The Impulsive Buy » Cold Stone Creamery

FLAVORS OF THE MONTH: July 2011

Marvo — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 12:36:40 +0000

Here are this month’s limited time offers.

When summer rolls around you can expect summer blockbuster movies. And, with those summer movies you can expect companies to release tie-ins, like Baskin Robbins’ Flavor of the Month, Super Soldier Swirl Ice Cream, which promotes the upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger movie. Just like Captain America’s shield and uniform, the ice cream comes in red, white, and blue. It consists of vanilla ice cream swirled with blue candy chips and a cherry flavored ribbon. A 4-ounce scoop has 260 calories, 13 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 85 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 31 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein.

Slurpee is also releasing a movie tie-in flavor — Alienade. The flavor, which sounds like a sports drink for aliens, is a promotional tie-in for the sci-fi flick Cowboys & Aliens. Alienade is a combination of strawberry, raspberry, and lemonade. An 8-ounce serving has 65 calories, 0 grams of fat, 5 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, and 17 grams of sugar.

Cold Stone Creamery’s Gold Cone Collection Flavor for July — Strawberry Basil — makes me wonder if the folks at Cold Stone Creamery are smoking something way better than what the flavor gurus at Ben & Jerry’s are smoking. Basically, Ben & Jerry’s got out Ben & Jerry-ed by Cold Stone Creamery because combining fruit with herbs in an ice cream is quite creative. If you do decided to take the plunge and grab yourself some Strawberry Basil ice cream, the largest serving size has 770 calories, 43 grams of fat, 28 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 92 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 80 grams of sugar, 9 grams of protein, 25% vitamin A, 440% vitamin C, and 40% calcium.

Triple Chocoholic Blizzard is July’s Blizzard of the Month at Dairy Queen. It’s made using the trifecta of truffles, choco chunks, and fudge blended with vanilla soft serve. A small serving has 710 calories, 32 grams of fat, 18 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 97 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 77 grams of sugar, and 14 grams of protein. But if you’re a true chocoholic, a large size has 1400 calories, 68 grams of fat, 40 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 183 grams of carbohydrates, 10 grams of fiber, 146 grams of sugar, and 25 grams of protein.

Finally, Subway’s July $5 Featured Footlong is the Italian B.M.T. (Biggest, Meatiest, Tastiest). The sandwich is made up of Genoa salami, pepperoni, Black Forest Ham, and cheese. Personally, any sandwich that needs to tell people it’s big and meaty probably has self-esteem issues. A footlong has 900 caloires, 40 grams of fat, 16 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 110 milligrams of cholesterol, 3000 milligrams of sodium, 93 grams of carbohydrates, 11 grams of fiber, 17 grams of sugar, 44 grams of protein, 20% vitamin A, 40% vitamin C, 80% calcium, and 30% iron.

Image via flickr user popculturegeek.com / CC BY 2.0

NEWS: Cold Stone Hits The Herb Garden For Their Latest Ice Cream Flavors

Marvo — Wed, 18 May 2011 00:06:59 +0000

This summer, look for Cold Stone Creamery to get a little freaky with their ingredients.

This month, as part of their Gold Cone Collection, the super-premium ice cream maker introduced their Lemon Poppy Seed Cake Ice Cream, which is made up of lemon ice cream sprinkled with real poppy seeds. The combination is supposed to imitate the flavor of a lemon poppy seed muffin.

Oh, but the unusual ingredients don’t stop there. In July, Cold Stone will offer Strawberry Basil ice cream. And, in August, they’ll serve up a non-alcoholic Mojito Sorbet.

But what about June? Meh, it’s just some boring Chocolate Hazelnut. Personally, it would’ve been better if it was Chocolate Hazelwort.

A small (or “Like It”) serving of Lemon Poppy Seed Cake Ice Cream has 340 calories 18 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 160 milligrams of sodium, 42 grams of carbohydrates, 36 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein. A small Strawberry Basil Ice cream has 320 calories 18 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 80 milligrams of sodium, 38 grams of carbohydrates, 33 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein. Finally, a Like It serving of Mojito Sorbet has 190 calories, 2 grams of fat, 1 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of sodium, 46 grams of carbohydrates, 44 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

All Gold Cone Collection flavors are available for a limited time at Cold Store Creamery locations nationwide.

Image via flickr user diekatrin / CC BY SA 2.0

NEWS: Cold Stone Creamery Tries to Make Their Ice Cream More Appealing To Those Braving Snowstorms With New Warm Desserts

Marvo — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:04:24 +0000

It’s cold throughout most of the United States. Here on this rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean it’s 80 degrees (the previous sentences were not brought to you by the Hawaii Visitors Bureau). Cold weather isn’t ice cream weather, unless you’re eating the ice cream to help you build a thick layer of fat on your body to keep you warm.

