Lately, I have been spending some intense evenings with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.  So many different flavors have been tantalizing my tastebuds, so it was a no brainer for me to review some of the new and old flavors the brand has to offer.

Two of the currently-available limited edition flavors, Brewed to Matter and One Love, deserve a permanent spot in the freezer aisle at the supermarket.  Brewed to Matter is an exciting and indulgent take on the classic coffee ice cream. The coffee ice cream base is swirled with brownie batter and scattered with fudge chunks and the a chocolate really brings out the deep undertones of the coffee.  On the fruitier side is a tribute to Bob Marley, One Love. The banana ice cream base is the perfect amount of sweetness and creaminess and is somewhat refreshing (for a heavy cream-based food, anyway), but the graham cracker and caramel swirl and peace-sign fudge chunks provide the weight needed to give you a stomach ache and acid reflux by the time you down the entire pint.  

While these two specialty flavors spice up the competition, a couple of Ben and Jerry’s classic flavors can really hold their own.  Cherry Garcia, an ode to Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead, has a cherry ice cream base mixed with cherries and fudge chunks. I have never been a fan of those syrupy cherries dipped in chocolate that come in the weird gift baskets around the holidays, so the idea of a cherry and chocolate combo rubbed me a little wrong at first, but not so wrong that I wouldn’t try it at least once — and I sure as hell am glad that I did.  Similarly to One Love, the fruity ice cream is pretty refreshing, and the fudge chunks gave it a richness perfect for my palate.

Lastly is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, in my opinion the most classic flavor of Ben and Jerry’s. The ice cream pioneers were the first to create this flavor after an anonymous customer suggestion in their Vermont shop way back when. It has clearly changed the world of frozen desserts in a huge way.  As someone who is not a huge chocolate fan, I surprisingly think the creamy vanilla ice cream is perfectly balanced with massive gobs of perfectly crafted cookie dough and fudge chunks.

After downing pint after pint, I can say with full confidence that Ben and Jerry’s sets the precedent for high quality ice cream.  I’ll also say that with it’s classicallity and smooth moves, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough stole my heart.