- REVISED: 27 Nov 2018
Check out the Best Foods to get in Utah restaurants:
http://tastetestersclub.blogspot.com/2013/09/best-restaurant-food-in-utah-2.html
Also find: "Best Shakes in Utah," "Best Pies in Utah," "Best Peach Cobbler in Utah," "Best Desserts in Utah," and OTHER FOOD REVIEWS at TasterTestersClub.BlogSpot.com
The list below has 48 flavors we tested at a cost of over $18,000.
Below are the grades for the best brands of those 48 flavors. All were sold in Utah - for Superpremium, Premium, and regular ice creams
PLUS, statistics on best-selling flavors and best-selling brands (at the very end, below).
Note: We tested these flavors the only right way - SIDE BY SIDE - all brands TOGETHER in the same test.
Introduction
Included in this test are Super Premiums (higher butterfat - 14-16% - and less air), Premium (12-14% butterfat), and regular ice cream (10-11% butterfat with much more air).
Lower fat ice creams were not included. Some small creameries around the U.S. rate high as well, but do not have national distribution as all the ice creams on this list have. Gelato has less air, but less butterfat, and is served at a lower temperature, best eaten at the restaurant where it is served. Some are now sold in the frozen section of grocery stores, such as Talenti and a cheaper version of Haagen Dazs they call Gelato, simply because it has less butterfat. Note that Ben & Jerry's used to be superpremium but dropped their quality rating years ago.
The only remaining nationally distributed superpremium ice creams we are aware of are Haagen Daz, Trader Joes (made by Double Rainbow), Graetor's, Maggie Moo & Marble Slab (same company, different flavors), Cold Stone, Baskin Robbins (some flavors), Blue Bell (which most call a "Premium," but it fits the def for "Superpremium," with same weight and fat as Baskin's) and Steve's. The very best one of all, Stonyfield Farms, went off the market and now sells only other dairy products.
Most states have one or two local superpremiums that are sold only in their states, in health food stores and sometimes in regular grocery stores.
Some superpremiums you can get only by mailorder - such as Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream in Wisconsin - our favorite from a mailorder test we did years ago.
BTW, 1/3 of ice cream in the U.S. is sold in ice cream parlors, the rest in grocery stores. Also, 6.7% are distributed locally only and 66.7% regionally only (73.4% total, close to home). Most of the great brands - the superpremiums - are sold only locally. Only 16% of ice cream is sold nationally, and of them, only a handful are superpremiums, as listed above.
* Want to know the Top 9 selling brands? Go to the bottom of this long page of ratings, and you'll learn. Also see the top selling flavors.
Here's the list of flavors we graded BY FLAVOR, with the actual grades further below.
(This "table of contents" is in no particular order:)
1. Chocolate
2. Raspberry Chocolate
3. Chocolate plus Chunks
4. Vanilla
5. Strawberry
6. Peach
7. Mint & Mint Chocolate Chip
8. Peanut Butter- Vanilla
9. Chocolate Peanut Butter
10. Maple Nut
11. Coconut
12. Banana
13. Lemon & Lime
14. Ginger
15. Watermelon
16. Passion Fruit
17. Mango
18. Orange
19. Tropical Fruit
20. Cinnemon
21. Ginger
22. Cherry
23. Black Cherry
24. Blackberry
25. Raspberry
26. Black Raspberry
27. Combined 5 berries
28. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
29. Birthday Cake
30. Bubble Gum
31. Cotton Candy
32. Cake Batter
33. Cookies and Cream
34. Sweet Cream
35. Caramel & Dulche DeLeche
36. Amaretto
37. Cheesecake - plain flavor
38. Cheesecake - combination (with Plain, Oreo, Strawberry, and Raspberry)
39. Praline
40. Butter Pecan
41. Black Walnut
42. Coffee ice cream
43. Avocado
44. Rocky Road
45. Exotic: flowers and herb flavoring
46. Pina Colada
47. Pistachio
48. Buttery Brown Sugar
This
$18,000 test originally took in the best super premium and premium ice
creams flown in on dry ice from coast to
coast and compared to each other, at our headquarters in Utah. 3. Chocolate plus Chunks
4. Vanilla
5. Strawberry
6. Peach
7. Mint & Mint Chocolate Chip
8. Peanut Butter- Vanilla
9. Chocolate Peanut Butter
10. Maple Nut
11. Coconut
12. Banana
13. Lemon & Lime
14. Ginger
15. Watermelon
16. Passion Fruit
17. Mango
18. Orange
19. Tropical Fruit
20. Cinnemon
21. Ginger
22. Cherry
23. Black Cherry
24. Blackberry
25. Raspberry
26. Black Raspberry
27. Combined 5 berries
28. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
29. Birthday Cake
30. Bubble Gum
31. Cotton Candy
32. Cake Batter
33. Cookies and Cream
34. Sweet Cream
35. Caramel & Dulche DeLeche
36. Amaretto
37. Cheesecake - plain flavor
38. Cheesecake - combination (with Plain, Oreo, Strawberry, and Raspberry)
39. Praline
40. Butter Pecan
41. Black Walnut
42. Coffee ice cream
43. Avocado
44. Rocky Road
45. Exotic: flowers and herb flavoring
46. Pina Colada
47. Pistachio
48. Buttery Brown Sugar
We were professional taste-testers, testing for a California investment bank that owned an ice cream co. Since then, on our own, we have kept up this fun and crazy hobby, flying in hundreds of more samples from dozens of different brands.
