Seasonal ice cream is fun. Heck, who are we kidding? All ice cream is fun. Because it’s ice cream. Last winter we gave you the roundup of crazy cold-season flavors to test out, and now we’re back with an update — just in time for the dog days (and this summer’s insane weather system). The great news is, you should be able to find most of these sweet treats in your local supermarket freezer section.
Which means you have some tough decisions ahead, friend. Tough…and tasty. Check out our roundup below:
For The Discerning Chocolate-Lover: Choctál Single-Origin Ice Cream
Check this out. You being the chocolate snob you are (we say that with love, obvs.), you no doubt know what single origin chocolate is. For those less enlightened readers though, single-origin chocolate is exactly what it sounds like: chocolate that comes from a single country or region, giving it a distinctive taste (it’s terroir, if you want to get fancy).
Single-origin chocolate ice cream, then, is a dream. A dream that’s been made reality, thanks to Choctál. The award-winning company currently produces eight different origins of ice cream, each of which represents a single variety of indigenous cacao and vanilla (four of the eight are vanilla) from a specific region of the world.
Gourmet ice cream in classic flavors with complex, nuanced flavors? Yes, please. The best part about the ice cream is that, as with single-origin anything, each flavor comes with its own tasting notes.
For The Ice Cream Purist: Edy’s Slow-Churned Simple Recipes
Edy’s (you might know it as Dreyer’s if you’re west of the Rockies) isn’t trying to do anything but produce great ice cream. And they’re totally okay with that. And we are too. Because, with their new line of Slow-Churned Simple Recipes, they’ve succeeded in a big way.
Edy’s Slow-Churned is nothing new — it’s been around since 2004. What’s new is the simple part of the equation: nine of the most popular Slow-Churned flavors (vanilla bean, chocolate, strawberry, coffee, and caramel, for example) have gotten makeovers. Gone are the artificial colors and flavors, gone is the high-fructose corn syrup, gone are the GMO ingredients. What’s left is ice cream with seven or eight ingredients on the list, as opposed to the previous average of 22, and made with milk from cows not treated with rBST.
Nestlé, the company that produces the ice cream, isn’t stopping at eight, though. They hope to have every single Slow-Churned recipe transitioned over to Slow-Churned Simple by the end of 2017.
For The World Explorer: Häagen-Dazs Destination Series
Even if you’ve used up all your vacation days for the year (we don’t blame you), you can still take your taste buds traveling, with Häagen-Dazs new Destination Series of ice creams. The flavors — there are seven total — were inspired by some of the world’s favorite travel destinations and range from the standard (Belgian Chocolate, to represent Belgium) to the mind-bending (the Asian-inspired Toasted Sesame Brittle, which is toasted sesame ice cream with honey-cardamom sesame brittle pieces swirled in).
Additional flavors include the truly delicious Sweet Cream Coffee Caramel (the chicory coffee calls to mind a stop at New Orleans’ Cafe du Monde), Vanilla Tangerine and Shortbread Cookie (which hopes to conjure tea time in the UK), Brownies A La Mode (Chicago’s flavor), Mango (the most eaten fruit in the world, FYI), and the Mexican-inspired Mayan Chocolate.
For The Adventurous Palate: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream’s High Summer Collection
If you’re the person who never tries the same flavor of ice cream twice (and why would you, when there are so many awesome options available to you?), then you’ll love Jeni’s High Summer offerings.
The four flavors are not only packed with summer produce, they’re also awesomely different. Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk, Sweet Corn & Black Raspberries, Sweet Cream Biscuits & Peach Jam, and Sun-Popped Corn all feel like things we would love to hate ourselves for eating waaaaay too much of.
If you don’t live near a Jeni’s scoop shop, no worries. The whole High Summer collection will ship right to your door. (We also recommend checking out the Early Summer collection if you want even crazier flavors with less produce involved.)
For The Election-Watcher With A Sweet Tooth: Ben & Jerry’s Empower Mint
Ben & Jerry’s doesn’t usually put out whole collections at a time, save for their Non-Dairy flavors (which, as a side note, are freaking delicious and aren’t missing anything from the lack of dairy). That said, they did release a new flavor, just in time for the ramping-up of the election season.
Empower Mint is peppermint ice cream with fudge brownies and fudge swirls mixed in. It’s not quite Bernie’s Yearning, but the flavor profile is similar (with the wealth of toppings happily distributed throughout). If you like mint chip, you’ll love this.
For The Person Who Identifies With The Cookie Monster: Blue Bell’s Cookie Two Step
If you find yourself saying “me want cookie” on a regular basis, and were crushed by the recent news regarding the FDA’s terribly unfair judgement of raw cookie dough, you’ll love Blue Bell’s newest flavor.
Released in celebration of National Ice Cream Month, Cookie Two Step features a creamy vanilla base with hints of brown sugar, combined with chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate crème-filled cookies. Basically, it’s what happens when you stir together Cookies and Cream and Cookie Dough ice creams. But we’re sure you’ve already discovered that delightful combination.
For The Person Who Identifies Strongly With The “Eat” Section Of Eat, Pray, Love: Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto
If you’re the one who’s always explaining the difference between gelato and ice cream to your ignorant friends, then you’ve probably already fallen in love with Talenti. How could you not? Even the see-through packaging is attractive as heck.
And the flavors themselves are as inventive as any you’ll find on the streets of Rome, which Talenti founder Josh Hochschuler says is very much intentional. “We’re always finding ways to innovate our flavor lineup, and we’re really proud of these inventive twists and fresh flavor combinations,” he said in a statement. “This year’s flavors are made with real ingredients you can see — like coconut shreds, layers of graham crackers and ribbons of peanut butter — and we’re excited for our fans to discover these latest creations.”
This year’s newest six were released in back in March, but if you haven’t visited the ice cream aisle of your local grocery store since then (shame on you, why are you even reading this article?), we’ll refresh your memory: rich, milk-free Chocolate Sorbetto, Coconut Almond Chocolate Gelato, Key Lime Pie Gelato, Peanut Butter Pretzel Gelato, Vanilla Caramel Swirl Gelato, and Wild Blackberry Gelato.
With so many delicious flavors out from all these companies, how will we ever choose? Or…do we need to choose? We won’t fault you if you end up trying them all.
