I think it is pretty widely accepted that nothing beats Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Their flavours are highly creative, and their vegan range is still of the same high quality as their non-vegan options, which is rare with many other brands. I am also quite a fan of their sundaes, so when I saw this brand new flavour was being released I was very excited. And I finally found it being sold in my local supermarket!
This flavour is made up of burnt sugar ice cream, cinnamon cookie chunks and marshmallow chunks, and then caramel swirls throughout. Now I have already said that I am someone who really likes the cinnamon flavour, but I probably like it to be far more powerful a flavouring than most people do. If it doesn’t leave a slight burn in my mouth from the spice, then it’s too weak for me. But again, I fully accept that I am the outlier with this and most (normal and sane) people prefer a more subtle taste. Which this ice cream definitely has. The cookie chunks in particular taste a little bit like the cinnamon crunch cereal, so that’s the sort of flavour you should expect if you try this.
The oat recipe definitely makes the ice cream very creamy, which I think is why Ben and Jerry’s appear to have changed a lot of their standard vegan recipes to now be made with oat milk. The ice cream itself however just seems to taste like vanilla – I don’t get much of the burnt sugar flavour – but luckily they are very generous with the amount of caramel they use throughout to make the swirls which definitely helps to break up the plain flavour of the ice cream. On a whole, the flavours work very well together, even if I do think the cinnamon could afford to be a little bit more powerful, especially with the oat ice cream tending to water down a bit of the flavours anyway since it is so creamy.
My favourite part though has to be that whipped ice cream topping of these sundae specials. It does have a very soft marshmallow flavour to it – it is far sweeter than basic vanilla – but again I think the use of the oat milk to make the ice cream helps to water down the flavour just enough to make it not a sickly sweet marshmallow taste. The chocolate chunks are also great, although I think it could have been nice to have these also mixed in with the rest of the ice cream as they do add that lovely crunch to the ice cream overall.
Now annoyingly, Ben and Jerry’s comes at a very steep price, with this tub costing me £5.50. Ben and Jerry’s has always been one of the more pricier ice cream options out there, even for non-vegan options, but the vegan tax is very apparent with Ben and Jerry’s which is really disappointing. The non-vegan version of a flavour is usually around £3, whereas the vegan version is always £5.50. I also note that the non-vegan options tend to be included in deals more often and also tend to be discounted more regularly. As such, I only buy Ben and Jerry’s for a very special treat – think Christmas or birthdays – or when a new flavour has been released. I like to try each new flavour that comes out to see if it is actually worth buying it again. For me, £5.50 is not really worth it, especially when I think that one tub will last me maybe 3-4 servings.
In conclusion, whilst this flavour is a nice addition, for me it was just a bit plain. The oat milk does make for a very smooth and creamy ice cream, which is obviously a bonus, but the flavours I think were just too soft and didn’t really make this any sort of standout option. It seems that phish food is still the best option out there!
Taylor Talks Vegan 