The Big Muddy Ice Cream Blog

My friend, Charlie, is moving out of Iowa City! So sad, but we obviously had to go to Heyn's one last time before he left. Back in the fall, I saw an Apple Pie flavor at Heyn's but for some reason didn't get it. Then, I was worried it was a seasonal flavor, and I wouldn't have a chance to try it again. Luckily, this is not the case, and you can get Heyn's Apple Pie year round. So I decided to get the Apple Pie and Snickers Swirl! Snickers Swirl So I think the Snickers Swirl flavor was vanilla ice cream, with caramel and pieces of Snickers. There was lots of caramel, and I think that was my favorite part of this flavor. There were a decent amount of Snickers pieces of varying sizes. Some were quite small, but others were sizable enough so that you could really taste each element of the Snickers bar. This flavor was good, but maybe add some peanuts and it would be out of this world! 🍦🍦🍦/4 cones! Look at all the caramel! The Apple Pie was also awesom...

I'm going to give you a little insight into the life of a graduate student. At 8:30 this past Sunday, my brain was pretty fried from doing work and I was caught up on reviews (for the most part). Basically I had nothing to do. I thought about just going to bed right then and there, but then I remembered I'm 24 years old, not 74. So instead I decided to go to Heyn's by myself, because YOLO. I live a wild life. Heyn's is a pretty small shop and all the seats were full, so I sat outside in the cool weather to eat my ice cream, that's how dedicated I am. I thought the lighting would be bad for pictures, but they turned out great! Well Heyn's was pretty popping, I guess I'm not the only Iowa City resident who decided to go crazy and get some delicious ice cream on a Sunday night. After sampling a couple of flavors I picked Key Lime Pie Cheesecake, which I had never seen offered before, and Chocoholic Delight. The Chocoholic Delight is described as Chocola...

This semester is flying by at quite a terrifying rate. I can hardly believe it is already spring break, which has more to do with the fact I've done very little work on my final papers than anything else... However, I recently realized it was MARCH and I hadn't yet been to Heyn's this semester. But don't worry, I haven't fallen off the horse with respect to my goal to try every Heyn's flavor before I graduate. Last weekend, I got to check two more flavors off the list when I went to Heyn's with my friend, Tarah, a dessert lover who hadn't tried Heyn's yet! There were a lot of flavors I was thinking about, but Brownie Batter caught my eye, because it was advertised as a rotating special flavor. I'd better try it while I had the chance! Heyn's also has a cake batter flavor I've seen a few times and hadn't tried. I figured, go batter or go home. I was surprised that both of these flavors were plain base flavors. From what I...

Wow the peppermint overload continues. Recently I've reviewed a lot of peppermint treats, from Yotopia, Thelma's Treats, Ben & Jerry's, and now from Heyn's. I might not have even called it an overload before, but now the peppermint train has left the station and I'm the conductor. This past weekend I ate at Heyn's with my roommate, Aileen, and her boyfriend. The next day I left Iowa and I will be gone for 4 whole weeks, which means 4 weeks with NO Heyn's. Sad day. I picked the Peppermint Candy because it is a seasonal flavor and S'mores because I noticed the mini marshmallows in the flavor and they looked delicious. I was also super excited about this peppermint flavor because it is more along the lines of old fashioned peppermint ice cream. The other peppermint treats I've tried have had a strong peppermint flavor like what you would find in a York Peppermint Patty. This peppermint flavor was more like, well, exactly what the name ...

Ice cream is best served in EXTRAVAGANZA form. And when you put me and Madeline in the same city for more than one day (which doesn't happen nearly enough and not just for ice cream reasons), there is bound to be an ice cream EXTRAVAGANZA!! This past weekend, Madeline came to visit me in Iowa City. I haven't lived here long, and I basically never go out, but I was at least more than capable of showcasing the best ice cream in Iowa City (and Iowa, in general).  Madeline was here for Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday through mid afternoon, so there are obviously three parts to this mega-post. Part 1: Yotopia Okay, yes, we should have called this a frozen dairy dessert EXTRAVAGANZA, but that doesn't roll off the tongue quite like Iowa Ice Cream EXTRAVAGANZA! (Lets play a game. How many times can I write EXTRAVAGANZA IN ALL CAPS before I alienate all of our Dearest Readers??) (Madeline's note: at leas 10,000 times.) But Yotopia is such a central fixture to Iowa Ci...

Okay, fine. I'll admit it. It is fall.  I was trying to avoid admitting it, but I can't any longer. But plz lets not talk about winter yet. Now, I know I sound a bit curmudgeony. However, I do not dislike fall. In fact, I think fall is great. Perfect running weather, sweaters, beautiful foliage, an excuse to use the word foliage. Fall is wonderful.   However , what I don't like is this new craze as of the last 5 years or so where people have become extra obsessed with fall. And I don't even mind all of the social media googoogaga-ness about fall. What bugs me is this: (1) Other seasons are fun, too and (2) where was all of this love for fall 10 years ago? Fall as been around for a while, and I feel bad it hasn't gotten this kind of love until recently. Like, do you only love fall because some white dude finally figured out pumpkin and spice taste great in many forms? Which by the way many other peoples have had figure out for a while now . (Sorry, not sorry my blog ...

Heyn's, you're killing it. I am definitely on pace to try every Heyn's flavor before I finish at Iowa and of the four flavors I have tried so far, I love every single one. All four are definitely going to get serious consideration for various superlatives when Madeline and I do our end of the year post for 2015. Obviously, the last ice cream Brett and I had before he left had to be a trip to Heyn's. Once again, I picked two crazy, chunky, desserty flavors, because they looked too good to pass up. The two I chose were Kara's Creation and Heavenly Hazelnut. I actually got pictures of the adorable hand drawn flavor signs this time! Kara's Creation is described as Vanilla ice cream, pralines, Oreos, and swirls of caramel. There was no description of Heavenly Hazelnut at the shop, but on the website it is described as Hazelnut ice cream, swirls of mocha fudge, coffee-flavored toffee pieces, and chocolate chunks . Gosh, where do I even start with eithe...

Okay folks, the moment you have all been waiting for: Iowa City ice cream. One part about moving to Iowa City which is kind of a bummer is I'm no longer along the Big Muddy Mississippi River. The name of our blog is now slightly less relevant. When I pointed this out to my dad he responded, "But you're near the Iowa River which connects to the Mississippi!" But with that logic you could basically move anywhere in the United States and that's not what we were going for when we named this blog.  Oh well. Back to ice cream. There is one ice cream shop in Iowa City that isn't a chain or froyo or something, and it is Heyn's. My roommate and two of her friends were going a couple of days ago. Luckily, she's already got my number and asked if I wanted to join. If you remember, I tried to go to Heyn's when I visited the campus back in March, but they were closed because of a strange incident in which someone called the store and threatened the employees ...