Further, we have sampled all brands of ice cream we found when traveling from coast to coast - but only if they were "super premium" ice creams (the best type available - higher in butter fat, with less air, than Premium).
The results shown below are of a more recent test - without the "small creameries" from around the U.S. (with the exception of one that is available in most cities if special ordered through a health food store - Stonyfield Organic - because they do have national distribution for another product they make, frozen yoghurt.) For ice cream it is #1 below.
Best Chocolate Ice Cream
rev. 27 Nov 2018, slight revision 29 Apr 21
These brands were all tested SIDE BY SIDE! and have been since 1992 about every two years, adding new brands as they were introduced to the marketplace!
(Sadly, out of business in Utah now, are national chains Marble Slab and Maggie Moo, which are struggling - see our site "Best Ice Creams in the U.S." to see where they rate compared to these brands below available in Utah. Also out of business are Boondiggities in SLC and a Yummies, frozen custard place in Springville - both were decent.)
Over 100 varieties and brands tested, most of them together for an accurate rating.
3 most disappointing brands because of their changes:
1. Dreyer's/Edy's. Once a very good premium ice cream, it has dropped in quality and butterfat every few years for the past 20 years: from 11 grams of fat (per 1/2 cup serving), to 9, to 7. Also, they removed molasses, which gave it a nicer flavor, in the most recent change. Recently, it has dropped from 18th to 35th.
2. Ben & Jerry's regular chocolate (now only in their scoop shops, but also used in a number of their other flavors such as New York Super Fudge Chunk, Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Karma Sutra): their first nose dive from high quality began about 1992 when they sold to a major corp; the second came in the 2000's when they switched from their great cocoa (Bensdorp of Holland) to some fair trade source that lacks great flavor. At least it's still low in air and high in butterfat. It once was #1 for chocolate ice cream with national distribution but has dropped to 14th.
3. Breyer's uses a much worse cocoa and recipe than it did when it was great until it changed in the 1990's.
Biggest improvement: Blue Bunny, the ice cream giant of Iowa. In the late 90s it was near dead last on the list (at about 100th), and tasted like insect repellent. But it has jumped up to a B-, at 68th, a third of the way up the list.
A
1. Haagen Dazs (superpremium)- sold at most grocery stores
2. Trader Joe's (probably Double Rainbow brand, but not organic version of DR)
A-
4. Double Rainbow Organic (possibly no longer in Utah, possibly can order at Whole Foods Markets or Good Earth or Redmond's Heritage Farm markets)
5. McConnell's Dutch Chocolate (at Harmons and Whole Foods Markets, SLC)
6. McConnells's Dark Chocolate Paso Brittle CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
7. Rockwell Milk Chocolate (as of 27 Nov 18 they have improved, at least this latest batch, from the old version rated and listed below)
8. Belle's Bakery, Heber City
A- - 9. Straus Dutch Chocolate (Whole Foods Market, Sprouts, and Redmond Farm Stores)
Note: All above are "super premium" ice creams. Many below are, as well. However, among the following - Baskin Robbins, Schwann's and Blue Bell - are the best "premium" ice creams with national distribution we've found.
10. Baskin Robbins World Class (premium)
11. Baskin Robbins regular (premium)
12. Not tested with others side by side: Pallette Bakery, Cedar City - fits about here
OUT OF BUSINESS: Last Course Dessert Parlor, SLC and Draper, dark chocolate
B++
B+
14. New York Super Fudge Chunk. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM. See note below about their chocolate ice cream base. The advantage of this is the nuts added. The disadvantage is the hard candy pieces.
15. Ben & Jerry's regular chocolate (superpremium) - Their chocolate-only is sold only in B & J "scoop shops" currently, no longer in Utah (but you can get some if you dig it out of the New York Super Fudge Chunk available in grocery markets).
(Per the note higher up this page: They were #1 for chocolate ice cream that had national distribution many years, but B & J has steadily gone downhill since about 1992. Even after cheapening it, they still remained #1 until the mid-2000s. One of the big reasons for their fall from the top spot is their changing their brand of cocoa. Through some detective work of sorts we learned their great cocoa they used for their first few decades was "Bensdorp" out of Holland. Then they got the current cheaper one in the mid-2000s, causing B & J to slip out of First Place.)
NO LONGER IN UTAH, BUT RATED HERE:
Marble Slab Swiss
NO LONGER IN UTAH, BUT RATED HERE:
Maggie Moo Dark Chocolate
16. Graetor's, sold at Smith's in Utah. They have some better flavors than chocolate; overall they're very high quality, and have improved each of the last several times we tested it since 2014.
Note: This Cincinnati based company of a couple dozen parlors in the greater Cincanatti and northern Kentucky area has been distributed nationwide at Krogers/Smiths for several years now. It is a strange one to rate because it has a strong Swiss flavor - we guess they use Nestles commercial cocoa powder - which some rate in the B's and others in the C's. Black Raspberry Chip is their best flavor, and we've tried many, even flying in over a dozen flavors on dry ice before they obtained national distribution. Overall we like the chocolate.
NO LONGER IN UTAH, but rated just after Graetors (above):
Blue Bell Milk, currently not available in Utah. It was selling in Utah only at I Like Ike's scoop shop at the Riverwoods Mall in north Provo at the Provo Beach Resort, but no more.
Note: A little background about them - they are an iconic brand out of Texas and famous through the South and Midwest. The company began in 1930 but sold ice cream under the company's original name beginning some time after 1910, having started in 1907 making butter. Blue Bell claims to be in 26% of the nation's super-markets. An independent source actually puts them as the number one seller in the country, after private labeling ice cream companies (such as those sold in grocery stores with their own store names).
