The Big Muddy Ice Cream Blog

I love the beginning of a new year because it means that it's time to look back at all of our posts from the previous year and pick our favorite ice creams.  While looking through old posts I inevitably stumble on one or two AMAZING flavors that I had completely forgotten! To choose the award categories, I look through my old posts and say, "Ooooh, that ice cream/sorbet/gelato was great, I should give it the 'Best ______ of the year' award!"  Then I make sure I didn't forget a super obvious award like 'Best ice cream of the year." The whole process is SUPER OFFICIAL. On to the awards! Best 'Away' Scoop Shop (best scoop shop not located in St. Louis, Iowa City, or Minneapolis) Madeline: Rockwell Ice Cream Co , Provo, UT Rockwell's signature Honey Comb I spent 3 weeks in the Park City, UT area this summer and an amazing ice cream scene was the last thing I was expecting to find.  I wanted to include at least one Utah ice cream ...

People of the Internet!! I have done it! I have officially eaten and reviewed all of the flavors in the standard New Orleans Ice Cream Co. line up. I'm very excited and not entirely sure what to do with myself. I'm definitely taking suggestions as to a new ice cream quest I should complete. Try every flavor from another brand? Do a bunch of epic comparison posts, like trying every single different vanilla or chocolate flavor I can get my hands on? What do you all think? But before I get too ahead of myself planning the next adventure, let me tell you about this flavor. It is described as This Classic New Orleans' Dessert Has Brandy Soaked Cherries In A Creamy Cherry Ice Cream. A Dash Of Orange Liqueur Is Lagniappe . Prepare yourselves, you are about to learn a lot in this post. First cherries jubilee is a dessert I'd never heard of before. It is essentially flambéed cherries and liqueur. Granted, I think dessert originated in England, but whatever New Orleans ca...

It is hard to believe that I am so close to trying every single flavor in the New Orleans line up (minus their season flavors, which by the way I REALLY want to try, especially Nectar Soda). The only other brand I've ever been able to say this about is Ben & Jerry's, but that quest started well before I became an ice cream blogger. Every time you try every flavor in a brand's line up do you level up as an ice cream eater? Anyway, I have this review and then one more NOLA flavor, and that will be all of them! I really enjoyed trying all of these flavors and I am super thankful to New Orleans Ice Cream Co for sending me all of their flavors! The description of this flavor isn't exactly a description of the flavor of the ice cream so much, but what more do you really need to say about Vanilla Bean other than "vanilla bean"? The description reads, A Classic Ice Cream Flavor Crafted With The Finest & Freshest Natural Ingredients. It's Simply Del...

Okay, Dearest Readers. Time to apologize in advance for an epic fail. I do not have any pictures of the actual ice cream with this post. Many moons ago, when Madeline was visiting me over spring break, she wanted to sample all of the flavors of New Orleans Ice Cream Co that they sent to me. We ended up eating almost a quarter of this pint in our sampling, just because we liked it so much. Madeline took pictures of all of the tops of the pints so I would have shots for blogging later, but it took me so long to get around to this one, she doesn't have the picture anymore. And then, there was some iciness when I reopened it, so I didn't want to get that shot. And then I ate the whole rest of the pint while watching a super intense episode of OITNB so I forgot to take pictures. And basically I'm just trying to say SORRY FOLKS! But the pint is pretty, right? Now, this flavor is described as Satsuma, The Crescent City's Favorite Citrus, Is Blended And Swirled Into Our...

I never really expected to be talking race politics on an ice cream blog. Buuut thanks to an interesting ice cream name choice from New Orleans Ice Cream Company, here we are. The description of this flavor is A Politician's Faux-pas Inspired This Deliciously Satirical Chocolate Ice Cream With White Chocolate Chips . Now some background. "Chocolate City" is a term used to describe a city with a predominantly African American population or one that also has predominantly African American political leadership. Scholars, such as Cornel West and comedians, like Chris Rock, have used the term and the band Parliament has an album title Chocolate City. Now, on MLK Day in 2006, only months after Hurricane Katrina, then Mayor of New Orleans, C. Ray Nagin, gave a speech in which he used the term chocolate city to talk about his hopes for the future demographic of a post-Katrina New Orleans. Of course, a bunch of people got super offended. There is obviously a lot going ...

Alright, Dearest Readers, its time to get back on the New Orleans train. Slowly but surely I will finish all of the pints they sent me. I'm not the biggest fan of banana ice creams, but at this point I trust New Orleans more than most ice cream companies to turn unique desserts into stellar ice creams. Their Baked Alaska, Lemon Doberge Cake, Mardi Gras Pie, and White Chocolate Bread Pudding were all pretty rad. This flavor is described as A Classic New Orleans Dessert is Given Life As Real Banana Pieces Are Blended With A Rich Caramel Ice Cream. Nutmeg and Rum Add Depth to This Delight.  I don't usually think about New Orleans as having ridiculous ice cream descriptions, but they definitely went for it with this one. "Given Life"?? I love it. But I had never really thought of Bananas Foster as a classic New Orleans dessert. But apparently it was invented in New Orleans in 1951 by Paul Blangé. Who knew? And if you weren't aware Bananas Foster is a desse...

Mmk folks, this is going to be a short and sweet review! But first, for those of us that aren't super familiar with Louisiana, what in the heck is a Ponchatoula strawberry? Well, Ponchatoula is a small city in Louisiana that is called the "strawberry capital of the world." There is a major strawberry festival there every year which is the largest event in the state behind Mardi Gras! The description of this flavor is A Smooth & Creamy Strawberry Ice Cream Bursting with The Freshest Ponchatoula Strawberries. This wasn't the most strawberry-y flavored strawberry ice cream I'd ever eaten. But I wouldn't say this was a bad thing. This flavor was more going for a strawberries and cream vibe, and here they executed well. The best part about this flavor was the buttermilk. It's not listed in the description, but if you peak at the ingredients, you'll see buttermilk listed. The slight tanginess that the buttermilk added made this flavor extra f...

It feel like I am almost finished with my shipment of New Orleans Ice Cream, which is hard to believe. It seemed like such a monstrous amount of ice cream when I first got it. I guess this is just putting perspective on how much ice cream I eat, especially when I think about all of the other ice cream I haven't eat in the course of working through my New Orleans shipment! What is most interesting about this flavor is the packaging. It a totally different color than the rest of New Orleans pints. I'm assuming this is to signify that the proceeds of this flavor go to the organization, Make It Right NOLA, which builds green homes to rebuild the New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward after Katrina. And no I don't mean, green like the houses are the color green, I mean green like these houses are solar powered and all sorts of cool stuff! It sounds like a great organization and ice cream aside, it is definitely worth contributing to what they are doing! But now for ice crea...