Posted on 05/23/2014 7:25:56 PM PDT by kingattax
Plain as it is, vanilla is the nation’s favorite ice-cream flavor. Our expert tasters tried 19 (including gelatos), separating the yum from the ho-hum. For ice-cream lovers who venture beyond vanilla, we also recommend a dozen in three other flavors: salted caramel, mint chip, and fudge brownie.
Taste. Among vanillas, Ben & Jerry’s and Häagen-Dazs are the clear winners: dense and creamy, with intense dairy flavor and complex, high-quality vanilla flavor. A runner-up, Talenti, is quite sweet and a bit icy, with a fruity-floral vanilla flavor typical of Tahitian vanilla.
As you go down the Ratings, the ice creams tend to be a bit more gummy or have vanilla flavor that’s generic or less pronounced.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
These people never had Blue Belle.
I read quite a few years ago that the most popular flavor was butter pecan. Maybe it has changed since then.
My favorite is cherry with butter pecan a good second.
Texas’s own Blue Bell beats them all- in my opinion.
I knew a guy who ran a huge (Summer only) ice cream place in Western Carolina. They carried two brands, Sealtest and Biltmore.
He said the Sealtest brand outsold Biltmore by around two to one. They were both delicious.
My favorite is Haagen-Dazs Salted Caramel gelato.
we have Blue Bunny out here - not sure if it’s the same but I love their natural vanilla
How is gelato different from regular ice cream? Aldi has Italian gelato that looks pretty good.
I’ve never had Pet Dairy. NOBODY cab beat Blue Belle’s Triple Chocolate Decadence, but Hagen Daz vanilla is pretty dang good. (Probably jaded. We always have BB vanilla in the freezer)
Does anyone from around San Antonio remember Knowlton’s? That was fabulous ice cream- esp their Peaches & Cream.
Gandy’s (West Texas & maybe SW Tx) used to have a Lemon Chip & Cherry Vanilla that was out of this world.
Vanilla
Peppermint
Coffee
in that order.
All required chocolate sauce.
When we lived in Oklahoma there was a chain called Braums. Everyone raved over how good it was and while I didn’t think it was great, it was still very good.
I like a lot of different brands.
But I remember every summer Borden;’s came out with peach. Only lasted 2-3 months and then had to wait until next year.
I guess Bordens is out of business, but never found it when we moved to soCal.
Blue Bell only expanded from TX east to AL about20 years ago, so doubt if the northerners or far westerners have it.
Originating in Brenham, TX, Blue Bell's original creamery is still open to the public.
Their Motto is"We eat all we can and sell the rest."
vaudine
Pet Dairy had a stab at market entry in my neck of the woods in Maryland. Their fresh peach was outstanding, rich, smooth, creamy. Best peach ice cream, second only homemade. Chik-Fil-A fresh peach shakes seasonal fav, well worth the drive.
No doubt! AND....it doesn't taste like communism!
For my money, they are all pretty much the same at the top end. We are talking a matter of degree, or a half of a degree difference.
Obviously the cheap stuff is...well... cheap, and you get what you pay for. Low milk fats replaced with hydrogenated oils, carrageenan added for texture and imitation vanilla.
Vanilla isn’t plain. It is a very complex flavor.
Brigham’s.
.
It annoys the crap out of me that peppermint is considered a seasonal flavor when it’s one of the all-time best ice cream flavors, and worse yet, that it’s a WINTER seasonal. It’s an ideal SUMMER ice cream, cool, crisp, refreshing. More savory aalty-sweet stuff like pecan praline or something like that makes more sense in winter.
Both “Ben” and “Jerry” are the filthiest of Maoists so I don’t give a rat’s hindquarters how good their ice cream might be.
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