NO LONGER AVAILABLE IN UTAH, BUT RATED here:
Blue Bell Dutch
17. Haagen Dazs Rocky Road. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM. Their reg choc is #1 above, but the nuts and marshmallows lowers the Road.
NO LONGER IN UTAH AS OF OCTOBER 2018, BUT IN OTHER STATES: Baked Bear Dessert Parlor, Lehi and West Jordan
18. Haagen Dazs Midnight cookies and cream, using their dark choc ice cream
UNTIL OUR LATEST TEST IN NOV 2018, THIS BRAND WAS RATED HERE, BUT THE NOVEMBER BATCH WE HAD WAS WAY UP THE LIST, SO THEY WILL KEEP MAKING IT THAT WAY:
Rockwell Creamery milk chocolate (Provo)
B/B+
19. Wasatch Creamery, Heber, at Farmers markets in Park City and SLC, plus various shops. It's called "Chocolate 3 Ways." CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
20. Baskin Robbins Rocky Road. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
20A. Baskin Robbins Chocolate Almond. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
21. Baskin Robbins Chocolate Oreo. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
(Note: Baskin Robbins Vanilla based ice cream with Oreos goes here. Since it is not chocolate-based ice cream, it receives no official ranking on this list.)
22. Baskin Robbins Fudge
DISCONTINUED FLAVOR, RATED HERE: Haagen Dazs dark chocolate chip gelato mousse. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
NO LONGER AVAILABLE IN UTAH: Cia Bella Mascarpone Gelato. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
23. Schwanns. Available only via home delivery. Light milk chocolate, has lasting power - folks don't get tired of it compared to most others above that taste stronger and richer.
24. Humboldt
25. Baskin Robbins Chocolate Mousse
26. Mora (rated below Baskin Robbins Mousse and above Villa Dolce, below, but not tested with many other brands below here.)
27. Villa Dolce Italiana Gelato, sold at Medici Pizza Parlor Ice Cream, Orem and nationally, Dark Chocolate. ONLY TESTED WITH THOSE ABOVE and Dreyer's below:
OCCASIONALLY AVAILABLE: Baskin Robbins Mississippi Mud. Unlike Ben & Jerry's they don't seem to permanently retire old flavors. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
30. Three Twins Brownie Batter (ditto) CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
B
31. Ben & Jerry's Half Baked (tested with some above and below, but not all, so we estimate it fits here). CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
32. Hatch's Chocolates, SLC (not tested with others side by side on this list, but fits about here).
33. Turkey Hill All Natural
34. Three Twins choc malt (at Whole Foods Markets sometimes and Good Earth, but if not in stock, can perhaps still be ordered). CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
NO LONGER MADE: Dreyer's Frozen Custard Chocolate Malt
35. Dreyer's. See note above of how it has dropped to this spot.
36. Ben & Jerry's Tonight Dough (has caramel in it) - CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
37. Ben & Jerry's Everything But the . . . CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
38. Ben & Jerry's Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Core CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
39. Ben & Jerry's Karmal Sutra CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
40. Haagen Dazs Peant Butter Chocolate. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
41. Ben & Jerry's S'mores CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
42. Ben & Jerry's Phish Food CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
43. Sprouts Rocky Road Ice Cream (not their gelato, down below)
44. 365 organic ice cream (at Whole Foods Markets) (their gelato is rated much farther below, as it has less butterfat)
45. 365 (Whole Foods Brand) regular ice cream
46. Jeni's Darkest Chocolate
47. Alden's Organic
48. Julie's Organic
49. Culver's Frozen Custard
49. Haagen Dazs Belgian
50. NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS, BUT ESTIMATED TO GO HERE ON THE LIST: Maxine's organic from Three Twins
B-/B
51. Yetti (possibly belongs just below B&J's Choc Fudge Brownie)
52. Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
53. Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Therapy CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
54. Ben & Jerry's Brownie Batter Core CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
55. Rockwell Creamery dark ice cream (in "Rockwell Road")
56. Sprouts Gelato (low fat, as gelato is)
57. Schwann's Gelato
58. Figo (whole foods market, slc)
59. Tillamook chocolate fudge brownies frozen custard
60. Chocolat (brand name) - Dominican
OUT OF BUSINESS (their SLC shop), but still in Hawaii and maybe California: Tropical Dreams Fudge
NO LONGER SOLD: Ben & Jerry's Roasted and Toasted Dark Chocolate CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
61. Tillamook's Udderly Chocolate CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
62. BYU reg choc (Available only in Utah. Really decent, but if they want to rise up the
taste-test charts, they need to add a Super Premium brand and vastly improve their recipe and brand of cocoa, especially if they want to compete with Penn State's Creamery, the godfather of great ice cream shops, who influenced even Ben & Jerry's and Haagen Dazs. (For afficionados, Penn State has a 2 week short course and full semester courses in ice cream making.)
63. BYU Choc Fudge Mousse
(We last tested the following two in 2011, which ranked right after BYU:)
64. Utah State University Creamery. As an agricultural and food science school, they pride themselves on their ice cream, but it might need a Super Premium version.
65. Red Barn (in Santaquin, Utah). They make their own - our hats are off to them - great atmosphere to buy and eat ice cream.
NO LONGER IN UTAH: Tropical Dreams Nutella. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
66. Farr frozen custard (sold at Harmons)
B-
67. Meadow Gold (most stores)
68. Blue Bunny (used to be the worst ice cream in America in 1999, now is not bad, they've made improvements - maybe reading this website with its many hits yearly(!)
