Scoop 53: Ciao Bella Green Tea with White Chocolate
July 18th, 2006If you like your green tea “green” then you will like this ice cream. If you like to add lots of sugar to your tea (like me) then you may hate this ice cream. This ice cream tastes like green tea. It’s that simple. It doesn’t taste sugary and is incredibly strong in flavor. I had no more than 3 bites of this ice cream (and the last two were from me looking for the white chocolate). In my opinion the white chocolate chunks were the only good part of this gelato. But, as I said before, this Ciao Bella Green Tea gelato does have potential, if you like strong, pure, green tea.
- Flavor: 1
- Flavor Intensity: 5
- Texture: 4
- Originality: 4
- Overall: 2
- Cost: $3.99 at Whole Foods
July 5th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
I was sad to see how much you disliked this flavor. I found your site by searching for this because I’d forgotten the brand.
I will admit that I was initially put off by the overwhelming green flavor, and I’m not really a fan of plain green tea, but it was the only ice cream in the house at the time and after eventually finishing the pint, I found myself craving more.
It makes me feel like I am eating something healthy and delicious at the same time. Less guilt, somehow, which leads to more pleasure.
July 11th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
I can’t believe you thought green tea gelato with white chocolate is the “worst flavor idea”. To me those two are classic pairings. I first came upon green tea and white chocolate when my sibling made white chocolate covered almonds with a dusting of matcha powder. It was BRILLIANT! I do love dark chocolates more, but I think dark chocolate might overpower green tea. Plus dark chocolate can be bitter so to have two bitter ingredients in one product can break the harmony. White chocolate tames the bitter green tea and makes it milky smooth. It’s a beautiful contrast. I haven’t tried Ciao Bella’s version mostly because I hate the way grocery stores store their gelato (shouldn’t gelato be kept at different temperatures than regular ice cream? I’ve been getting a lot of freezer burn gelatos pints lately). I prefer to get Ciao Bella from the actual Ciao Bella counter. When I “make” my own green tea ice cream I add A LOT of matcha powder to a pre-made vanilla ice cream…and it’s divine. You can control the amount of bitterness you want. I like to pair it with a “homemade” black sesame ice cream.
April 10th, 2008 at 7:04 am
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