The Impulsive Buy » Ben & Jerry’s

NEWS: I Hope Ben & Jerry’s Limited Batch Rocky Road-ish Is Delicious-ish and Creamy-ish

Marvo — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0000

With flavors like Karamel Sutra and Schweddy Balls, I thought Ben & Jerry’s new Limited Batch Rocky Road-ish honored pornstar Rocki Roads, but it does not. Not only does it not honor Ms. Roads, it also doesn’t have any chocolate ice cream, hence the name Rocky Road-ish.

Instead of chocolate ice cream, which is standard for the rocky road flavor, the limited edition ice cream is made up of toasted marshmallow ice cream with a toasted marshmallow swirl and fudge covered almonds. With that much marshmallow I’m surprised the creative folk at Ben & Jerry’s, who love pop culture references, didn’t call this ice cream Stay Nutt Marshmallow Man.

On Second Scoop has a review of the new flavor.

A 1/2 cup serving has 250 calories, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 55 milligrams of sodium, 32 grams of carbohydrates, 24 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Image via flickr user dmott9 / CC BY ND 2.0

NEWS: Ben & Jerry’s Banana Cream Pie Ice Cream is Probably Less Funny To Shove Into Someone’s Face Than an Actual Banana Cream Pie

Marvo — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:12:44 +0000

When I read about the new Ben & Jerry’s Banana Cream Pie ice cream over at Rodzilla Reviews, I got excited because I loves me some banana cream pie. This is the second cream pie flavor B&J have put out, with Boston Cream Pie being the other. This gives me hope that they’ll someday come up with a Shaving Cream Pie ice cream.

Ben & Jerry’s Banana Cream Pie ice cream is made up of banana ice cream with pastry cream swirls, marshmallow swirls, and pie crust pieces. In order to get some, you’ll have to walk through a Walmart, since it’s an exclusive flavor. Thankfully, walking through a Walmart is much safer now that there aren’t people getting pushed around and trampled for $2 waffle makers. Or $1.28 towels. Or cheap Blu-Ray players.

A 1/2 cup serving contains 260 calories, 110 calories from fat, 12 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 100 milligrams of sodium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 24 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Source: Rodzilla Reviews

Image via flickr user CommandZed / CC BY ND 2.0

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Schweddy Balls

Drew — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:00:51 +0000

Hi, everyone. I’m Drew, and you’re reading The Impulsive Buy. Well, the holiday season is almost here, and if you’re not an avid Delicious Dish listener like me, you may have missed this tidbit: frequent guest Pete Schweddy has sold his Season’s Eatings bakery to ice cream chain Ben & Jerry’s. This is good news for consumers nationwide who have long dreamed of enjoying those famous balls, but were prevented by distance from doing so. Thankfully B&J’s didn’t leave us hanging, developing a new flavor that Mr. Schweddy has repeatedly expressed a desire to dip his balls into. And now it’s finally ready to be thrust upon the general public.

Even so, don’t think it was easy. Schweddy Balls was released over a month ago, but it proved surprisingly hard to find. I had to visit a lot of places, some less savory than others; but finally my persistence paid off and I was able to get my hands on Schweddy Balls. Let’s give it a once-over, shall we?

The first thing that jumps out at you about Schweddy Balls is the color — very, very white, with just a few visible black spots that might concern you at first. No worries though, as closer inspection reveals them to be malt balls and fudge-covered rum balls. Yes, that’s right: B&J’s subscribes to the notion that if one ball is good, two are clearly better. The texture, as you’d expect, is quite different between the two varieties. The rum ones, though lent some firmness by the fudge, are still fairly soft and squishy. In contrast, the malt balls are quite hard and (be warned) make a loud noise when chewed. No lie, my wife was actively annoyed by how loudly I was crunching my balls next to her.

Noise aside, both kinds of balls are pleasing to the tongue, the fudge and rum melding into a nice richness and the malt balls being… well, basically just regular malt balls. They’re smaller than you might’ve expected, perhaps due to the cold. In addition, they’re spread quite liberally throughout the mixture, so if you were worried about there not being enough balls to go around, think again.

The other thing you’ll notice right away about Schweddy Balls is the smell — if you put your nose right up there, you can really detect the rum fragrance. Unfortunately, that also leads me to the biggest problem: the aroma is far stronger than the taste. Perhaps in fear of overwhelming their audience, B&J’s made the hint of rum much less than a hint. It’s barely detectable on its own, so you’re essentially just eating vanilla ice cream with balls in it. Plentiful balls, to be sure, but not so much so that you’ll have one in every bite. Probably half of your spoonfuls will just be vanilla ice cream; and while B&J’s know how to make a decent vanilla, it still could’ve benefited from a fudge swirl or something to keep things interesting. You have to feel bad for Pete Schweddy, with the entire weight of the dish resting on his balls.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t briefly mention the durability of Schweddy Balls. This may be a non-factor for most of you, but I purchased a carton on my lunch break, stored it in the work freezer, and then took a 40-minute car ride to a van rental place, a 10-minute wait, a 5-minute drive to a furniture store, 10 minutes of loading a table and chairs into the van, and a 5-minute drive to my house before it saw the inside of a freezer again. Yet when I opened the carton the next day, there were no signs it had melted even a little. Give them credit, those balls held up remarkably well.