69. Breyers (most stores) (Used to be better than Dreyers, then went steadily down hill since 1992, when it was at its best. Never have we seen a brand change its chocolate ice cream so much over the past 25 years as Breyers.)
70. Hemisfares
71. Western Family (most stores in West)
72. Leatherby's (their own shops in Salt Lake Valley)
73. Private Selection chocolate ganache (Smith's/Kroger's own upscale brand)
74. Simply Balanced - for low fat it's surprisingly decent tasting (at Target)
75. Cold Stone reg choc
76. Simply Organic (not tested with these others but fits about here)
C+
77. Java Cow, Park City (their own shop; their best flavor was Maple Walnut, but discontinued that flavor in about 2016). Superpremium.
78. Freddy's Concrete (Frozen Custard), at their Midvale burger shop
79. Roll With it Creamery, Provo
80. Nielsen's frozen custard (at their own shops)
81. Boulder Chocolate Pudding ice cream - at Whole Foods Market
82. Archer Farms (Target) - reg chocolate
83. Archer Farms - chocolate with brownies
No longer sold in Utah: Marble Slab Fudge was rated here. In fairness, this was tested at one of their shops gong out of business, and it didn't seem to taste as good as when we had tried it previously, as they may have been skimping on the ingredients or the process - therefore, it could rate higher than here.
84. BYU Ernestly chocolate with caramel CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
85. Forte (at Whole Foods Markets)
86. Clemmy's (at Whole Foods Markets)
87. Sub Zero Milk choc (at their own shops)
88. Sub Zero dark fudge (not on menu, at their own shops)
C
The following 6 were tested separately from all the others on this list, but rated about here as C's:
89. Turkey Hill (tested in 2015 but not with the others above) C-
90. Igor Frozen Custard. Sold at their shop in Layton, Utah. (tested in 2011)
91. Sunnyland (tested in 2011)
92. Deluxe (tested in 2011)
93. Country Rich. In stores. C (tested in 2011)
94. Blue Bell Triple chocolate (currently under re-call, coming back in 2016) CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
95. Sam's Choice (at Walmart)
(Coney's frozen custard from American Fork and Orem was here, but went out of business in late 2015)
96. Agave Dream (at Whole Foods Markets)
97. Whole Foods Gelato - (Whole Foods Markets; note that their "365 Ice Cream" above is good, however)
98. Umpqua (at Winco)
99. Cold Stone dark truffle
100. Howdy, Sugarhouse (fits somewhere between 70-88, as it was not tested with all on this list. Wish it were higher - they're fine folks! Tested the week they opened, in about 2016, so perhaps they've upgraded the flavor since.)
101. Chocolat's Kalimantan - too dark for most (at Good Earth)
102. Chocolat's Ghana - too dark for most (at Good Earth)
No longer sold in Utah: Marble Slab dark was rated here. As with their flavor above, this was tested at one of their shops gong out of business, and it didn't seem to taste as good as when we had tried it previously, as they may have been skimping on the ingredients or the process - therefore, it could rate higher than here.
103. Farr Chocolate Hazlenut
104. Sam's Choice Chocolate Hazelnut
D
105. ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: Red Button, Associated Food grocery store family
106. Rita's gelato (at their own shops, using their original recipe of egg; before the recipe changed in late summer 2015 due to rising price of eggs; we haven't tested the new egg-less version)
107. CoolHaus Molten Chocolate Cake (at Harmon's).- not tested with many on this list, but it rated C- and lands here or below by a bit.
108. Talenti Belgian Milk chocolate (better than their other chocolate flavors) - at most stores
109. Snoqualmie Mukilteo Mudd (at Winco)
110. Talenti Double Dark Choc
111. Talenti Fudge Brownie (at most stores)
112. Choctal Costa Rican - too dark for most (at Good Earth)
END OF LIST of Chocolate Ice Creams.
Note: Light ice creams are essentially diet ice creams - Dreyer's "Country churned" and others are similar. Few would rate any higher than a D.) One brand we tested was Halo Top Light.
DISCONTINUED FLAVORS (of still-existing brands):
Haagen Dazs Dark Chocolate.This one seemed much better in 1991. C
Haagen Dazs "Five" chocolate B+
BYU Bronco Cocoa Bean D (note: their regular choc is good to very good)
Schwan's super premium pints - chocolate B+
GS Gelato Triple D
Sorano double chocolate gelato (made by Boulder) C
Turkey Hill All-Natural (their higher grade version commonly found in stores in the East) (tested in 2015 in the East, but not with the others above) B-
Brands and Flavors NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH:
Maggie Moo - reg choc B+
Maggie Moo - dutch choc (grading slightly lower) B+
Maggie Moo - mallo C-
Marble Slab - Swiss Choc (very top of list of B+ category) B+
Marble Slab - Dark Choc (in middle of D category) D
Marble Slab - Fudge (near bottom of C- category) C-
Marble Slab - mallo C-
We have tested every gelato place in northern Utah - over a dozen gelato bars, including Italian restaurants that serve it PLUS we have sampled every flavor at every place. For chocolate, none are as rich as super premium ice cream because they lack as much butter fat. Some of the flavors however are amazing.
Gelato is Italian Ice Cream with less butterfat to be considered ice cream, but low air, like super premium ice cream has, which makes it denser and heavier for the same amount of volume as regular and premium ice creams (in ice cream parlance, it's called "over-run" and is based on a semi-complex formula); however, super premium ice cream has much more fat.
