Mallards Ice Cream: Bourbon Brown Butter, Grape, and Chocolate Malt
If you have been following this blog for a while, you know about Mallard ice cream in Bellingham and their crazy flavors! Although other ice cream shops have gotten into the crazy flavors game, no other shop I've seen has quite the extensive, creative, and quality menu like Mallard has.
Obviously the highlight of my trip was picking up some Mallard ice cream. I was at the shop with my uncle, cousin, and his girl friend. Me, my cousin, and his girl friend each picked out a flavor for a hand packed pint to take home. When we walked in the store and I saw the grape flavor listed, I was incredibly intrigued. I hadn't ever seen or heard of a grape ice cream before. Of course this started me thinking. Why hadn't I ever seen a grape ice cream before? Why do some fruits get turned into ice cream, but not others? When I pointed out the flavor to the rest of the crew, they did not think the flavor sounded tasty. From the small sample I had in the store, I thought it was delicious, so it was my pick. My cousin picked out the Bourbon Brown Butter and his girl friend picked out the chocolate malt.
I'll leave the review of the grape for last because I thought it was the most interesting and start with the chocolate malt since it is the most familiar. The most surprising aspect of this ice cream was how chocolatey it was. The chocolate flavor was strong and relatively dark. There was plenty of malt flavor, but it wasn't quite as strong as the chocolate flavor.
Only a Bellingham raised 16 year-old would pick out Bourbon Brown Butter for a pint of ice cream. Not that I have tasted a ton of bourbon in my life time, or know anything about bourbon, but it still made me chuckle. This flavor was a bit different than other Mallard flavors I've had. Other Mallard flavors I've had have had incredibly strong flavors, no matter what the flavor in question was. Raspberry, root beer, olive oil, licorice, and even the chocolate malt I already described! This flavor, on the other hand, won the subtlety and sophistication game. The first flavor I tasted was browned butter, and sort of underneath it was a hint of bourbon. Because these flavors were so light, the sweetness and the cream also poked their heads through. All in all, this was a fantastic flavor and I was impressed Mallard can do the loud crazy flavor thing and the subtle sophisticated flavor thing.
Now, the moment you have all been waiting for. Or not. Because you probably don't get nearly as excited about this blog as I do. BUT here we are anyway. Time for some ice cream philosophizing. As I've said, why is it we don't see grape ice cream? There are plenty of other fruit flavored ice creams, like strawberry, peach, raspberry, cherry, lemon, but no grape! As I was thinking, fruits which make good pies or other desserts, make good ice creams. And I think a lot of people wouldn't put grapes in pie or any other dessert for that matter. However, they are fools. This ice cream was delicious. It was a strong grape flavor. It was sort of refreshing, and tart, and sweet, and fruity. And those flavors meshed surprisingly well with the creaminess of the ice cream. The woman who gave me the sample told me they use the grapes similar to Concord grapes, but aren't Concord grapes. I think they may be Thomcord grapes (a cross between Concord and Thompson grapes), which do not have seeds.
Lastly, a note about texture. From what I remember of Mallard Ice Cream the last time I had some, the texture was relatively hard with not a lot of air in it. I don't know if they have changed something about the way they make their ice cream, but this time, it was soft, with a lot of air, and a lot of pull to the ice cream. It also could have been the freeze refreeze business involved with getting a hand packed pint, taking it home, putting it in the freezer while you eat dinner, and then getting it back out to eat it.
Once again. Mallard Ice Cream impresses. Let us all (or most of us) have a moment of silence to mourn the fact we do not live in Bellingham.
Obviously the highlight of my trip was picking up some Mallard ice cream. I was at the shop with my uncle, cousin, and his girl friend. Me, my cousin, and his girl friend each picked out a flavor for a hand packed pint to take home. When we walked in the store and I saw the grape flavor listed, I was incredibly intrigued. I hadn't ever seen or heard of a grape ice cream before. Of course this started me thinking. Why hadn't I ever seen a grape ice cream before? Why do some fruits get turned into ice cream, but not others? When I pointed out the flavor to the rest of the crew, they did not think the flavor sounded tasty. From the small sample I had in the store, I thought it was delicious, so it was my pick. My cousin picked out the Bourbon Brown Butter and his girl friend picked out the chocolate malt.
Wow you actually can't at all see what any of those say. Sorrrry
I'll leave the review of the grape for last because I thought it was the most interesting and start with the chocolate malt since it is the most familiar. The most surprising aspect of this ice cream was how chocolatey it was. The chocolate flavor was strong and relatively dark. There was plenty of malt flavor, but it wasn't quite as strong as the chocolate flavor.
Only a Bellingham raised 16 year-old would pick out Bourbon Brown Butter for a pint of ice cream. Not that I have tasted a ton of bourbon in my life time, or know anything about bourbon, but it still made me chuckle. This flavor was a bit different than other Mallard flavors I've had. Other Mallard flavors I've had have had incredibly strong flavors, no matter what the flavor in question was. Raspberry, root beer, olive oil, licorice, and even the chocolate malt I already described! This flavor, on the other hand, won the subtlety and sophistication game. The first flavor I tasted was browned butter, and sort of underneath it was a hint of bourbon. Because these flavors were so light, the sweetness and the cream also poked their heads through. All in all, this was a fantastic flavor and I was impressed Mallard can do the loud crazy flavor thing and the subtle sophisticated flavor thing.
Now, the moment you have all been waiting for. Or not. Because you probably don't get nearly as excited about this blog as I do. BUT here we are anyway. Time for some ice cream philosophizing. As I've said, why is it we don't see grape ice cream? There are plenty of other fruit flavored ice creams, like strawberry, peach, raspberry, cherry, lemon, but no grape! As I was thinking, fruits which make good pies or other desserts, make good ice creams. And I think a lot of people wouldn't put grapes in pie or any other dessert for that matter. However, they are fools. This ice cream was delicious. It was a strong grape flavor. It was sort of refreshing, and tart, and sweet, and fruity. And those flavors meshed surprisingly well with the creaminess of the ice cream. The woman who gave me the sample told me they use the grapes similar to Concord grapes, but aren't Concord grapes. I think they may be Thomcord grapes (a cross between Concord and Thompson grapes), which do not have seeds.
Its like an odd sort of Neapolitan!
Lastly, a note about texture. From what I remember of Mallard Ice Cream the last time I had some, the texture was relatively hard with not a lot of air in it. I don't know if they have changed something about the way they make their ice cream, but this time, it was soft, with a lot of air, and a lot of pull to the ice cream. It also could have been the freeze refreeze business involved with getting a hand packed pint, taking it home, putting it in the freezer while you eat dinner, and then getting it back out to eat it.
Once again. Mallard Ice Cream impresses. Let us all (or most of us) have a moment of silence to mourn the fact we do not live in Bellingham.
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