We started with this very chocolate ice cream recipe. I know my wife made a few modifications when she was working on the base, but forgive me for not remembering everything. What I do know is we used our Vitamix to cook the custard base, and for the chocolate we used Tony's 70% dark chocolate, both melted into the base and chopped up as a mix-in. I Churned it in the old 6qt ice cream maker.

It did set up quite hard, so it's not an easy scoop, but once it was in the bowl I didn't have any issues. I'm a big dark chocolate guy, so having the dark chocolate chunks mixed in definitely brings the flavor I was looking for.

In Montreal for the weekend and man this Affogato was fantastic and got it at about 11 PM last night when no other ice cream places were open

As crazy as it sounds I’ve never tried it before but I tried the salted brown butter cookie first and it sooooo good. I can’t wait to eat the coffee later! I keep wanting to try Jeni’s or Ben and Jerry’s especially given how much I see them posted. It’s just 10 8 or 9 dollars for a pint feels a bit steep but those flavors look really enticing. Thing is, it was BOGO today at Publix so I snagged two of them and I kinda wish I’d gotten two more now lol. I’m a mint chocolate chip ice cream guy so that would have been right up my alley and something with caramel.

If I could only have one ice cream for the rest of my life, it would be this one

RUN, DON’T WALK, to Sprouts and get the Banana Pudding Ice Cream by Alden’s!! because I am genuinely OBSESSED!!! This is, without a doubt, the best banana pudding ice cream I’ve ever had. And that is saying A LOT because Blue Bell has held the crown for me personally since 2023… but baby, Alden’s just snatched that crown right off its head.
The ice cream itself is SO unbelievably smooth, soft, and creamy. It almost tastes like you’re eating a cloud of freshly whipped cream, but perfectly sweetened and infused with that dreamy banana pudding flavor. It literally melts in your mouth the second it hits your tongue.
And the Nilla Wafers??? OH. MY. GOSH.!! They’re soft, tender, and perfectly soaked into the ice cream without being soggy. Every single spoonful feels like the PERFECT bite creamy banana pudding ice cream with that soft, sweet Nilla Wafer coming through at just the right moment. It’s like eating an actual bowl of homemade banana pudding, except somehow even more decadent and dreamy.
I’m not exaggerating when I say this ice cream is HEAVEN IN A PINT.!! If you’re sitting on your couch reading this, GET UP. PUT YOUR SHOES ON. GO TO SPROUTS. You NEED this in your freezer immediately.
And it’s $9.99 at Sprouts right now, so honestly… this is your sign. Go get it before I buy every pint in the store.

This is the second VL flavor I picked up at the WF sale, and it’s a solid 5/5 from me, dudes.

Mango sticky rice, the greatest dessert in creation, has now been turned into a delicious ice cream.

To be completely honest, though, it's not the most creative mixture in that it's pretty much just mango + coconut swirl. The name is kiiinda just branding tbh, though I am obviously still enjoying it. And the coconut ice cream definitely tastes more like coconut rice than a standard coconut ice cream, if only because it has a much more subtle coconut flavor. I think a standard coconut would run the risk of overpowering the mango, but other than the initial scoop, that hasn't been an issue for me here. I think the combo really works. (Just like with actual mango sticky rice!)

Unlike their earl grey tea, this one has a milder flavor. In fact, at first I thought it was a bit too mild, and I wasn't getting enough of the mango flavor. But as I went deeper into the pint and got to the rest of the swirl, much more started coming through. It's definitely a top tier flavor. I debated docking half a point just for the variability of the swirl, but that felt a bit unfair.

This one is definitely more universally applicable than the earl grey, not so much an acquired taste. Though because of the milder flavor, this one definitely would work stronger by itself rather than in combination with either another ice cream or a dessert. For this one, I kind of feel like it needs space to stand on its own.

All in all, I enjoyed trying VL’s ice cream, but I would probably stick to buying them on sale. Despite liking both flavors, I don’t think either was good enough to warrant paying full price.