Our favorite gelato bars - Spin Cafe, Heber City; Settebello Pizza, downtown SLC; Gloria's Little Italy, Provo, and Terra Mia's in the Orem University mall, outside near movie complex. Also Tropical Dream in SLC. There are other good ones as well. Most however are mostly mediocre, making their gelato from mixes.
Best Raspberry Chocolate Ice Cream
a. sub Zero B
b. Cold Stone B
c. Ben & Jerry's (Raspberry Core) B
d. Maggie Moo B-
e. Baskin Robins B-
f. Marble Slab D
Best Chocolate plus Chunks Ice Cream
1. Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk
2. Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie
3. Ben & Jerry's Cheesecake Fudge
4. Ben Jerry's Fair Trade
5. Baskin Robbins Chocolate Almond
6. Baskin Robbins Rocky Road
7. Haagen Dazs Rocky Road
8. Colt Stone German Chocolate
9. Maggie Moo's Destinaton Dark Fresh Escape (almonds, strawberry, fudge)
10. Maggie Moo's Chocolate Banana
11.Maggie Moo's Red Velvet Fresh Escape
12. Cold Stone Fresh Escape Peanut Butter
13. Marble Slab White Chocolate
14. Cold Stone Chocolate Hazlenut.
Note: Former #1 chocolate:. NO LONGER MADE. Stonyfield Farms / Stonyfield Organic -"After Dark Chocolate" - - from New Hampshire - available by special order only through the Good Earth Natural Foods locations throughout Salt Lake and Utah Valleys and in health food stores in other states. (Most grocery markets sell only Stonyfield frozen yoghurt - don't mess with that - get the ice cream!).
You may contact them through this WEBSITE PAGE IF YOU WANT TO REQUEST IT TO COME BACK: http://www.stonyfield.com/contact-us
Best Vanilla Ice Cream in Utah
We tested these all side by side in 2016, 2014 and 2011.
We have other tests before that which include over 30 additional brands not listed here, all in the Cs and Ds, many of them private label brands for grocery stores.
These ice cream were all tested side by side except where indicated below.
ALL THESE ARE 'SUPER-PREMIUMS' except for a few premiums. Of the top 18, only Tillamook is a premium, but holds its own against super-premiums.
27 Nov 2018
A's
1. Madagascar Vanilla from Choctal, made in Pasadena, CA, available at Harmons and Good Earth stores in Utah A+
Note: these are their other 3 vanilla ice creams:
a. Indonesian A-/A
b. Papua New Guinea B+
c. Mexican (with cinnemon) B
2. Jeni's Honey Vanilla (at Whole Foods Market) NOT TESTED SIDE BY SIDE WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST, WHILE MOST ALL THE OTHERS HAVE BEEN.
3. Jeni's N. Dali Estate vanilla (at Whole Foods Market)
4. Beachy Cream (from Santa Monica, in 2016 was available at Good Earth stores, now perhaps by special order)
5. Agave Dream
6. Sam's Choice (at WalMart)
7. Trader Joe's (made by Double Rainbow)
8. McConnell's RR Lochhead Vanilla Bean
9. Nielsen's Frozen Custard, SLC
10. Schwann's French Vanilla (Premium, not Super Premium as the above all are. Sold only November - December each year in decorative one gallon holiday tins, with stock left over usually to February. This company delivers to people's homes.) (NOT TESTED ALL WITH ON THIS LIST)
B+
10A. TESTED ONLY WITH #1 ABOVE AND #14 BELOW, LANDING ABOUT HERE: Humboldt Organic at Trader Joes
10B. Snoqualmie (like Haagen Dazs) at Winco
11. Freddie's burgers, in Midvale (national chain)
12. Tillamook "Old Fashioned Vanilla" (not their other varieties of vanilla, which are not NEARLY as good)
13. Ben & Jerry's (used to be #1 for over 20 years, but they have lowered their quality and likely changed their vanilla source. They were #1 until 2014.)
14. Three Twins "Madagascar Vanilla" (available at health food stores; if they are out, get it by special order through their distributor).
14a. TESTED ALONE: Last Course: Tahitian Vanilla
B's
15. Tropical Dreams
16. Graeters (at Ohio ice cream shops plus nationally and locally at Smiths/Krogers)
17. Haagen Dazs Vanilla Bean (better than reg. vanilla, below)
18. Culver's, several in Utah, national chain (not tested with other B's, but probably rates here near the top)
19. Meadow Gold
NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH, but rated here: Blue Bell
20. Blue Bunny (a huge improvement in quality since their dead last position for most flavors among 40+ brands we began testing in 1999)
21. Turkey Hill
22. Sub Zero
23. Dreyers plain vanilla (they have a couple other vanilla varieties that we did test over the years this is their best)
The next 5 rate about here, but were not tested in 2016:
24. Breyers
25. 365 - from Whole Foods Markets
26. Private Selection - regular vanilla
27. Baskin Robbins
28. Schwann's reg. vanilla (see above French Vanilla, under A's)
28A. ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: 3 Twins Madagascar
C+
28B. ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: Last Course, SLC and Draper
28C. ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: Hatch's Family Chocolates, SLC, plain Vanilla
28D: ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: Baked Bear
C
THESE NEXT 5 WERE TESTED TOGETHER BUT NOT IN 2016:
