Ben and Jerry's Boom Chocolatta!
Lizzy and I finally have our phalanges on the eagerly awaited Ben and Jerry's Cookie Cores! Since we got these from our respective Targets as approximately the same time, we decided to write joint reviews of all three. Lizzy suggested we start with Boom Chocolatta and off we went!
This is described as
Mocha & Caramel ice creams with chocolate cookies, fudge flakes and a chocolate cookie core.
Here's my (Madeline) take:
When you eat Ben and Jerry's core ice creams you definitely have to go in with a strategy. There are so many different components. Do you try to get balanced spoonfuls? Do you try to sample each element individually? Do you dive in with no regard for life and limb and wake up 5 minutes later on the floor with ice cream dripping down your chin? I chose to try each element individually; however, I suggest you do not use this approach because individually each element (except the core) was kind of 'meh,' but together they were lovely.
The caramel and mocha ice creams were not very strongly flavored. The cookie chunk mix-ins were soft and chewy. The fudge flakes were the standard delicious, crunchy fudge flakes. In combined bites, I could really taste the mocha ice cream coming out to play, and the chocolate and mocha flavors played really nicely together. I couldn't really taste the caramel ice cream in combined bites. I wish there was a different mix-in in place of the chocolate cookies. They were good, but tasted too similar to the cookie core to really make an impact on the pint.
Now for the main act: the cookie core. My initial thoughts were something like, "Oh my god. Oh my god this is amazing. What even is this? What is it made out of? What phase of matter is it? Is it a new phase of matter? What is happening to me? Why am I so happy all of a sudden?" And on and on. I might have started hyperventilating. It's not often that something totally new and different comes along in the ice cream world, but this chocolate cookie core was definitely something both new and different.
When the ice cream is still cold the cookie core is flaky and crunchy and I could hear my spoon run through it. When you eat it, it starts to melt and coats your mouth in chocolate-y goodness. It's so weird. It's like a cookie, but a cookie that melts. HOW IS THIS HAPPENING? As the ice cream warms up, the cookie core takes on more of a cookie butter texture, but with the graininess of ground up cookies. I definitely recommend having a bite of the core right at the outset and save a bite for the very end.
The flavor of the core was also excellent. It was chocolate flavored, but not as sweet as the mocha and caramel ice creams, which was a nice balance. These reminded me more of chocolate biscuits (the English, not the American biscuits) than chocolate cookies, but really really good chocolate biscuits.
I couldn't possibly pick only one ice cream to eat for the rest of my life, but simply on the strength of the chocolate cookie core, Boom Chocolatta makes the short list.
Okay here is Lizzy's take. I agree with Madeline on a lot of points here. The ice creams on their own are not that greatThe best strategy for this pint is getting balanced bites, then you've got a winner. Wo much of a winner that when Brett and I sat down with this pint on a Sunday afternoon, we were so full of dinner we thought we were just gonna have a bit of this pint. Probably 10 minutes later the pint was gone and no regrets were had. The mocha and caramel could be more strongly flavored. But if they were more strongly flavored it might be a bit overwhelming. There is a lot going on in this flavor. What it kind of reminded me of was when you are having a super sweet caramel mocha. The most prominent thing you taste is chocolate, but if you try really hard you can tell there is some coffee and caramel in what you are drinking.
I liked the cookie chocolate cookie chunks. They were kind of softer and more moist than just a cookie. I think usually chocolate cookies are found in ice creams in the form of actually just chunks of Oreo, and those are a bit dry, as Oreos are dry, or in the form of really broken up swirls. I liked this middle ground. It almost seemed to me like a cross between an Oreo chunk and cookie dough. Quite pleasant. The fudge flakes were a nice added texture bonus. If Ben & Jerry's had wanted to make this more of a coffee flavor, as opposed to a chocolate flavor, it would have been interesting if they had used their espresso bean fudge like in Coffee, Coffee, Buzz, Buzz, Buzz.
Last but not least, the miraculous core. Oh my. This might be the best thing that has ever happened to me. It kind of reminds me of that stuff you make in middle school science class with corn starch or whatever that is kind of like a liquid because you can pour it between your hands but when you push on it, it is hard like a solid. Except it wasn't like that at all. The only similarity is that it seemed to behave in two different ways. When you broke a piece off with your spoon, yes you had to break pieces off, it was almost hard, and definitely flakey. And then when you put it in your mouth it was a bit grainey, a bit crunchy, but also smooth and liquidy. Like what was even happening in my mouth. Obviously for science I had to eat more and more. The flavor immediately reminded me of Bevita Chocolate Breakfast Biscuits. Which are probably modeled after English biscuits, so I agree with Madeline.
