelli was outstanding.

• Flavor: 4.5
• Flavor Intensity: 4
• Texture: 5
• Originality: 4
• Cone: 4.5
• Overall: 4.5
• Cost: €2.00

Arriving in Dublin 2 hours later than expected after sitting in an hour of traffic to travel 1/2 km and running on fumes (determined to return the prepaid gas rental car on empty), then sitting in more traffic on the steaming hot bus ride into the city center; the last thing I wanted to do was find an ice cream shop. As we walked around the city, Mars Bars Girls (for lack of a better word) appeared like angels from Heaven. On this particularly warm and sunny Dublin afternoon, girls clad in skimpy skirts, tiny tank tops, huge sunglass and tan Ugg boots were standing on a corner in Temple bar giving away free Mars Bars ice cream. Despite the ironic fact that these stick thin girls probably didn’t ever eat ice cream, I was happy to take their recommendation and try the free ice cream. I mean, who turns down free ice cream—especially when that’s exactly what I was exhaustedly and unenthusiastically seeking out. Anyway, the ice cream was free and exceptionally well timed. The Mars Bar packaging was nice; though I was surprised to find that there was nothing on it to indicate that it was ice cream instead of a regular Mars Bar. The ice cream was smooth and the chocolate outside was better than the average candy bar. But, the caramel was what made this ice cream bar stand out. It was a thick caramel. Not quite as thick as caramel apple caramel, but much thicker and much better tasting than regular candy bar caramel. As a whole it was good, not great, but for a mass-produced ice cream candy bar, it was very good. When compared to hard ice cream, it wasn’t anything special.

• Flavor: 3.5
• Flavor Intensity: 3.5
• Texture: 4.5
• Originality: 3.5
• Overall: 3.5
• Cost: free

Ireland really is gorgeous. Today we took a ferry out to and then biked around the Aran Islands. Truly a quaint and stunning place. There are few shops on the Island and no ice cream shops, but they do sell ice cream at the small grocery store. I got a Classic Magnum Mar. I’ve had these before when I’ve traveled and they are good. The chocolate on the outside is richer than any chocolate coating in the US- maybe the closest comparison is a Dove ice cream bar. The inside ice cream is rich vanilla with vanilla bean specks. Honestly, this might be one of the best ice cream bars out there, but it still doesn’t compare to “real” ice cream.

• Flavor: 4
• Flavor Intensity: 3.5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 3
• Overall: 4
• Cost: €1.40