by Ice Cream Maker Reviews on August 24, 2006
Ice cream just doesn’t get any better than this. I think Sebastian Joe’s Oreo Ice Cream may be the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Just a few weeks ago I was comparing the Oreo ice cream at Sundae School (on Cape Cod) to Sebastian Joe’s. But, now that I’ve had Sebastian Joe’s again, I really should go back and change my review. Nothing can be compared to this ice cream. It’s is so intensely Oreo with an amazingly smooth, but at the same time almost chewy texture. I don’t know what else to say in this ice cream review. If you are ever in Minnesota you must go to Sebastian Joe’s, get a scoop of Oreo ice cream, and walk around Lake Harriet. There’s nothing more enjoyable in the world.
- Flavor: 5
- Flavor Intensity: 5
- Texture: 5
- Originality: 3.5
- Overall: 5
- Cost: around $4.50 for a pint; $2.35 for a scoop
by Ice Cream Maker Reviews on August 23, 2006
I never realized that Kemps was a Midwest brand until I moved away from MN. It’s always been decent ice cream, never amazing, never terrible. Today’s Toasted Almond Fudge was about what I expected: not spectacular, but not all that bad. The ice cream was just plain chocolate ice cream with toasted slivers of almonds in it. The texture reminds me of the chocolate malt cups you can buy at baseball games. It’s not a flavor that I would buy again if I wanted really good ice cream, but for the price it’s decent.
- Flavor: 4
- Flavor Intensity: 3.5
- Texture: 3
- Originality: 2.5
- Overall: 3.5
- Cost: $2.50 at Byerly’s in MN
by Ice Cream Maker Reviews on August 22, 2006
I don’t remember the last time I had the blissful experience of eating Sebastian Joe’s Ice Cream (I went to their location on Upton Ave).  Honestly,  I don’t think this place has a bad ice cream flavor.  Today I picked up a couple of pints of old favorites to keep in the freezer and try this week, but I also tried a flavor I hadn’t seen there before: Key Lime. This stuff was amazingly sour. I should preface my review by saying that I love sweet and sour flavor combinations. I know not all people do, but I adore them. Sebastian Joe’s Key Lime was a little more sour than I’m used to in a sour ice cream, but it was oh so good. I couldn’t believe how creamy it was. It’s hard to imagine an ice cream that’s rich and creamy and sour, but it exists. This was better than the recipe I made last month. This is defiantly the best key lime ice cream and possibly citrus ice cream I’ve ever had. I also ordered a homemade cone. I was very impressed with it. Other homemade cones I’ve had are usually a little chewy or not sweet enough, but this one was crunchy and just the prefect sweetness. The only thing that I wasn’t used to is that it’s thicker than a normal cone.
- Flavor: 5
- Flavor Intensity: 4.5
- Texture: 5
- Originality: 4
- Cone: 4.5
- Overall: 5
- Cost: $2.85
by Ice Cream Maker Reviews on August 21, 2006
I flew into Minneapolis today and will be here through the end of the week. I intend to go out exploring the Minneapolis ice cream shops, but with the flights today and a two hour layover I resigned myself to staying in and having a couple of Dove Miniature bars. For only 60 calories these really are amazing. I taste-tested both the original with dark chocolate coating French vanilla ice cream and the cherry cordial which has dark chocolate covering cherry ice cream. Both were quite good, though I preferred the original. The dark chocolate on both is more intensely chocolate and thus combines perfectly with the extra sweet ice cream. One of these satisfies my craving for both high quality chocolate (well- high quality for a mass produced ice cream bar ) and creamy ice cream.
- Flavor: 4
- Flavor Intensity: 3.5
- Texture: 4
- Originality: 3.5
- Overall: 4
by Ice Cream Maker Reviews on August 16, 2006
Today’s recipe of choice was a Williams Sonoma Recipe for dark chocolate gelato. It wasn’t terribly difficult to make, much easier than the basil recipe I made two days ago, but it still required some cooking and straining (I did discover that we do have a metal strainer which came in handy for this recipe). The flavor was extremely chocolaty. Not very sweet like most commercial ice creams. The texture was really thick, almost fudgey. I’m not sure if I did something wrong or if it was supposed to be the fudey consistency that it was. I didn’t really care for the texture. Also, I should have added the cocoa powder more gradually since it ended up clumping together. For a dark chocolate ice cream this was a good choice—if I made it again I would definitely add the powder more gradually and I would probably freeze in it the freezer after using the ice cream maker to see if it would get to be a harder and less fudgey consistency.
- Flavor: 4.5
- Flavor Intensity: 4.5
- Texture: 3
- Originality: 1.5
- Overall: 4
- Ease to make: 3.5
by Ice Cream Maker Reviews on August 15, 2006
The ice cream section at Whole Foods was unusually well-stocked today. Every other time I’ve been there the ice cream section is chaotic with brands and flavors either out-of-stock or in the wrong place. So, while I was there I made a point to look at all of the flavors. I found Edy’s pints (again!!!), so I felt compelled to buy one. Though, like at 711, it only came in Strawberry, Vanilla, and Chocolate. Unlike 711, the pint was labeled as costing mere $2.29 (at 711 it was $4.29). Better yet, it rang up at the register as $1.97—not a sale price.
