Recently I have become semi-addicted to Potbelly Chocolate Malts.  (Is it possible to become semi-addicted?  That’s beside the point…).  Potbelly chocolate malts are just the right thickness and have just the right amount of malt powder.  There’s something about the taste of malt powder where you can easily have too little or too much; and the Potbelly malt lands right in between.
The thickness of the malt is also excellent.  It takes some effort to suck it up through a straw, but not too much effort.  Again, they’ve achieved that critical balance.
Oh, and who can forget the cookies?  Two minature shortbread cookies on the straw, mmm tasty.
My only complaint is the size.  It’s a smaller size cup, but it’s still too much.  After finishing an entire malt I feel like I’ve eaten way too much.  I need about three-quarters of the current size.  That would be the right amount.  I realize I could throw it away after I’ve eaten 3/4; but wouldn’t that be a waste??

• Flavor: 5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 2
• Overall: 4
• Cost: $2.86 at Potbelly

Well, I finally found it: Outstanding plain chocolate ice cream. Haagen Dazs’ new “reserve” line has produced at least one amazing flavor: Amazon Valley Chocolate. This ice cream is very very chocolatey. (It’s more of a dark chocolate than a milk chocolate.) It’s smooth and it’s rich. It’s so rich that it’s actually difficult to eat a lot in one sitting (which is probably good since it’s not the healthiest ice cream.) One of the scoops I had before finishing the pint I drizzled with melted peanut butter– I would highly recommend this. But, this ice cream doesn’t need the peanut butter to taste good. It is wonderful on it’s own. Go out and buy some before they discontinue it, trust me. (Hopefully they won’t discontinue it, but if it’s truly good amazon cocoa bean they use, then it could run out.)

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor Intensity: 4.5
• Texture: 5
• Originality: 3
• Overall: 5
• Cost: $3 on sale at Safeway

I was in Chicago a few weeks ago visiting my grandparents, and we went to a wonderful French restaurant, Marche, for dinner one night. Several people got some sort of ice cream with or for their dessert and I tasted them all. My favorites were the chocolate-peanut butter and the mint chocolate chip. The chocolate peanut butter had swirls of rich peanut butter in it and the mint chocolate chip was very very crisp and refreshing with fresh mint. The plain chocolate was kind of bland and the butter pecan was decent. If you get a chance to visit Marche, try the chocolate peanut butter ice cream. You won’t regret it.

I’ve been craving Frozen Yogurt recently so we headed over to Thomas Sweet on P St in Georgetown.  I haven’t been there in awhile and last time I was there I remember trying the Oreo Frozen Yogurt.  This time I decided on something different- Snickers.  Since it was fat-free (I’m really not sure how this is possible, but I’ll trust them on it), I went for the “blend-in.”  Guess what I choose to blend it with?  That’s right, chunks of Snickers bar.  Thomas Sweet’s blend-ins are amazing. This one in particular.  It had a lot of snickers, without being overly sweet.  It was extra creamy.  And it was gigantic.  Luckily there were two of us (though it could have easily served 3).  Next time I’m in the mood for frozen yogurt I’ll definitely be going back over to Thomas Sweet.

• Flavor: 4.5
• Flavor Intensity: 4
• Texture: 5
• Originality: 4.5
• Overall: 4.5
• Cost: $5.05

This week a new Baskin Robins/ Dunkin Donuts opened right near my house.  I’ve been for mini donuts once and tonight I went for ice cream.  When I was younger there was a Baskin Robbins that we used to go to after soccer games.  They had a camera and put up pictures on the wall and it was always a big deal if you or your soccer team were in one of the pictures.  Also, the Baskin Robbins was in walking distance from school.  About once a year during gum class we would all walk to the Baskin Robbins to get ice cream.  It was always an event to look forward to.

One of my favorite Baskin Robins ice cream flavors used to be World Class Chocolate.  I haven’t been to a Baskin Robbins for years so I didn’t know if they still carried it.  Good news: they do.  Better news: it’s still amazing.  The ice cream is probably the best textured ice cream I’ve ever had.  The flavors are white chocolate and chocolate mousse, so the texture is silky and mousse-like.  But, it’s not whipped or extremely light the way mousse it.  And the flavors are just wonderful.  I highly recommend trying World Class Chocolate at Baskin Robbins.

P.S. $2.08 for a single scoop is a tough price to beat!

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor Intensity: 4
• Texture: 5
• Originality: 3.5
• Cone: 4.5
• Overall: 5
• Cost: $2.08

Today I have another review of a mix and match ice cream recipe: Chocolate Pecan Brownie. I used Stonyfield Farms After Dark Chocolate frozen yogurt as the base ice cream. (I taste tested this several days ago and the review is forthcoming.) I then added some about a 2 x 2 inch homemade brownie with pecans to the 1/2 cup of frozen yogurt. Finally, I threw in a few extra chopped pecans for an added texture. I blended the mixture for just a few seconds so the brownies didn’t get too chopped up and it still remained thick (I didn’t want a shake but more of a “mix-in”).