I really wanted to give this flavor a higher score, because of both the salacious name and those panties-in-a-bunch parent groups protesting it being in stores while their kids are home viewing the original sketch on Hulu. But while I’d love to tell you there’s no beating these balls, that’s just not true — they can be beaten, and beaten soundly, by many of B&J’s other flavors. Weighted against average, everyday ice cream, this holds up pretty well. But we’ve come to expect a lot more from those gentlemen from Vermont, and unfortunately their Schweddy Balls just don’t quite measure up. It’s not terrible, but with the exception of the titular item, is just somewhat underwhelming.

Mmmm, balls!

(Nutrition Facts — 1/2 cup — 270 calories, 140 calories from fat, 15 grams of total fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of total carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 26 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.)

Other Ben & Jerry’s Schweddy Balls reviews:
Junk Food Guy
Foodette Reviews
On Second Scoop

Item: Ben & Jerry’s Schweddy Balls
Price: $3.39
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Wegman’s
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Obscure “The State” references FTW. The longer you search for Schweddy Balls, the more satisfying it is when you find it. Carton references the “racy double entendres” of the original skit. Plenty of balls to go around. Plaid logo = nice little touch. Rum/fudge balls are succulent and rich. I got paid money to make fifty ball jokes — deal with it.
Cons: Malt balls make loud, annoying sound when chewed. Kind of bland when you don’t get a ball in your mouth. Doesn’t 26 grams of sugar just mean they dumped an entire jar of sugar in the carton? Missed opportunity for “Waffle Coneheads” and “Chocolate Chip in a Box” cross-promotions. Rum scent more powerful than rum flavor. Ball jokes stopped being funny after the first three.

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Fair Goodness Cake!

Drew — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 10:00:42 +0000

Hey so guess what — I found the damn ice cream.

Irony is a bitch, amirite? After literally weeks of searching for the latest Ben & Jerry’s flavor and eventually settling for Breyers Chips Ahoy! as a consolation prize, I finally located Fair Goodness Cake! before I’d even submitted that last review. Yeah. That’s like getting a friend request from the girl you had a crush on in high school two weeks after you’ve gotten married.

Except… often when that happens, you realize almost immediately that, old infatuation be damned, you absolutely ended up with the right person. That happened to me — it’s crazy to think that if I’d actually had the stones to ask her out back in the day, I could right now be with a diehard Twilight and Justin Bieber fan who’s never heard of capital letters. (Because: hi, we’re 31 years old. The Biebs should not be on anyone’s radar who was born in the ’80s.) So I approached Fair Goodness Sake! with anticipation, but just a little hesitance as well.

Juliet famously pondered what was in a name, to which Ben and Jerry’s response is clearly, “An opportunity for a double pun, duh.” Fair Goodness Cake! isn’t the slickest of their ice cream names, but you’ve got to respect the sheer ambition of referencing both the fair trade nature of the ingredients and the flavor itself in the title. I’d been looking forward to this one for a while because, beyond the fact that B&J rarely steer me wrong, I was curious to see if I could taste the difference between standard chocolate ice cream versus “German chocolate cake” ice cream.

In answer to that question: yes, although it’s subtle. I’d say the chocolate is probably a little darker and richer than what you’d consider “ordinary” chocolate, both in appearance and flavor. Texture wise, while there are some crumbled cake bits in it, they’re pretty unobtrusive and blend well into the smoothness of the ice cream. If anything, they could’ve added a little more German chocolate cake without anyone complaining, I’m guessing. FGS! also contains coconut, which I personally can take or leave. To me it’s like the kid sidekick of the ice cream world — I’m not going to complain if it’s there, but if it happens to get accidentally left out, or blown up or beaten to death with a crowbar, I’m kind of okay with that. Anyone who got that reference, collect five nerd points and give yourself a wedgie immediately.

But I know that many of you, like my wife, are avowed coconut lovers, and rest assured that Ben & Jerry have not forsaken thee. Fair Goodness Cake! boasts a strong, distinctive coconut presence that can’t be ignored. Arguably a little too much so — the container boasts of a coconut caramel swirl, but the caramel is almost an afterthought, disappearing quicker than a bartender’s attention when you sit down and order a water (or so I’m told by people who order water in bars). In all seriousness, the caramel is there, but very subtle and definitely overpowered by its bigger, more prominent cousin. Damn your diva-esque ways, coconut!

Despite what the name might lead you to believe, there’s nothing especially esoteric about Fair Goodness Cake! ice cream. It’s not some incredibly niche flavor that like three people will appreciate; it’s just solid, non-flashy ice cream. Nothing wrong with that (other than the price… five dollars?!), and while I might’ve desired more parity between the coconut and the caramel elements, overall it’s still tasty stuff. Coconut lovers can probably add an extra point to that score, but for everyone else: don’t hesitate to pick some up if you see it, but I wouldn’t drive more than a mile out of your way to get some either. Although it is a limited batch, so if you DO decide to partake, don’t wait too long — he who hesitates does not eat cake.

(Nutrition Facts — 1/2 cup — 260 calories, 120 calories from fat, 13 grams of total fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of total carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 27 grams of sugars, 4 grams of protein.)

Other Ben & Jerry’s Fair Goodness Cake! reviews:
On Second Scoop
Rodzilla Reviews
Ice Cream Snob
Fish and Spaghetti

Item: Ben & Jerry’s Fair Goodness Cake!
Price: $4.99
Size: One pint
Purchased at: Acme
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Finally finding the damn stuff. Further confirmation that you married the right person (not that any was needed). Cake chunks that enhance the rich chocolate. Nice texture. Double puns. Doesn’t spare the coconut, if that’s your thing.
Cons: Does EVERY new frozen dessert have to have an exclamation mark in its name? Kid sidekicks. Remembering you never would’ve stood a chance with the girl you’re making jokes about. Who hid the caramel? $5 is pretty ridiculous for a pint of ice cream.