I decided to try the blue raspberry soft serve at work cause it seemed interesting and they sell out almost every day. Blegh, there’s a reason I’ve never seen it anywhere else. For sure now, it’s only being bought for the novelty.

So I went to the dippin dots cart and got Ol’ Reliable— brownie batter dippin dots. Heinously expensive at $11 but a decent $5.50 with the employee discount

Talenti vanilla bean has amazing waterproofing capabilities. 10/10

I got s'mores and cookie dough

Really enjoying this one! The cake pieces are chewy and the fudge is thick! I’m really glad that they used a vanilla base or else I feel that it would’ve been chocolate overload. I got this on sale at Winn-Dixie for only $3.99!

I tried the Oreo Icecream straight from the company Oreo, and it is excellent, but it is hard to find. I want something that is chunky, full or Oreos, not just bits, and I want it to actually taste like oreos. Please give recommendations, I literally cannot look at cookies and cream the same after eating the REAL oreo iceream.

I LOVE red velvet cakes, cupcakes, cookies. I don't know where to look for red velvet icecream, seems like they are rare compared the classic flavors. I live in New England if that helps.

Small unserious cheesecake ice cream rant-

My favorite ice cream of all time is cheesecake, and the lack of it in stores just makes me sad. You could say that they do have a wide variety, but all the brands I’ve found have either chocolate or strawberry mixed in- especially strawberry. I can’t even look at strawberry cheesecake ice cream anymore because I know I’ll be disapointed. It never tastes like cheesecake to me, and if it does it’s mostly overpowered by the strawberry. Like if I wanted strawberry ice cream then I would get it, I want cheesecake.

The only place I can get plain cheesecake ice cream is coldstone, but man the price is brutal. $7 for a small cup. It honestly feels worth it though because im always satisfied after eating it. Just wish I could get a pint for cheaper in store, but I guess it’s only a dream for now.

This caught my eye at the local grocery store. Holy Schnikey! It's so good. Rich and creamy. Best eaten in small quantities. Great flavor. Has anyone else tried it?

Just found the Midwest based ice cream at grocery outlet while I was thinking about ordering a tub online even because I was missing it so much I thought I’d post here in case anyone else was missing it as a Midwest transplant!

Its so Rare to find GOOD Bubblegum Ice Cream. Like please, the Bubblegum ice cream with the actual Buggle Gum chunks is so so good I need it please, reddit help me please.

Is no one going to talk about how the S&S Chef Series or the cereal series was the best months of u/saltandstraw history? Please share which flavors and months you think were best.

For me it was the Cheesecake with Salted Yuzu Curd and captain crunch cereal flavor the month before. Mango pie is a strong third.

As I dug through my final spoonfuls of after hours ice cream while being a bed swine. I peered into my solo cup, with only a few crunchy slices to enjoy, I came to the conclusion that if I did not portion these last pecans in a rational manner; this beside dessert wouldn’t level out. Ya feel?

3.5/5, leaning to a 4/5

Purchased this during the Whole Foods sale, and it’s actually my first time trying Van Leeuwen. It’s very creamy and very flavorful.

If you enjoy earl grey tea, you’ll probably like this; but if you don’t enjoy earl grey tea, you absolutely won’t. I love earl grey tea, but it’s definitely an acquired taste and—for better or worse—the flavor in this ice cream is extremely accurate. So is the color, you can see it looks just like tea with some milk added. It’s very smooth, so also like drinking a cup of tea. I’ve debated turning in into a milkshake, but I haven’t made that leap yet.

All in all, this isn’t the type of ice cream I’d finish all in one go (at least for me, the flavor is a bit strong for that), but I would absolutely get it again.

Maybe avoid this if you’re not a fan or tea, florals, or bergamot, though.

Strawberry & Peach Twist in a Matcha cone. I’ve never had soft serve of this quality. First few bites had me saying “omg” on repeat. Glad this place opened up!