All in all, I enjoyed this a lot. I think the homemade brownies were really what did it. It just goes to show that the quality of the ingredients is what’s important.

• Flavor: 4
• Flavor Intensity: 3.5
• Texture: 3.5
• Originality: 3
• Overall: 3.5
• Ease to Make: 1.5

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

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

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

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

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

As I mentioned in one of my Breyers reviews, the slow churned low fat ice cream is taking over America’s ice cream.  Soon, there will be no full-fat ice creams left.  Well, maybe not; but there are just as many (if not more) flavors of Edy’s Slow Churned in Safeway’s freezer as there are of regular Edy’s ice creams.  Since I was pretty impressed with the French Vanilla I had yesterday, I decided to give Edy’s Slow Churned French Silk a try.  I tasted this ice cream and was a little taken aback.  It tastes like coffee.   No French silk pie I have ever had tastes like coffee, but apparently that doesn’t matter.  Had I read the carton I would have noticed that it says “Mocha Mousse.”  The flavor of this ice cream is excellent.  And the texture is better than that of the vanilla.  It’s still kind of fluffy, but I’d expect that from something French Silk flavored.  At 140 calories and 4.5 grams of fat, Edy’s French Silk isn’t quite as good for you as Edy’s Slow Churned Vanilla, but it tastes much better.

• Flavor: 4.5
• Flavor Intensity: 4.5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 4
• Overall: 4.5
• Cost: $5.79 at Safeway

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha.  Can’t you just hear that screechy voice playing over and over in your head?  Maybe that’s just me.  I’m really not sure what Marsha Brady has to do with marshmallows or s’mores.  Honestly, the folks at Ben and Jerry’s are getting a little desperate with this one.  Does she really deserve an ice cream flavor named after her?

Well, it’s not one I would want named after me.  It’s not all that impressive.  It reminds me a lot of the chocolate ice cream I had at Larry’s—a lot of flair, but not that much different than plain chocolate ice cream.  The chocolate ice cream is so rich it overpowers everything else.  The marshmallow only dulls the chocolate flavor a little and adds an interesting texture.  The graham cracker isn’t bad, it’s just scarce.  And the chocolate fudge chunks.  Seriously, what is wrong with those people at B&J’s???  They put fudge chunks in everything these days.  I’m really sick of the fudge chunks.  Put them in Cherry Garcia, but let’s leave it at that.  To sum it up, if you want some good chocolate ice cream, with a variety of textures (in a good way), then you’d like Marsha Marsha Marshamallow.  But if you’re looking for something that tastes like marshmallows or s’mores then you’re on your own.

• Flavor: 4
• Flavor Intensity: 4.5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 4
• Overall: 4
• Cost: $2.50 on special at Safeway

Max’s Best Ice Cream is known to be one of the best ice cream shops in DC.  I’ve only been a few times and each time I’ve been impressed.  I’ve never been totally wowed by the ice cream; it’s the atmosphere that’s so enjoyable.  Today was no different, the ice cream was excellent and the atmosphere was even better. I had Double Dutch Chocolate ice cream, which had amazing flavor.  It was intensely rich and tasty and chocolatey.  Even the cone was good.  The only thing that struck me as bizarre was the texture.  It was very smooth, with an ice chunk here and there, but left an almost powdery after-texture.  Can you have an after-texture?  I’m not sure.  But Double Dutch chocolate did.  After each bite my mouth felt a little powdery and dry.  I’m really not sure what it was.  Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t anything major or terrible, just puzzling.  I’d like to know what it was.  Despite the fact that it’s a little difficult to get to (i.e., not right across the street from my house or the Metro) I will definitely make a point to go back to Max’s soon.

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor Intensity: 5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 2.5
• Cone: 4.5
• Overall: 4.5
• Cost: $3.25

The chocolate fudge in Ben and Jerry’s Fudge Central is just like hot fudge. Except it’s not hot. But it is this awesome “core” in the middle of the ice creams that is rich and gooey and fudgey. The chocolate ice cream with white fudge chunks and the the vanilla bean with chocolate fudge chunks surround the fudge core. I preferred the chocolate ice cream to the vanilla though. The vanilla ice cream was overpowered by all the chocolate. While the vanilla may not have been the best part, it was still good. And I couldn’t have been happier with all of the textures and flavors. Honestly, I could have just eaten the fudge core; though mixing it with the ice cream made it even better.

• Flavor: 4.5
• Flavor Intensity: 4
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 4
• Overall: 4.5
• Cost: $3.00 on special at Safeway