I haven’t had plain chocolate ice cream in awhile, and forgot how much I enjoy it. The flavor of Edy’s Grand chocolate was excellent. The texture, however, was lacking. It was a little grainy and far too light and airy for my liking. It doesn’t really fill you up or satisfy a real ice cream craving the way Haagen Dazs or a homemade variety would. But, I did really enjoy the flavor.
As a final note, I’ve realized that I like ice cream so much it’s hard for me to give any of it a bad review, and thus, my ratings may have become a little inflated recently. So, beginning today, I am going to try to hold the standard a little higher…
- Flavor: 4.5
- Flavor Intensity: 4
- Texture: 3
- Originality: 1
- Overall: 4
- Cost: $1.97 at Whole Foods
by Ice Cream Maker Reviews on August 13, 2006
I’m going to start reviewing some homemade ice cream recipes again and today I wanted to try a lemon ice cream. I found a few recipes online and a recipe in “The Ultimate Ice Cream Book†but all of them looked too complicated. A lot of cooking, lemon zesting, and whipping involved. I couldn’t find a single recipe for just mix-it-together-and-freeze-it ice cream Well, I did find one or two but neither used an ice cream machine! Someone commented that it tasted sorbet-like—of course it would if you don’t freeze it gradually and mix it (as an ice cream machine does). So, I kind of made up my own recipe tonight. I used the recipes previously mentioned as my base ingredients but also used Cool Whip (I had it in the freezer from a previous ice cream recipe and wanted to use it up) and used lemon juice from a bottle (not fresh lemon juice). I’m not sure what the exact measurements were, I just did it to taste. It was my first time not following a recipe and it turned out pretty well. The flavor was fairly tart, but it was incredibly smooth. Next time I would use fresh lemon juice (and add some lemon zest), but other than that it was fun to mix my own recipe. Try it sometime.
- Flavor: 4
- Flavor Intensity: 4
- Texture: 5
- Originality: 3.5
- Overall: 4
- Ease to make: 1
by Ice Cream Maker Reviews on August 12, 2006
I had high hopes for this Haagen Dazs. I love anything peach, especially chunky peach ice cream. But, there were few chunks of peach in this ice cream. Most of the peach flavoring came from some sort of peach swirl (which was not identified on the carton). It was a gooey marmalade; a sticky, intensely sweet swirl that clashed with the very lightly flavored peach ice cream base. I would have been ok just eating around the swirl, but the ice cream base didn’t have enough flavor. Maybe if I had expected the swirl I would have enjoyed this ice cream a little more. But, I just couldn’t move past the fact that it is advertised as “Peaches and Creamâ€; the picture doesn’t even show the swirl. Haagen Dazs- you failed me this time—miserably.
- Flavor: 2
- Flavor Intensity: 2
- Texture: 4
- Originality: 3
- Overall: 2
- Cost: $4.29 at 711
by Ice Cream Maker Reviews on August 11, 2006
The ice cream gods must have heard me when I remarked just a few days ago that Edy’s needs to have pint size containers. Because, I stopped in the 711 down the street from my house today and discovered pint size Edy’s. No joke! They only carry three flavors— Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry—I opted for the strawberry. (711 also carries flavors of Ben and Jerry’s and Haagen Dazs that they don’t have at my local Safeway or Whole Foods (correction: they do carry 3 flavors at Whole Foods)). So, now I can throw out only half a pint and not half a quart. But, it comes at a price: $4.29. For a pint of ice cream this is outrageous. Safeway sells quarts of Edy’s for just over $5 and when it’s on sale it’s under $4. I guess we know where my priorities lie. From now on I’ll most likely buy Edy’s wherever it’s cheapest. (At Shopper’s in VA it only costs $3.99 for a quart! Oh the joys of living in DC…)
The strawberry ice cream was very good. It’s light and not very dense, but has a nice flavor. Because it’s not dense and rich, I don’t think it was a good as the Breyers I previously tested. As I said, the Edy’s Grand Strawberry ice cream was good, but I was left feeling very confused. It’s called “Edy’s Grand†which implies that it’s rich and thus bad for you. But, this strawberry flavored Grand only came in at 130 calories and 6 grams of fat. Yes, that’s more fat than their new “Slow Churned†flavors, but not any more calories. Are all Edy’s Grand ice creams this good for you? If so, then what’s with the new Slow Churned / Double Churned craze?
- Flavor: 4
- Flavor Intensity: 4
- Texture: 4
- Originality: 2
- Overall: 4
- Cost: $4.29 at 711
by Ice Cream Maker Reviews on August 10, 2006
Talk about rich. I can honestly say that I don’t think I have ever had a chocolate ice cream as rich and velvety as Godiva’s Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Praline. But, I wouldn’t buy it again. You know how you can’t eat an entire box of Godiva Truffles without feeling sick? It’s the same way with their ice cream. It is too intense in flavor and sweetness to have any more than a bite or two. I had four bites and the flavor is burning my mouth. Maybe this would be good if you’re on a diet; because one bite might satisfy a chocolate ice cream craving. But really, that takes the fun out of pigging out on ice cream. One or two bites, excellent; more than that is just too much Godiva chocolate ice cream for me.
- Flavor: 5
- Flavor Intensity: 5
- Texture: 5
- Originality: 3.5
- Overall: 4
- Cost: $3.00 on special at Safeway