NEWS: Ben & Jerry’s Releases Limited Edition Schweddy Balls Flavor

Marvo — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:36:59 +0000

Update: Click here to read our Schweddy Balls review

I’m an avid watcher of Saturday Night Live and my favorite skit of all time is Schweddy Balls. If you’ve never seen the skit because you’re too young or you think SNL was better during the (insert former cast member here)-era, you can watch the clip below (unless you live in a country outside of the US because Hulu clips don’t play outside of the US).

For those who can’t watch the clip, the sketch stars Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon, as hosts of the “Delicious Dish,” a National Public Radio program parody, along with Alec Baldwin as Pete Schweddy, the fictional owner of Season’s Eatings Bakery.

To honor Saturday Night Live and the greatness of that skit, Ben & Jerry’s has launched a new limited edition flavor called, you guessed it, Schweddy Balls.

The new Schweddy Balls flavor features Fair Trade vanilla ice cream with a hint of rum and is loaded with fudge covered rum balls and milk chocolate malt balls.

A 1/2 cup serving has 270 calories, 15 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 65 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 26 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

The newest Ben & Jerry’s limited-batch flavor is currently available at participating Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops across the country and at supermarkets nationwide while supplies last.

WEEK IN REVIEWS – 7/2/2011

Marvo — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Here are a few product reviews posted this week from other blogs we follow.

This is perfect for my future fiancée. When I slip it on her finger, I’ll make her feel like the unluckiest woman in the world. (via Candyblog)

Blame it on the caffeine. Got you feeling mean. Blame it on sugar. Got you in the mood for murder. Blame in on the J-J-J-J-Jerk Energy Soda. Blame it on the J-J-J-J-J-Jerk Energy Soda. (via Clearance Cuisine)

You know what would be funny? Trying to drink Novocaine Anti-Energy Drink after your mouth has been injected with novocaine. You know what wouldn’t be funny? Trying to drink Novocaine Anti-Energy Drink after your mouth has been injected with novocaine, uploading a video of it on YouTube, and then watching the negative comments, like “LAME” and “Your a fuckin dumb ass,” get posted after. (via Possessed by Caffeine)

I don’t know if chocolate therapy will work on me. I prefer 40 milligrams of fluoxetine therapy. Or 75 volts of electroconvulsive therapy. (via On Second Scoop)

Aunt Jemima knows pancakes, but she sure doesn’t know frozen microwaveable meals. (via Freezer Aisle Files)

Image via flickr user Alyssa L. Miller / CC BY 2.0

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Bonnaroo Buzz

Drew — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 10:00:59 +0000

Confession time: I was once a fan of a jam band. It’s not the sort of thing one admits to easily, but I feel like we’ve built up a level of trust. For years I resisted efforts by friends to convert me to the jam band mentality. In college my roommates would eagerly put on Phish’s “Meatstick,” and I’d shake my head while leaving for class and still be rolling my eyes an hour later when I returned in time to hear the final notes. What was the appeal of long, rambling songs that were the musical equivalent of Grampa Simpson telling a story? But in late 2001, I got dragged along to see O.A.R. play at a local club, and I… just… connected. It was a perfect storm of the general contentment and malaise that sets in midway through senior year, meeting laid-back songs about drinking, hanging out with friends, and crazy games of poker.

And with that, I was hooked. I went to a half-dozen O.A.R. concerts, successfully converted friends and family, watched them on Letterman… and for a brief period of time, I longed to attend Bonnaroo. Never very seriously — I think even then I realized only liking one band was not a good basis for attending a three-day musical event. But still, it remains the one festival I’ve ever really given any serious thought to, and my ears perk up whenever I hear it mentioned. Enter: Ben and Jerry and their latest hippie offering. Not to get stereotyped as the ice cream guy, but today we’re looking at Bonnaroo Buzz, yet another Fair Trade-certified flavor from everyone’s favorite not-necessarily-gay duo from Vermont.

For starters, please don’t ask me to explain how the flavor has any connection with Bonnaroo whatsoever — it’s coffee and malt ice cream with whiskey caramel swirls and English toffee pieces mixed in. Seems like a more appropriate title might be “Flavo(u)rs of the British Isles,” or perhaps “Feck th’ English (Though Their Toffee’s Not Bad),” but I guess that would be a hard sell to your more conservative grocery stores. It still doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, though, because while I’m certain many of the attendees at any given Bonnaroo are indeed buzzed, I think that’s an entirely different buzz from the kind one gets from coffee. I like imagining Ben and Jerry trying to explain it to consumers: “Naw man, we wanted to put the good stuff in, but ‘the Man’ wouldn’t let us. It’s cool though, just talk to Steve, he’ll hook you up. In the meantime we just put in whiskey, and coffee, and toffee, ’cause that totally rhymes, man! Whoa… did you ever really look at the back of your hand?” Then it’s just twenty minutes of giggling.