But for most people that isn’t the case, and I imagine sales during the winter months at ice cream shops, like Cold Stone Creamery, drop. Well Cold Stone Creamery isn’t standing still like a snowman without a magical hat. Recently, they introduced a line of warm desserts called The Plated Desserts.

The four desserts are:

Brownie A La Cold Stone – warm brownies topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped topping, caramel, hot fudge and pecans.

Churro Caramel Crave – cinnamon and sugar churros with vanilla ice cream, caramel and whipped topping.

Chocolate Lava Meltdown – warm chocolate cake filled with hot fudge and topped with vanilla ice cream, fudge, whipped topping and chocolate shavings.

No Fair Funnel Cake – funnel cake covered with powdered sugar and topped with strawberries, vanilla ice cream, strawberry puree and whipped topping.

The Plated Desserts are available at participating locations through April 30, and cost $4.99 each.

Image via flickr user mattgarber / CC BY 2.0

NEWS: Cold Stone To Offer Self-Serve Frozen Yogurt, But (Sadly) Won’t Call It CoSto FroYo

Marvo — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:11:55 +0000

It looks like I’m not the only one who’s jumping on a bandwagon (Go Jets!). Cold Stone, which is known for their creamery, has plans to offer a self-serve frozen yogurt bar at many of their stores. The frozen yogurt craze has been around for a couple of years and it seems like it’s not slowing down. Cold Stone is the second major company in the past few months to introduce frozen yogurt along side their current offerings. Jamba Juice has been testing frozen yogurt for several months at some locations.

Cold Stone’s yogurt flavors will include Cold Stone regulars like vanilla, chocolate, and cake batter, but new tart and tangy flavors will be added. The proprietary yogurt recipe will be low-calorie, non-fat and contain probiotics. Like many frozen yogurt stores, Cold Stone will also offer a selection of self-serve toppings.

With Cold Stone’s frozen yogurt being self-serve, does that mean I would have to leave a tip for myself in order to get me to sing a song? Cold Stone will be installing their yogurt bar into their stores throughout 2011, so I guess I’ll find out sometime this year.

Source: Brand Eating

Image via flickr user samantha celera / CC BY ND 2.0

REVIEW: Cold Stone Creamery JELL-O Pudding Ice Cream (Butterscotch & Chocolate)

Marvo — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:18:58 +0000

Without knowing it Cold Stone Creamery, with their JELL-O Pudding Ice Cream, created a new idiom to express boredom to go along with watching paint dry and watching grass grow. Now whenever you have to watch something boring, like C-SPAN, you can say it’s like watching Cold Stone Creamery’s JELL-O Pudding Ice Cream melt, because it takes a while for this decadent dessert to do so.

According to Cold Stone Creamery, their new Jello Pudding Ice Cream doesn’t melt, instead it turns into pudding. I tested their claim by sticking in a bowl a spoonful of the butterscotch pudding ice cream and a spoonful of the chocolate pudding ice cream. Then I set up a video camera and let nature take its course.

I shot the pudding ice cream action for an hour, but through the magic of speeding up video, editing and strategically placed video transitions, you can watch all the sexy pudding ice cream-on-pudding ice cream action in under two minutes. Although I should warn you that sexy pudding ice cream-on-pudding ice cream action is 100 times less sexier than it sounds.

As you can see from the video, the pudding ice cream doesn’t melt into a liquid, instead it does what Cold Stone Creamery said it would do, which is turn into pudding. And watching that happen is like watching paint dry on growing grass.

For the experiment, I used the chocolate and butterscotch flavors of the Cold Stone Creamery JELL-O Pudding Ice Cream, but in some locations they also offer vanilla and banana flavors. Like my armpit hairs, I kept my pudding ice cream au naturel and didn’t add anything to be mixed in. The texture of the pudding ice cream is definitely not like any other ice cream I’ve had. It’s soft and pliable, like a Russian gymnast, and it doesn’t get hard, making it easy to scoop. When I put it in my mouth, it starts off with a texture similar to ice cream, but after a few seconds in my warm mouth it changes into a feel that’s more like pudding, albeit kind of a really gooey, slightly chewy pudding.