29. Chocolat's Mexican Vanilla (beside #1 regular vanilla above).
30. 365 Organic - at Whole Foods Markets
31. Haagen Dazs - regular Vanilla
32. Double Rainbow's Organic - at Real Foods, Orem
33. Russell's / Farr's (same company) (Occasionally we prefer BYU's vanilla)
34. BYU
35. Sprouts Honey Vanilla ice cream (not gelato)
35A. ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: Rockwell Creamery
C-'s
36. Farr Frozen Custard
37. Boulder
38. Yeti
39. Figo
40. Private Selection (at Smiths/Krogers) Double Vanilla
41. Straus
D
42. Julie's
43. Western Family French Vanilla (in the western United States)
44. Java Cow, Park city
45. BLVD - at Whole Foods Market
46. Cold Stone regular vanilla
47. Western Family Vanilla Bean
48. Cold Stone French vanilla
NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH: Maggie Moo
NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH: Marble Slab (same company as Maggie Moo)
49. Talenti Tahitian
50. NON DAIRY: Steven's Burnt Sugar Vanilla
Note: In our site, "Best Shakes in Utah," the order is changed because many vanilla ice creams taste better or worse when made into a shake!
Note: a top 3 was Stoneyfield Organic's "Gotta Have Vanilla."
LEARNED May 2014: their ice creams were DISCONTINUED (but not their frozen yoghurts).. You may contact them through the following WEBSITE page address IF YOU WANT to request one of the 3 Best Vanilla ice Creams we ever tested TO COME BACK: http://www.stonyfield.com/contact-us
Best Strawberry Ice Cream
5 Aug 2018
A
1. Rockwell Creamery
2. Cow Java, Park City
NO LONGER IN UTAH, BUT IS ELSEWHERE: Maggie Moo A
DITTO: Marble Slab A
3. Haagen Dazs
4. Ben & Jerry's A-/A (in 2013 it tested above Haagen Dazs, but each year they drop their quality); they only release it occasionally, every few years it seems
A-
5. Mora, Orem
6. Graeters (usually only available with choc chips, but sometimes as pure strawberry ice cream, as in 2013. Available at Krogers/Smiths nationwide, and in their own shops in southern Ohio and Kentucky) A-
B+
NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH: Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla with Strawberries B+
7. Meadow Gold
B
8. Schwann's
OUT OF BUSINESS: Tropical Dreams B
9. Western Family (tested 2013) B
10. Baskin Robbins B
11.Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake B
12. NOT TESTED WITH OTHER B'S, ONLY WITH THE A's, ABOVE; BUT IT WOULD FIT ABOUT HERE: Wasatch Creamery, Heber: B
B-
NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH: Blue Bell Strawberry B-
12. Tillamook B-
13. Dreyers B-
14. Breyers B-
C+
15. Blue Bunny C+
16. BYU Creamery C+
17. Cold Stone C+
18. Turkey Hill C+
19. Double Rainbow (at Whole Foods Markets) c+
C
20 Whole Foods Market brand C
21. Organicville - in Health Food Stores C
C-
22. Sub Zero C-
23. Simply Organic (not tested with these others but fits about here) C - -
D's
24. Russell's / Farr's (same company) D
Best Peach Ice Cream
A's
1. Sub Zero
2. Ben & Jerry's Willie Nelson's Country Peach Cobbler
3. Marble Slab
B's
4. Private Selection (Premium) (at Smiths/Krogers)
5. Cold Stone
6. Graeters
7. Blue Bell (Premium)
8. Tropical Dream
Best Mint Ice Cream
Best Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream in the U.S. - 2 tests:
rev. 8 August 2018
TEST 1:
A+
1. Wasatch Creamery, Heber (NOT TESTED WITH #2, BUT LIKELY LANDS AS #1)
2. Beachy Cream (from Santa Monica, Ca): Mint brownie - fresh mint leaves! At Good Earth stores, special order
A
3. Rockwell Creamery, Provo shop, fresh mint leaves!
OUT OF BUSINESS: Tropical Dreams, Salt Lake City
4. Three Twins Confetti Mint (Sprouts) - FITS ABOUT HERE - TESTED WITH ONLY SOME ON THIS LIST
A-
5. Humboldt ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST
6. Baked Bear
7. Ben & Jerry's: mint and as mint cookies and cream
8. Mora NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS BELOW ON THIS LIST
9. Dreyers Custard
10. Trader Joes
11. Haagen Dazs
12. Freddie's (at Midvale burger place) - about here - not tested with all on this list
B+/A-
13. Graeters (at Smiths)
NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH: Blue Bell (Premium)
B+
14. Yetti (at Whole Foods Markets and Sprouts)
B/B+
15. Nielsen's Frozen Custard, several Utah locations
B
16. Baskin Robbins (Premium)
B-/B
17. ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: Baked Bear
C/C+
18. Snowqualmi (at Winco)
TEST 2:
(all super premiums)
A+
Beachy Cream
A
Wasatch Creamery, Heber
Rockwell Creamery, Provo shop, fresh mint leaves!
OUT OF BUSINESS: Tropical Dreams, Salt Lake City
Double Rainbow Organic
Three Twins Confetti
A-
Ben & Jerry's Cookies with mint
Ben & Jerry's Mint Emporium
Baked Bear ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH MOST ON THIS LIST
Mora ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH MOST ON THIS LIST
Nielsen's
Haagen Dazs
Freddies Frozen Custard (at their burger shops)
Dreyer's Frozen Custard
B+/A-
Graetors
GONE FROM Utah: Blue Bell (not super-premium)
B+
Talenti
Yetti
B
Baskin Robbins
365 Organic, from Whole Foods Market
Java Cow, Park City shop
B-
Aldens
Culvers
CS
C+
Western Family (not super premium)
C Boulder
Straus
Organicville
D+/C-
Sprouts Organic
Best Peanut Butter -Vanilla Ice Cream in the U.S.