Bonnaroo Buzz has the misfortune of having to follow up on me reviewing two good-to-very-good Ben & Jerry’s flavors, and unfortunately it doesn’t quite measure up. Coffee ice cream fans may want to bump that score up by a point or two, but it just doesn’t hit exactly the right balance, with not enough caramel flavor spread throughout. Or rather, the smoothness of the caramel is able to briefly balance out the coffee bitterness, but it fades quickly while the bitterness lingers, which is not ideal. The toffee tastes good, crunchy but not teeth-shatteringly hard, although there were two massive chunks that really needed to be broken up into smaller pieces; not sure if that’s standard or if I just got an “off” carton. Still, I can’t say that the toffee flavor ever blended seamlessly with the ice cream so much as being two decent but distinct tastes. And I don’t know about you, but when I see the word “whiskey” on any product, I expect to be drunk after I’ve consumed a quarter of it, so strike three, Bonnaroo Buzz.

In general terms there’s a limit to how “bad” Ben and Jerry’s ice cream can really be — you’d still take it if it was offered to you — but compared to many of its forebears and peers, Bonnaroo Buzz isn’t in the same class. For O.A.R. fans, it’s like when they start playing “Delicate Few”… you kind of look forward to it, but then when you hear it you remember it’s not really one of your favorites and it’s probably time for a pee break. But, hell — every song is someone’s favorite, so if coffee ice cream is your thing, give it a shot. The rest of us will be in line for the bathroom.

(Nutrition Facts — 1/2 cup — 280 calories, 130 calories from fat, 14 grams of total fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 25 grams of sugars, 4 grams of protein, 10% vitamin A, 0% vitamin C, 10% calcium, and 0% iron)

Other Ben & Jerry’s Bonnaroo Buzz reviews:
Fish and Spaghetti
Castles and Cooks
Need Coffee

Item: Ben & Jerry’s Bonnaroo Buzz
Price: $4.79
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Acme
Rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: “Hey Girl” live. Senior year malaise. Getting your British on. Smooth caramel. Solid but not adamantine toffee. Ice cream that could conceivably get you drunk.
Cons: “Meatstick.” Getting stereotyped as the ice cream reviewer. Names that don’t make sense. Lingering coffee bitterness. Toffee boulders. Ice cream that doesn’t actually get you drunk.

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter World and Ben & Jerry’s Volun-Tiramisu

Drew — Tue, 17 May 2011 10:00:03 +0000

Ah, spring — that magical time of year when a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of ice cream. And love, I guess, but my wife just gave birth a couple of months ago after a difficult pregnancy, so I’ve been strongly advised to just stick with the ice cream. Fair enough.

As they’re wont to do, Ben & Jerry have put down their bong and unleashed some new flavors on us. This time it’s with a valuable social message, encouraging everyone to volunteer in their communities, complete with a website link on the carton to find volunteering opportunities near you. But not so fast, Walmart shoppers… these are Target exclusive. Each carton even includes a “Together for Volunteerism” sticker with one of B&J’s cows (also known as “a cow”) posing next to the Target dog, which always looks to me like Spuds MacKenzie passed out and his friends drew a bullseye on his face. (If you’re too young to know who Spuds MacKenzie is, I hate you.) Said exclusivity wasn’t any problem for me, but if you live in a Footloose-esque rural community too small or remote to play host to a Tar-jay, you’re out of luck. Please accept my sympathy, as I try to recall which of the three nearby Targets I bought these from.

Speaking of which, apparently by purchasing this ice cream I’m reaping the benefits of Fair Trade Certified cocoa and coffee. I’m not at all politically minded and lack the time to watch The Daily Show anymore, so I’m not sure if that means I’m tacitly supporting equitable trade practices or funding Trump 2012. From what I know of Ben and Jerry, presumably it’s some hippie thing, but as long as I don’t have to give up meat or start wearing Birkenstocks, I’m fine with it. Of course, the other thing Ben and Jerry are known for is inserting puns into their ice cream names, and these are no exception. Volun-Tiramisu is almost a little TOO on the nose, but it works. On the other hand, “Peanut Butter World” confuses me. After some thought, I decided maybe the implication is that volunteerism will lead to a better world, and “butter” sounds kind of like “better,” so… yeah? If that’s the case, I have to say they’re really reaching. Of course, it’s possible all of you got it immediately and can’t imagine how it wasn’t obvious to me from the beginning. Like how I didn’t realize those “Every kiss begins with Kay” commercials are making a pun about the actual letter “k” until I heard it on a radio show’s “things you just figured out” segment. It’s embarrassing to find yourself in the same company as people who only just realized why it’s called a QWERTY keyboard.

I was slightly leery of the Peanut Butter World before digging in because peanut butter and I have an understanding: if it brings its friend chocolate, they’re both welcome in my mouth, but I’ve never been willing to buy seats for PB’s solo act. Turns out I needn’t have worried, as this flavor is composed of really creamy, decadent chocolate with peanut butter swirls in it, along with some chocolate cookie bits. It’s kind of like eating a cold, liquidy Reese’s peanut butter cup that someone has coated with crumbled Oreos, only way more rich than any Reese’s could ever be. It is also insanely unhealthy — after a half dozen spoonfuls, I felt suddenly motivated to name my heirs and divvy up my worldly possessions — but that’s the price you pay for supporting a good cause. At least that’s what I’m telling myself, and you should too. In any event, it’s worth it, because this is some seriously good ice cream. There’s just enough peanut butter to remind you it’s there without being overpowering, while the chocolate is definitely dominant.

