Posted on 02/20/2024 2:46:08 PM PST by nickcarraway
Summer 2024 can't come soon enough.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that humanity had to endure one of the darkest days in modern history in the summer of 2022 when the ice cream overlords at Klondike announced that they would be discontinuing the iconic Choco Taco. “Over the past two years, we have experienced an unprecedented spike in demand across our portfolio and have had to make very tough decisions to ensure availability of our full portfolio nationwide,” a Klondike representative told Food & Wine at the time, adding that discontinuing “a beloved item” was a “necessary but unfortunate part” of the process.
There have been taco-shaped holes in our hearts and holes in our freezers ever since — but our long, Choco-less nightmare may soon be coming to a close. Kind of. During Taco Bell’s recent Live Mas Live event, the chain announced a collaboration with Portland-based ice cream maker Salt & Straw, and the two of them have plans to bring a version of the Choco Taco back into our lives.
According to an Instagram post from Salt & Straw, the new version will involve a taco-shaped waffle cone filled with cinnamon ancho ice cream that has been dipped in a single-origin chocolate sauce. Each taco will be served with three different sauces and a cheesecake dip. “This is the most delicious thing you will eat in your entire life,” Salt & Straw cofounder Tyler Malek told The Oregonian.
Klondike Is Giving up on the Choco Taco
Malek additionally told the outlet that Salt & Straw had been perfecting its Choco Taco-inspired recipe for several years, and it previously sold its own chocolate ice cream taco at Wiz Bang, its now-closed soft-serve shop.
He added that the team has been trying to develop a way to keep the waffle cone taco shell from getting soggy too quickly — and that's something that Taco Bell has helped with. "There's a lot of food science that we had to do," he said. "They really have this army of both chefs but also food scientists."
This isn't the first time that Taco Bell has been connected to the Choco Taco. In February 2022, Taco Bell and Klondike collaborated on a test that brought the beloved frozen dessert to 20 Taco Bell restaurants in Los Angeles and Milwaukee. The trial never rolled out elsewhere in the U.S., perhaps since Klondike killed off the Choco Taco just a few months later.
Regardless, the Taco Bell x Salt & Straw Ice Cream Chocolate Taco is expected to be available at Salt & Straw's locations later this year, and it should also be available for online ordering through Salt & Straw.
"One of humankind's greatest mistakes was discontinuing this treasure," one Reddit commenter wrote about the current lack of Choco Tacos. Again, that doesn't really feel like an exaggeration.
Here comes ten pounds.....
Obesity disproportionately affects the poor.
Those are so yummy! I was bummed when they stopped making them. Like, WTF??!!?
They used to have apple empanadas, now they have chicken empanadas!
YESSSSSS!!!! Now can we drop the taco pizza and get taco bell to bring back the double taco supreme! AND HOSTESS make some suzy Q’s
So many creeps in Hollywood
I’m in this dumb motel near the Taco Bell
Without a hope in hell
I can’t believe that I’m still around
Sounds like erotic slang. Don’t ask.
I welcome them back, but want to put the maker on notice that I’m willing to have them more often, and pay a little more, if they wouldn’t put such crappy alleged ice cream in them
I loved the choco taco
Had a Klondike for the first time in years. Only question I have is, what happened to the vanilla flavor? Cheap bastids.
It got too expensive. Most vanilla now is vanilla flavoring.
Ancho? Chili pepper? What kind of hipster crap is that?
CC
Is that a cone flavored taco shell?
It’s not a taco shell.
put such crappy alleged ice cream in them
About the fourth one I had back in the day, I finally began to realize what was inside didn’t exactly taste like the real thing. On the other hand were they to make it real, it would be a winner.
It was like eating fake whipped cream, or a bowl of cool whip.
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