A+
1. Marble Slab
A
2. Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter cup (uses peanut butter ice cream)
B
3. Boulder Peanut Butter cup (uses vanilla ice cream)
4. Baskin Robbins (Premium)
C
5. Cold Stone
C-
6. Alden (Premium)
7. Private Selection (Premium)
8. Western Family (Premium)
9. Breyers (Premium)
10. Sub Zero
Best Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
A+
1. Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Fudge Core
2. Haagen Dazs chocolate peanut butter
3. Ben & Jerry's Peanut butter cup
4. Blue Bell (Premium)
A
5. Schwans (Premium)
6. (Somewhere in top 5 is Sam's Choice, from WalMart, not tested with others on this list)
B+
7. Tillimook (Premium)
B
8.Basking Robbins (Premium)
9. Dreyers (Edy's east of the Mississippi) (Premium)
10. Farr's Peanut Butter Cup (western reason)
11. Ben and Jerry's Peanut Buttah Cookie Core
B-
12. BYU Creamery (Premium) (in Utah only)
13. Marble Slab
C's
14. Turkey Hill (Premium)
15. Cold Stone
16. Farr's (Premium) Choc peanut butter
D
17. Soreno
Best Maple Nut Ice Cream in Utah
A+
1. Java Cow, Park City
A
2. Umpqua (at Winco)
B+
3. Ben & Jerry's (comes without nuts), This was a maple ice cream now discontinued.
B
4. Schwans (Premium) (if no nuts: C+)
B-
5. Russell / Farr (at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Park City; we assume is from Russell's since the chocolate mix is): (Farr rated C- for maple in 2011 however)
6. Meadow Gold (Premium). B-/C+
C+
7. Western Family (Premium) (in Western U.S. only). Tested 2011.
C -
8. Private Selection (Premium) (Smiths)
9. Sub Zero
D -
10. Arctic Zero Vanilla-Maple (diet ice cream - no fat)
Best Coconut Ice Cream
(Also available in Gelato at many Gelatarias, which are also often found in Italian Restaurants, but this list is Ice Cream only:)
A+
1. Bangkok Thai Restaurant, Park City (own ice cream)
2. McConnell's - at Harmon's and Whole Foods Markets
A
3. Ben & Jerry's (has nuts and chips)
4. Sub Zero
5. Snowqualmie, rates about here, above Graetors; available at Winco; another test placed it at B-
6. Graetor's with chocolate chips
7. Tropical Dreams (strong)
A-
8. Talenti
B
9. Baskin Robbins Coconut with almonds
C+
10. Java Cow
C
11. Sorano
C-
12. Marble Slab
13. Dreyers Pineapple Coconut
D
14. Tropical Dreams Coconut with almond (see the version WITHOUT almond above)
Best Banana Ice Cream
A-
1. Cold Stone
2. Beachy (at Good Earth stores in Utah)
3. Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey
B-
4. Tropical Dreams
5. BYU Banana Nut
C-
6. Steve's Banana Pudding Ice Cream
Best Lemon & Lime Ice Creams
A
1. Figo gelato
2. Three Twins - lemon cookie
3. Tropical Dreams (Hawaii, Utah, and CA)
4. Sprouts Lemon Merange ice cream
5. Snowqualmie
A-
6. Sub Zero - lemon
7. Sorano
B-
8. Haagen Dazs Five (discontinued sub-brand: "Five")
9. Sprouts Lemoncelo gelato
C++
10. Baskin Robbins Key Lime Pie C++
C
11. Baskin Robbins Gold Rush (strong, like lemon candy) C
12. BLVD
D+
13. NO LONGER IN UTAH: Marble Slab key lime
Best Watermelon Ice Cream
1. Sub Zero A-
2. Maggie Moo C+
Best Passion Fruit Ice Cream
1. Tropical Dreams C- (bitter)
Best Mango Ice Cream
A
Haagen Dazs
B
Tropical Dreams
Magnolia
B-
Sub Zero
C++
NO LONGER IN UTAH: Maggie Moos C++ (faint flavor)
Best Orange Ice Cream
1. Tropical Dreams - Blood Orange B+
2. Sub Zero C++ (tangy)
Best Tropical Fruit Ice Cream - from Tropical Dreams
(only in Hawaii and Utah, sold at Tropical Dreams store only)
1. Lava Flow (only in Utah: base of pina colada with fresh bananas and strawberries: A-)
2. Blood Orange B+
3. Passion Fruit B
4. Pina Colada
5. Strawberry Coconut B-
Best Cinnemon Ice Cream
A
1. Tropical Dreams
A-
2. NO LONGER IN UTAH, BUT ELSEWHERE: Maggie Moos
3. Ben & Jerry's
4. Sub Zero
C+
5. Boulder (strong flavor)
Best Ginger Ice Cream
A-
1. Boulder - at Whole Foods Markets
B++
2. Tropical Dreams (only occasionally available)
3. Haagen Dazs 2015 introduction of the Artisan Collection: "Ginger Molasses Cookie" - the base is ginger
Cherry Ice Cream
Best Cherry and Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream
A
1. Sub Zero
2. Schwans Sweet Dark Cherry (makes 3d best shake for cherry grading B)
3. Baskin Robbins Cherry Jubilee (makes best shake for cherry grading A-)
A-
4. Haagen Dazs Cherry Vanilla (makes 2nd best shake grading B+)
5. Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia (it used to be the best before they added marachino cherries to the mix and/or changed it in other ways)
6. Somewhere in top 6 is Haagen Dazs' Banana Split, which has dominant cherry flavor. Tested separately from others on this list.