If I was nervous about the Peanut Butter World, I had no idea what to expect from the Volun-Tiramisu. Tiramisu is such a unique flavor, and I’ve never been the world’s biggest coffee drinker. But like the peanut butter above, the coffee was noticeable but subdued, enough to make you aware of its presence without taking over. And I wouldn’t have been able to spell “mascarpone” before buying this ice cream, let alone tell you what it tasted like, but it turns out it’s good, very light and lingering in contrast to the heaviness of the Peanut Butter World. The carton also proclaims that it has a cocoa dusting, but I wasn’t able to detect any traces of it. I also don’t think there’s any actual rum in it, although since I was drinking a beer at the same time, I can’t be sure of that. However, while it was definitely good, a little went a long way. I’d had my fill after a few spoonfuls, whereas if it weren’t for self-control and shame, I could have easily polished off a pint of Peanut Butter World in one sitting. That might actually be a plus for Volun-Tiramisu in the sense of aiding your portion control, since while it’s not as bad for you as its partner, it’s not exactly making you thinner with every bite either.

All in all I was pleased with Ben & Jerry’s latest, exclusive offerings. They’re both tasty, I’m pretty sure Target is slightly less evil than some of the other big box stores, and of course I’m all for encouraging volunteerism. In a way, anyone who reads this review and decides to buy a pint is supporting volunteerism because of something I did, so hey — you’re welcome, B&J. I’ll expect the check in the mail.

(Nutrition Facts – 1/2 cup – Peanut Butter World – 330 calories, 22 grams of total fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of total carbohydrates, 21 grams of sugar, 7 grams of protein. Volun-Tiramisu – 230 calories, 12 grams of total fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 65 milligrams of cholesterol, 60 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of total carbohydrates, 23 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein.)

Other Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter World and Ben & Jerry’s Volun-Tiramisu reviews:
On Second Scoop – Volun-Tiramisu & Peanut Butter World
Castles and Cooks

Item: Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter World and Ben & Jerry’s Volun-Tiramisu
Price: $3.49 each
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 9 out of 10 (Peanut Butter World)
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Volun-Tiramisu)
Pros: Saving the world, one fat ass at a time. Mascot synergy. Your peanut butter in my chocolate. Mascarpone. Heavy chocolate, light tiramisu. Ice cream that portion controls itself. Pimping volunteerism.
Cons: Inscrutable puns. Carton makes me feel guilty for not volunteering lately. Failing to comprehend simple ad campaigns. Need to be doing strenuous volunteer work to burn off all the calories. Possibly bankrolling Trump 2012.

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Late Night Snack

Nichol — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 22:03:25 +0000

Pot smokers, couch-dwelling sports fans, and menstruaters rejoice! Sweet and salty have been reduced to their lowest common denominators and magically recombined to form the freaky wonder that is Ben & Jerry’s Late Night Snack ice cream.

Hell, provided it’s available in your immediate area and you’re as curiosity-driven as I am, you’ve probably already tried the stuff. It has been a little while, and this ice cream is a smidge high profile, on account of the late night talk circuit involvement. I, for one, am willing to throw caution to the wind and try anything Stephen Colbert claims is tasty. I see this as one fun and easy way to fulfill my monthly patriotic acts quota. I’m now just one eagle cuddle away from being done for April!

Sorry to be late for 420 day, too, but I’m guessing most of the dedicated celebrants out there will understand. Any time can be munchies time. It’s all relative, and it’s all good.

I’ve been jogging my ass off to make up for all these ice cream reviews. Somehow Late Night Snack just feels more hip-widening than Ben & Jerry’s other offerings, even though it really isn’t any worse. Every pint they produce is already verging on a caloric supernova. If they tried adding any more, I’m pretty sure their products would explode, and then slowly begin absorbing everything else in the freezer aisle, from the neighboring Häagen-Dazs all the way to the Hungry Man entrees. Anyone brave enough to try a spoonful would instantly blow up like the Stay Puft marshmallow man. As is, it takes at least two pints of the stuff to attain that kind of comical weight gain. Not that I know.

Maybe, and I’m just throwing this hypothesis out there, the riotously calorie-rich issue at hand is the chocolate covered potato chip clusters. Similar to a rice crispy treat in texture, fresh deer poo in appearance, and a chocolate drenched kettle chip in flavor, they’re sprinkled liberally and fairly evenly throughout the ice cream like little treasure nuggets. I have a feeling South Park’s Chef would either highly approve of these salty balls or sue the company for stealing his lucrative vision.

The clusters are surrounded by a protective chocolatey armor roughly the texture and thickness of the outside of a Butterfinger bar, which sometimes manages to preserve a good crunch but more often than not fails, allowing the sogginess to creep in as the ice cream thaws. This is sad, because the crunchy clusters are far tastier than their squishier friends. I felt compelled to shovel the ice cream in faster and finish the pint in one sitting just to preserve the little balls of joy.

The base for this tour de force is vanilla ice cream, with a salty caramel swirl which I found to be kind of thin in places. I would happily eat these two elements on their own, but that flavor would probably be a store brand, gallon-size-only offering in this Xtreme day and age. If wanted to go that route, I might as well buy a Costco-sized drum of Neapolitan and softly lull my taste buds into an eternal frozen slumber. Ben & Jerry’s leads the pack, time and again, ratcheting the ice cream norm up about ten notches, I suspect through controlled exposure to sandalwood essence and the tunes of Iron and Wine, plus a pinch of good, old-fashioned stoner ingenuity. No spoon? No problem. You’ve got Fritos. They’re sturdy AND 100 percent more edible. BAM. A food revolution is born.

Initially, the flavor is a nice blend of chocolate, vanilla, and caramel with a salty edge. But the aftertaste? As long as you manage to scoop up a cluster or two, it’s pure potato chip. Somehow the two never clash or overlap. They just peacefully and deliciously co-exist. The world could learn a thing or two from this ice cream. Namely, that the key to harmony lies in coating everything in chocolate and then adding salt. Lots of salt. I apologize again to the lactose intolerant community. Attaining world peace is going to be a bit tougher for you guys.