I think the chocolate flavor tastes very similar to a McDonald’s Hot Fudge Sundae, a belief that Cold Stone may not agree with since they are a premium ice cream maker and not a cheap ass burger maker. But I really like the Hot Fudge Sundaes from the House of Ronald, so I really like the flavor of the chocolate pudding ice cream. As for the butterscotch flavor, it also is also very good. It has a nice gold color and a delightful butterscotch flavor that tastes like I’m sucking on a hard butterscotch candy.

Overall, I enjoyed both flavors of the Cold Stone Creamery Jello Pudding Ice Cream. They’re rich and creamy and they have really great flavor. The texture of the pudding ice cream may throw off some people and the extremely high saturated fat content might scare a few, but it’s definitely something that’s interesting to try.

Although it’s definitely not interesting to watch as it melts.

(Nutritional Facts – 1 Love It – Butterscotch – 550 calories, 28 grams of fat, 18 grams of saturated fat, 1 grams of trans fat, 105 milligrams of cholesterol, 450 milligrams of sodium, 73 grams of carbohydrates, 64 grams of sugar, 8 grams of protein, 25% vitamin A and 15% calcium. Chocolate – 550 calories, 28 grams of fat, 18 grams of saturated fat, 1 grams of trans fat, 105 milligrams of cholesterol, 360 milligrams of sodium, 73 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 62 grams of sugar, 8 grams of protein, 25% vitamin A, 15% calcium and 4% iron.)

(Note: Gigi, who always seems to review the latest and greatest before we do, reviewed the chocolate flavor, and let’s just say she didn’t care too much for the texture.)

Item: Cold Stone Creamery JELL-O Pudding Ice Cream (Butterscotch & Chocolate)
Price: $4.59 each
Size: Love It (about 8 ounces)
Purchased at: Cold Stone Creamery
Rating: 7 out of 10 (chocolate)
Rating: 7 out of 10 (butterscotch)
Pros: Both flavors are really good. Chocolate flavor tastes like a McDonald’s Hot Fudge Sundae. Butterscotch flavor tastes like I’m sucking on a hard butterscotch candy. Texture is interesting. It doesn’t melt, it just turns into pudding. My armpit hair will keep my armpits warm.
Cons: After a few seconds in my mouth it has a gooey, slightly chewy pudding texture that might turn people off. Extremely high in saturated fat content. Watching grass grow. Watching paint dry. Watching paint dry on growing grass. Watching the Cold Stone Creamery Jello Pudding Ice Cream melt. Pudding ice cream-on-pudding ice cream action is 100 times less sexier than it sounds.

NEWS: Cold Stone Goes All Mad Scientist On Us With Their Jell-O Pudding Ice Cream

Marvo — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:23:56 +0000

If you thought combining ice cream and cake into an ice cream cake was awesome, the new Cold Stone Creamery Jell-O Pudding Ice Cream is going to blow your mind, and I’m not talking a brain freeze kind of blow your mind. They’ve taken two Jell-O (or Jello if you’re lazy, and I am) pudding flavors, chocolate and butterscotch, and merged them with their ice cream to create a pudding/ice cream hybrid, a minotaur-ish dessert, if you will.

According to the Cold Stone website, the pudding ice cream, “…combines the smoothness and creaminess of the Cold Stone Creamery ice cream you love, with the thick and velvety texture of Jello pudding.” Also, the pudding ice cream doesn’t melt like regular ice cream, instead as it gets warmer, it turns into regular pudding.

The Jello Pudding Ice Cream will only be around until July 28 and available in two creations, Chocolate-y Goodness and Butterscotch Velvet. The prices for the pudding ice cream range from $2.49 to $3.49, excluding add-ins.

NEWS: Cold Stone Creamery Jumps on the Iced Coffee Bandwagon With a Sweet Litter of Beverages

Marvo — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:00:15 +0000

Last week, Cold Stone Creamery began selling iced and blended coffees made with its proprietary ice cream mixes in five flavors that sound like members of an all-girl pop group: Sweet Cream Latte (the cute one), Vanilla Creme Latte (the shy one), Milk Caramel Latte (the sporty one), Rich Mocha Latte (the spoiled one) and Raspberry Truffle Mocha Latte (the bad one). Each beverage is also topped with whipped cream and decorative sweets, from raspberry to caramel.

These caffeinated coffee drinks sound decadent and they probably are. So if you don’t want to feel guilty after consuming one of these, you can either not drink them or order the “light” versions of them, which use skim milk and have a third less calories.

They will be available at all Cold Stone locations nationwide starting at $1.99 for a limited time. Also, don’t forget, if you leave something in the tip jar they will probably sing to you while making it. And if you take something from the tip jar you will have a little more money to spend.