Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge

This review is a little unique as it's actually two reviews in one ... but of the same product.

Review 1: Oh my god this was the most frustrating ice cream experience I've ever had, but this is most likely due to what I'll call 'user error.'


Last week I stopped at Whole Foods after a dance class and picked up a pint of Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge.  I took the bus home, so this pint was out of the freezer for ~35 minutes.  I stuck it in the freezer as soon as I got home.  The next day I grabbed the pint to scoop myself a bowl.  If you're a frequent non-dairy ice cream consumer, you know that you frequently have to let non-dairy ice creams temper before they're soft enough to scoop.  This is just due to the nature of the ingredients.  So, I let the pint temper for 5 minutes and tried to scoop it.  Solid as a rock.  So I let it sit for 5 more minutes.  Solid as a rock.  Ten more minutes; same thing. I finally got sick of waiting and started hacking at the pint with a spoon.  Unfortunately this meant I was concentrating so much on not flinging ice cream everywhere that I didn't pay any attention to the taste.

Second night, same thing.  Third night, same thing.  On the third night I finally gave in and microwaved the ice cream for 20 seconds and was able to actually eat the ice cream instead of fighting it.

🍦/4 cones for this experience.

Review 2: I've had Luna and Larry's before and it was some of the creamiest, most indulgent non-dairy frozen dessert I've had, so this experience was either a total anomaly (not likely) or the ice cream melted too much and refroze into a solid block on my ride home (more likely).


On the third night I was able to actually enjoy the ice cream and focus on the flavor.  This has a coconut base, and the first bite tastes like a combination of chocolate and coconut, definitely not a bad combination.  As you eat more and more, the coconut flavor fades, and this becomes a true chocolate base.  The chocolate base has a fairly intense dark cocoa powder taste, which I like but I know others don't.  The hazelnuts were on the smallish side and well distributed throughout the pint.  I got one at least every other bit, but frequently got two or three in one bite.


The fudge swirl was so thick that I initially thought this flavor had chunks of fudge brownie, but it was, in fact, only fudge swirl! My swirl was pretty icy, but again I think that's due to the melt and refreeze I put my poor pint through. It was a nice contrast to have the fudgey chocolate in the swirl and the powdery chocolate in the base.

Under normal circumstances, I give this 🍦🍦🍦/4 cones! And that's versus all ice cream ever, not just non-dairy flavors! Luna and Larry's has another hit.

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