The biggest problem arises when you stop eating this ice cream, because the sweet amalgam is no longer there to continuously balance out the potato chip essence, which lingers. Everything about this flavor practically begs for continual consumption. If you notice my giant pasty form lumbering through the streets of New York sometime soon, sporting a jaunty sailor’s cap and little else, well, you know who to call. What? Wait, no. The authorities. Call the authorities.

(Nutrition Facts – ½ cup – 270 calories, 140 calories from fat, 15 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 21 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein, 10% vitamin A, 10% calcium, 0% vitamin C, and 0% iron.)

Other Ben & Jerry’s Late Night Snack reviews: 
On Second Scoop
Freezer Burns
Rodzilla Reviews
Serious Eats

Item: Ben & Jerry’s Late Night Snack
Price: $3.99
Size: 1 Pint
Purchased at: Albertson’s
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Salted caramel. Eagle cuddling. Fresh, unthawed chocolate covered potato chip clusters. Ice cream by the drum, in theory. Stoner ingenuity. Jaunty sailor caps. Ben & Jerry’s not skimping on the clusters. Frito-based revolutions.
Cons: Deer crap ice cream. Caloric black holes. Soggy potato chip balls. The lingering, persistent aftertaste of soggy potato chip balls. Ice cream by the drum, in practice. Becoming the Stay Puft mascot. Caramel swirl thins out in places. Lactose intolerant community unable to participate in my vision of world peace.

NEWS: New Target-Exclusive Ben & Jerry’s Flavors Promote Volunteerism, But Will Also Promote Weight Gain

Marvo — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 23:34:05 +0000

Update: Click here to read our Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter World and Ben & Jerry’s Volun-Tiramisu review

Volunteering. It’s something we should all do.

For example, I help little old ladies cross the street, and if they don’t give me a monetary tip when I hold out my hand and let out a hearty AHEM after getting them to the other side of the street, I write it off as me volunteering my time and services to help the elderly.

Target and Ben & Jerry’s are doing their part to promote volunteerism by introducing two new Target-exclusive Ben & Jerry’s flavors, Volun-Tiramisu and Peanut Butter World. These flavors join last year’s exclusive flavors, Berry Voluntary and Brownie Chew Gooder.

Volun-Tiramisu consists of coffee mascarpone ice cream with cocoa dusted coffee rum lady finger pieces. While Peanut Butter World is made with milk chocolate ice cream with peanut butter swirls and chocolate cookie swirls.

The new flavors began showing up at Target store this month, which is fitting since April is National Volunteer Month. If you’d like to find volunteer opportunities in your area, you can visit Volunteer Match or you can help little old ladies cross the street and see if they’ll give you a tip.

Source: On Second Scoop

Image via flickr user infowidget / CC BY SA 2.0

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake and Clusterfluff (What A Cluster)

Marvo — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:08:08 +0000

Update: Ben & Jerry’s changed Clusterfluff’s name to What A Cluster.

Almost every time I eat Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, I break down and cry with tears mixed with sadness and happiness. It’s been the case with two of Ben & Jerry’s latest flavors, Red Velvet Cake and Clusterfluff. It’s as if the dairy in their products have the ability to turn my tear ducts into lactating cow udders.

I remember the first time I ever tasted Ben & Jerry’s. It was their Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. I couldn’t get enough of that creamy vanilla ice cream with those chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough. It was as if Ben and Jerry were consoling me and giving me a giant group hug from inside of me. Every spoonful I took made the hug tighter and I never wanted them to let go. I closed my eyes and just let Ben and Jerry hold me.

When I opened my eyes, half the pint was gone. It was at this exact moment that I started to weep because I knew Ben and Jerry couldn’t hug me forever. Although I wanted Ben and Jerry to give me a never-ending hugjob, I knew it wasn’t possible because if I continuously ate their ice cream, my body would blow up to the point where it would look like Ben and Jerry were actually in my body giving me a hug.

So that’s why Ben & Jerry’s ice cream makes me cry with mixed emotions; happiness because I’m eating damn tasty ice cream and sadness because I can’t get Ben and Jerry to give me a hugjob forever.

These latest Ben & Jerry’s flavors look good on paper and in the paper containers they come in. Red Velvet Cake is made up of red velvet cake batter ice cream with red velvet cake pieces and a cream cheese frosting swirl. While Clusterfluff has peanut butter ice cream with caramel cluster pieces, marshmallow swirls and peanut buttery swirls.

Red Velvet Cake had a lot of red velvet cake pieces mixed in, which was surprising because in previously reviewed Ben & Jerry’s flavors I complained about not having enough of the featured ingredient (See Hannah Teter’s Maple Blondie and Chocolate Macadamia). At a quick glance, the pink ice cream and red velvet cake pieces look like what would happen if Huckleberry Pie left hickeys all over Strawberry Shortcake’s skin during a romp in the strawberry field.

Yup! I just ruined the 1980s for some of you.

The red velvet cake pieces are slightly chewy, but damn, they make the ice cream tasty by amplifying the red velvet cake flavor of the ice cream base. However, I thought the combination of the red velvet cake-flavored ice cream, red velvet cake pieces, and cream cheese frosting swirl became a little too rich for my taste buds after a few spoonfuls. This made it difficult to plow through the ice cream like I usually do with other Ben & Jerry’s flavors. But overall, Ben & Jerry’s did a solid job with their Red Velvet Ice Cream.

