"Life is Uncertain. Eat Dessert First."
~Ernestine Ulmer
This summer was my first time to try salted caramel
ice-cream. My family and I were visiting my grandpa who lives on the
shore of Lake Erie. We were taking a ride on Grandpa's boat when we
stopped at a little hole in the wall restaurant on Middle Bass Island for some
ice-cream, the finishing touch to an already awesome summer day. Feeling
like trying something new, I chose the salted caramel flavor and was surprised
by just how much I liked it. The ice-cream was smooth and caramel-y with
little blonde brownie bits for texture. It was just the right balance of
salty and sweet making it the perfect treat for a perfect summer day.
When we arrived back in Texas, I wanted to find a
salted caramel ice-cream that I could enjoy at home, so for my taste test, I
chose to sample a few different brands to see which one I liked best. I
chose to try Bryers, Walmart's Value Brand, and Ben and Jerry's. I set
up my taste test as soon as I got home from buying the ice-cream. After
all, it's never to early in the day for ice-cream. I spooned a small
scoop of each brand into small individual bowls as well as rinsed off my spoon
and took a drink of water in between each tasting to make it fair. 
First in line was Walmart's Value Brand. As
soon as the ice-cream scoop met this carton of ice-cream, its soft texture was
evident. In my mouth it was creamy and airy as though it had been
whipped. This ice-cream was sprinkled with mini caramel-filled chocolates
and swirled with wisps of caramel. But for these seemingly positive
points, I found this brand to be my least favorite. The ice-cream lacked
the salty flavor I enjoyed so much, and was instead overly sweet for my taste.
The chocolates also felt more like an afterthought and didn't seem to
belong, so I eagerly moved on to the next brand.
Bryers had the wonderful salty flavor I was
missing in Walmart's brand. The Bryers ice-cream had no extra frills
inside, and it didn't need them with the excellent salty/sweet flavor.
The caramel was evenly churned into the ice-cream, and yet was not overly
sweet like my previous sampling. The flavor of this ice-cream reminded me
of the ice-cream I had on Lake Erie. Feeling good about this brand, I
decided to give the last one a try.
Ben and Jerry's brand was the odd ball of the
bunch. Instead of having the caramel evenly distributed or marbled in, it
was concentrated into a pillar in the middle of the ice-cream. At first,
this seemed playful and whimsical to me, but turned out to be not as fun to
eat. The actual ice-cream itself had no caramel flavor. I ended up
with a spoonful of plain vanilla ice-cream in my mouth partnered with a glob of
melty caramel. I decided I much preferred the even distribution of the
Bryers. One thing I did like about this brand was that it had blonde
brownie bits mixed into the ice-cream, which reminded me of what I had tried
earlier this summer, but it lacked the salted flavor I was craving.
In the end, Bryers was my favorite brand hands
down. This brand didn't have to over sell itself with chocolate candies
or caramel pillars, it was straightforward and simply delicious. Bryer's salted
caramel ice-cream had just the right salty/sweet flavor I remembered from that
perfect summer day on the lake.
I really liked how you included your memories of eating ice cream at the lake, and your use of the quote was great! You have a misplaced modifier in the paragraph about the Walmart Brand. It sounds like the ice cream scooper is soft in texture. In your description of the Bryers ice cream, can you clarify which "frills" were absent? Your descriptions of the ice cream's texture were excellent!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the background information that you included. It helps me understand why you liked the brand you did the best. In the description of the Wal-Mart brand, what made the chocolates feel like an afterthought? Were there not many of them, or did they just not taste good? I agree with Audra about the "frills" statement. What frills exactly would be in there? I think you described the Ben and Jerry's really well.
ReplyDeleteI think that I was kinda surprised at the results because I would have thought that Ben & Jerry's would have better flavor but i can see where the "globs" would make a huge difference in the overall taste. I also agree with Zack, I think that the background information helps the reader really understand why it is that you like the flavor. At the Island, did they make their own ice cream?
ReplyDeleteThe quote was a great way to start the blog. The background for the pictures added great visual appeal. The way you described the ben and jerry's was informative and is typical of their ice creams. The Ben and Jerry's says salted caramel core and so do they have a regular salted caramel? Do you think that you had Breyers at the lake or was it another brand? Great job
ReplyDeleteThe quote feels and looks a little out of place. Since you don't talk about it or connect it, I think it might be better to take it out. Also, I've never seen "ice-cream" with a dash so every time I read it it's a little distracting. Really liked the story about the lake though- it gives me a good solid context as well as an enjoyable narrative, which can be hard to achieve with something as disjointed as a taste test. I'm curious why you opted not to do a blind test (like maybe have someone else scoop it and label it on the bottom or something)- were you already pretty familiar with the texture of the brands?
ReplyDeleteI especially enjoyed how your descriptions of the ice creams were reflected in your pictures. As everyone mentioned, the narrative provided great context and allowed me to really get into your post. I also wonder why you decided not to do a blind taste test , just in case you were hopeful about a certain brand. You said that the Breyer's ice cream was the most similar to the one you had while traveling. Do you know the source of the original ice cream, or perhaps how it was made? I'm definitely going to try this ice cream now, thanks!
ReplyDelete