Overall this flavor blew me away. Before eating any of the cores I thought that the Speculoos flavor would easily win my favorite core flavor ever. But I am not so sure after eating this flavor.
This is described as
Mocha & Caramel ice creams with chocolate cookies, fudge flakes and a chocolate cookie core.
Here's my (Madeline) take:
When you eat Ben and Jerry's core ice creams you definitely have to go in with a strategy. There are so many different components. Do you try to get balanced spoonfuls? Do you try to sample each element individually? Do you dive in with no regard for life and limb and wake up 5 minutes later on the floor with ice cream dripping down your chin? I chose to try each element individually; however, I suggest you do not use this approach because individually each element (except the core) was kind of 'meh,' but together they were lovely.
The caramel and mocha ice creams were not very strongly flavored. The cookie chunk mix-ins were soft and chewy. The fudge flakes were the standard delicious, crunchy fudge flakes. In combined bites, I could really taste the mocha ice cream coming out to play, and the chocolate and mocha flavors played really nicely together. I couldn't really taste the caramel ice cream in combined bites. I wish there was a different mix-in in place of the chocolate cookies. They were good, but tasted too similar to the cookie core to really make an impact on the pint.
Now for the main act: the cookie core. My initial thoughts were something like, "Oh my god. Oh my god this is amazing. What even is this? What is it made out of? What phase of matter is it? Is it a new phase of matter? What is happening to me? Why am I so happy all of a sudden?" And on and on. I might have started hyperventilating. It's not often that something totally new and different comes along in the ice cream world, but this chocolate cookie core was definitely something both new and different.
Holy cookie core, Batman! I mean, I just can't even. LOOK AT IT!
When the ice cream is still cold the cookie core is flaky and crunchy and I could hear my spoon run through it. When you eat it, it starts to melt and coats your mouth in chocolate-y goodness. It's so weird. It's like a cookie, but a cookie that melts. HOW IS THIS HAPPENING? As the ice cream warms up, the cookie core takes on more of a cookie butter texture, but with the graininess of ground up cookies. I definitely recommend having a bite of the core right at the outset and save a bite for the very end.
The flavor of the core was also excellent. It was chocolate flavored, but not as sweet as the mocha and caramel ice creams, which was a nice balance. These reminded me more of chocolate biscuits (the English, not the American biscuits) than chocolate cookies, but really really good chocolate biscuits.
I couldn't possibly pick only one ice cream to eat for the rest of my life, but simply on the strength of the chocolate cookie core, Boom Chocolatta makes the short list.
Okay here is Lizzy's take. I agree with Madeline on a lot of points here. The ice creams on their own are not that greatThe best strategy for this pint is getting balanced bites, then you've got a winner. Wo much of a winner that when Brett and I sat down with this pint on a Sunday afternoon, we were so full of dinner we thought we were just gonna have a bit of this pint. Probably 10 minutes later the pint was gone and no regrets were had. The mocha and caramel could be more strongly flavored. But if they were more strongly flavored it might be a bit overwhelming. There is a lot going on in this flavor. What it kind of reminded me of was when you are having a super sweet caramel mocha. The most prominent thing you taste is chocolate, but if you try really hard you can tell there is some coffee and caramel in what you are drinking.
I liked the cookie chocolate cookie chunks. They were kind of softer and more moist than just a cookie. I think usually chocolate cookies are found in ice creams in the form of actually just chunks of Oreo, and those are a bit dry, as Oreos are dry, or in the form of really broken up swirls. I liked this middle ground. It almost seemed to me like a cross between an Oreo chunk and cookie dough. Quite pleasant. The fudge flakes were a nice added texture bonus. If Ben & Jerry's had wanted to make this more of a coffee flavor, as opposed to a chocolate flavor, it would have been interesting if they had used their espresso bean fudge like in Coffee, Coffee, Buzz, Buzz, Buzz.
Last but not least, the miraculous core. Oh my. This might be the best thing that has ever happened to me. It kind of reminds me of that stuff you make in middle school science class with corn starch or whatever that is kind of like a liquid because you can pour it between your hands but when you push on it, it is hard like a solid. Except it wasn't like that at all. The only similarity is that it seemed to behave in two different ways. When you broke a piece off with your spoon, yes you had to break pieces off, it was almost hard, and definitely flakey. And then when you put it in your mouth it was a bit grainey, a bit crunchy, but also smooth and liquidy. Like what was even happening in my mouth. Obviously for science I had to eat more and more. The flavor immediately reminded me of Bevita Chocolate Breakfast Biscuits. Which are probably modeled after English biscuits, so I agree with Madeline.
Overall this flavor blew me away. Before eating any of the cores I thought that the Speculoos flavor would easily win my favorite core flavor ever. But I am not so sure after eating this flavor.
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