Clusterfluff is based on the fluffernutter, a sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. But as I ate the ice cream, I thought it ought to be renamed Clusternut because, while I could see the marshmallow swirls, peanut butter was all I could taste. Also, I think it rhymes better with the word that influenced the flavor’s name: clusterfuck.

For some reason, the ample caramel cluster pieces enhanced the flavor of the peanut butter ice cream and provided a crunchy texture in the ice cream. If I ate this ice cream and didn’t know they were caramel clusters, I would definitely think they were peanuts. While it tastes more like a Clusternut than a Clusterfluff, I did think it was divine for a peanut butter-flavored ice cream and I could see myself accidentally eating through half a pint in one sitting.

Ben & Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake and Clusterfluff are both really good flavors, and I’d place them on my list of top 12 Ben & Jerry’s flavors. While both are creamy and delicious, they also make me feel like Ben and Jerry are giving me a hugjob.

And, for me, that’s all that really matters.

(Nutrition Facts – 1/2 cup – Red Velvet Cake – 250 calories, 120 calories from fat, 13 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 105 milligrams of sodium, 30 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 23 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein. Clusterfluff – 320 calories, 170 calories from fat, 19 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 23 grams of sugar, and 7 grams of protein.)

Other Ben & Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake reviews:
Rodzilla Reviews
On Second Scoop
Fish and Spaghetti

Other Ben & Jerry’s Clusterfluff reviews:
Rodzilla Reviews
On Second Scoop
Fish and Spaghetti

Item: Ben & Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake and Clusterfluff
Price: $3.50 (on sale)
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Red Velvet Cake)
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Clusterfluff)
Pros: Both make me feel like Ben and Jerry are giving me a hugjob. Clusterfluff has a divine peanut butter flavor and is easy to eat through. Lots of red velvet cake chunks mixed into the ice cream. Caramel clusters were plentiful. Hugjobs.
Cons: Red Velvet Cake might be too rich for some. Can’t taste the marshmallow swirl in Clusterfluff. Not being able to have Ben and Jerry give me a hugjob forever.

NEWS: More Fluffing Ben & Jerry’s Flavors For Your Fluffing Piehole, You Fluffers

Marvo — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:32:07 +0000

Update: Click here to read our Ben & Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake and Clusterfluff review

Update 2: Click here to read our Ben & Jerry’s Late Night Snack review

I surf review websites as often as some folks surf porn websites, so I noticed this morning, friend of The Impulsive Buy, Roddy at Rodzilla Reviews posted a review of the new Ben & Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake ice cream. I was surprised by this new product because I also surf food company websites as often as I…I mean some people surf porn websites, and I didn’t see anything on the Ben & Jerry’s website.

Roddy also captured a picture that shows two other new Ben & Jerry’s flavors, along with the Red Velvet Cake: Clusterfluff and Late Night Snack. Here are what the three new flavors are made of:

Red Velvet Cake – red velvet cake batter ice cream with red velvet cake pieces and a cream cheese frost swirl

Clusterfluff – peanut butter ice cream with caramel cluster pieces, peanut butter and marshmallow swirls

Late Night Snack – vanilla bean ice cream with a salty caramel swirl and fudge covered potato chip clusters

The Late Night Snack flavor is the latest Ben & Jerry’s flavor to honor a celebrity — Late Night host Jimmy Fallon. He follows other famous people who have their own Ben & Jerry’s flavors, like Willie Nelson and Stephen Colbert.

Source: Rodzilla Reviews

Image via flickr user Ezra.Wolfe / CC BY SA 2.0

NEWS: Ben & Jerry’s Continues To Prove They’re Nothing But A Bunch Of Fun-Loving Hippies With Their Bonnaroo Buzz Ice Cream

Marvo — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 02:00:52 +0000

Bonnaroo Buzz was originally a flavor only available at Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops, but, recently, they’ve packed all that coffee and malt ice cream, toffee chunk, and whiskey caramel swirl goodness into a pint sized container you can buy at your local grocery store.

The ice cream is named after the annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee. (Side note: My future first child, whether it’s a boy or girl, will also be named after the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, since Bonnaroo sounds like a great uni-sex name.) Just like Bonnaroo Buzz ice cream combines a variety of flavors, the Bonnaroo event brings together musicians from a variety of genres, like rock, hip-hop, jazz, country, folk, gospel, and reggae. Sadly, Bonnaroo Buzz ice cream won’t let you experience the sounds, sun, sweat, stank and skunkweed smoke at the Bonnaroo Festival.

A half cup of Bonnaroo Buzz has 280 calories, 14 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 25 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Image via flickr user rocknroll_guitar / CC BY 2.0

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Snickerdoodle Cookie

Kelley — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:00:37 +0000

Full title: “Ben & Jerry’s Limited Batch Snickerdoodle Cookie Buttery Cinnamon Ice Cream Loaded with Snickerdoodle Cookies.” Limited Batch! Buttery Cinnamon! Cookies! I haven’t had Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in years, but when I saw this limited edition flavor I knew I’d have to give it a go.

I’ll be honest with you, I had to consult Wikipedia in order to remember exactly what a snickerdoodle cookie is. I knew I’d had them before, specifically around Christmastime, but my family Christmases were so chock full of cookies, candy and everything sugar that I wasn’t sure if I was thinking of the flavor of snickerdoodles, my grandpa’s pfeffernüsse, or those weird white cookies my cousin baked every year that nobody ever ate.

For anyone who might have a memory as poor as mine, snickerdoodles are basically cinnamon-sugar cookies, which explains their inclusion in this cinnamon-infused ice cream. This is the perfect time to introduce this ice cream flavor, what with Christmas sneaking up on us like a mugger in a dark side alley, ready to demand all our money in the form of Clappers and Chia Pets shaped like Garfield’s head.

As the inevitability of crowded malls, sold-out “must have” toys and dysfunctional family gatherings washes over you, maybe you should comfort yourself with a pint of Snickerdoodle Cookie ice cream. To me, cinnamon equals chilly nights, cozy blankets and hot cocoa, all the good things that come along to keep me sane during the oft-stressful holiday season. Let’s try out this ice cream and see if it’s going to give me warm fuzzies or curse Ben & Jerry’s for ruining one of the few things about the holiday season that keeps me from hanging myself from the ceiling fan with a length of tangled Christmas lights. I’m already glaring at it for making me talk about Christmas in November. That shit is verboten in my house.

Fun fact: turns out I don’t own an ice cream scoop.

It’s hard enough to play food photographer and try to make nice, big, inviting mounds of ice cream with a scoop; without one, fuggedaboudit. During my search, however, I did find a scoop-like device in the utensils drawer, a.k.a. the Murder Drawer of Sharp, Unsheathed Knives. I think it used to belong to an espresso machine, but it looks more like a melon baller. Either way, it became an impromptu ice cream scooper. I am MacGyver.

As you can see, there’s plenty of snickerdoodle cookie in Snickerdoodle Cookie. Instead of chunks of cookie, I’d describe them as clusters of crumbles. Delicious crumbles! The ice cream is, as described, buttery, and by that I mean rich and creamy, not “containing properties resembling butter.” That would be gross. Somewhere, someone at Jones Soda just decided to make a Butter Ice Cream flavored soda. I take full responsibility for this.

Both the cinnamon in the ice cream and in the cookie crumbles are perfectly portioned. Too much cinnamon and I would have felt like I was eating a softer version of one of those cinnamon-scented grocery store pine cones that always make me sneeze; too little and it would have just been a creamy vanilla ice cream with sugar cookies. But Snickerdoodle Cookie strikes just the right balance, resulting in me eating the entire bowl and wishing it was a month from now and about 50 degrees cooler outside. Time travel doesn’t exist (yet) and it will never be 20 degrees where I live, so I’m shaking my fist at Ben & Jerry’s while at the same time contemplating eating another bowl.

Snickerdoodle Cookie ice cream nails the flavor of the cookie while also delivering a rich and creamy cinnamon ice cream that is the perfect compliment to the cookie crumbles. Ben & Jerry’s is wise for making this a “Limited Batch,” because while it’s a great flavor for the holiday season, the richness of it wouldn’t make for a very refreshing summertime frozen treat. There’s something about the cold winter season that makes rich foods comforting instead of overwhelming, and this is the case with Snickerdoodle Cookie. I’d suggest waiting until Christmas window displays make you happy instead of angry, curling up under a soft blanket, and eating this ice cream while you watch A Charlie Brown Christmas.

A healthy pour of bourbon to help keep you warm wouldn’t hurt, either.

(Nutrition Facts – ½ cup — 230 calories, 120 calories from fat, 13 grams of total fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 65 milligrams of cholesterol, 105 milligrams of sodium, , 26 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 20 grams of sugars, 4 grams of protein, 10% vitamin A, 10% calcium, 0% vitamin C and 0% iron.)

Other Ben & Jerry’s Snickerdoodle Cookie reviews:
Gigi Reviews
On Second Scoop
Rodzilla Reviews

Item: Ben & Jerry’s Snickerdoodle Cookie
Price: $3.50 (on sale; normally $4.79)
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Albertson’s
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Ice cream rich and buttery. The word pfeffernüsse. Cinnamon was well-balanced. MacGuyver. Cookie crumbles were yummy. Bourbon.
Cons: Ice cream may be too rich for some. Early Christmas decorations. 230 calories per serving helping to pack on the holiday pounds. Butter Ice Cream flavored soda.

THE WEEK IN REVIEWS – 10/23/2010

Marvo — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 10:00:33 +0000

Here are a few product reviews posted this week from other blogs we follow. If you visit them, please leave a comment that says either hello, something meaningful or says “TIB is #2.”

I think the Domino’s Wisconsin Six Cheese Pizza doesn’t represent Wisconsin very well. I’ve been to Wisconsin and they had way more than six different types of cheeses. It really should be the Domino’s Wisconsin Thirty-Four Cheese Pizza. And it should contain 300% of your daily value of calcium…and saturated fat. (via We Rate Stuff)

I’m not sure whether I should pour this liquid into my mouth or my car’s antifreezer container. I’m sure it’s bad either way. (via Probably Edible)

Peanut butter and jelly in between bread is good. Peanut butter and jelly in a jar is bad. Peanut butter and jelly in between the sheets is not as awesome as it sounds. (via Second Rate Snacks)

Ben & Jerry’s has a carrot cake ice cream. I hope Ben & Jerry’s comes up with a wedding cake-flavored ice cream called I Do…Till Death Caused By Eating Too Much Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Do Us Part. (via Rodzilla Reviews)

This potato chip’s packaging makes my eyes sore and the armchair graphic designer in me angry. (via Food Junk)

Image via flickr user quinnanya / CC BY SA 2.0