B/B+
7. Java Cows, Park City. Named Cherry Springer, it uses the best cherries.
B-
8. Cold Stone
9. Dreyers (the cherry part of their Spumoni ice cream)
C+
10. Breyers Cherry Vanilla (makes 3rd best shake in this flavor)
C-
11. Farr (Premium) (in Utah only)
D
12. Blue Bell Cherry with chocolate bits
13. Private Selection Cherry Cobbler (2014 introduction)
F
14. Private Selection (Premium) (In Smiths/Krogers). Cherry with chocolate bits
15. Blue Bunny Bordeau Cherry
Note: The best grade of cherries inside ice cream are:
1. Baskin Robbins A
2. Haagen Dazs B
3. Schwans C+
Best Black Cherry Ice Cream
A
1. Marble Slab - NO LONGER IN UTAH
2. Tillamook
3. Sub Zero
B-
4. Maggie Moos
D+
5. Tropical Dream
D
6. Graetor's (was B- in 2011, they seemed to have added marichino cherries to it - yuk!)
Best Blackberry Ice Cream
B
1. Sub Zero
2. Tillamook
3. Sam's Club Blackberry Crumble
D
4. Alden
5. Julie's
6. Java Cow ("Purple"
Best Raspberry Ice Cream
A
1. Graetor's Raspberry
2. Haagen Dazs White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle
A-
3. Marble Slab Raspberry
B
4. Sub Zero
5. Straus
6. Tropical Dreams
7. Talenti's raspberry and cream gelato
B-
8. Tilamook (with white chocolate)
9. BYU Creamery
Best Black Raspberry Ice Cream
A
1. Blue Bell (2014 test)
B+
2. Graeter's (with chocolate chips; we tested it minus the chips and with the chips - same grade)
B's
3. Sub Zero Black Raspberry
4. Private Selection Black Raspberry
5. Turkey Hill Black Raspberry
Best Berries COMBINED 5-FLAVOR TEST
In summary we found the best berry ice creams in this order (in comparing the best brands of each flavor below):
1. black cherry
2. black raspberry
3. cherry
4. raspberry
5. blackberry
(strawberry is in a whole different category)
A's
1. Marble Slab Black Cherry - their best kept secret
2. Tillamook Black Cherry
3. Blue Bell Black Raspberry
4. Graeter Black Raspberry
5. Sub Zero Cherry
6. Haagen Dazs Cherry Vanilla
7. Schwans Dark Sweet Cherry
8. Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia (it used to be so much better without marachino cherries added in more recent years; a mistake Graeter's has also made with their Black Cherry ice cream)
9. Hagen Dazs White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle
A-
10. Marble Slab Raspberry
B+
11. Baskin Robbins Cherry Jubilee
B's
12. Sub Zero Raspberry
13. Sub Zero Black Raspberry
14. Sub Zero Blackberry
15 Tillamook Blackberry (2014 - about here)
16. Sam's Club Blackberry (2014 - about here)
17. Private Selection Black Raspberry
18. Straus Raspberry
19. Turkey Hill Black Raspberry
20. Marble Slab Raspberry
21. Maggie Moo Black Cherry
22. Tropical Dreams Raspberry Cream
B-
23. Cold Stone Cherry
24. Tillamook Raspberry in white chocolate (2014 - about here)
25. Dreyer's (cherry in the Spumoni)
26. BYU Creamery Raspberry
C+
27. Breyer's Cherry Vanilla
C-
28. Farr's Cherry (in Utah only)
D's
29. Alden Blackberry
30. Julie's Blackberry
31. Tropical Dreams Black Cherry
31. Blue Bell cherry with chocolate bits
33. Graeter's Black Cherry (used to be B+ till they added marichinos): 2014 - about here
F
34. Private Selection Cherry (Smiths/Krogers). Cherry with chocolate bits
35. Java Cow Purple (blackberry) 2014 - about here
36. Talenti Black Raspberry (with chocolate flakes) 2014 - about here
37. Blue Bunny Bordeau Cherry
Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
1. Ben & Jerry's
(Note: They are the inventor of this flavor, which put them on the map and got them national distribution, although Cherry Garcia is now their #1 seller while this is #2, as of 2013, but still probably true.)
2. Baskin Robbins
3. Sub Zero
4. Hagen Dazs
5. Cold Stone
Best Birthday Cake Ice Cream
1. Marble Slab
2. Baskin Robbins
Best Bubble Gum Ice Cream
1. Baskin Robbins (pink)
2. Marble Slab
3. Sub Zero
4. Maggie Moo's
Best Cotton Candy Ice Cream
1. Ben and Jerry's B+
2. Baskin Robbins B
3. Marble Slab B -
4. Sub-Zero B+
5. Maggie Moo C-/D+
6. Java Cow, Park City D+
7. Cold Stone D
Note: This is an odd test. The first bite rates differently, yet after a few chews it goes to the list above, when the "after taste"settles in. The "First Bite Test" winners are below:
1. Sub Zero
2. Java Cow
3. Ben and Jerry's
4. Marble Slab
5. Baskin Robbins
6. Maggie Moo
7. Cold Stone
Best Cake Batter Ice Cream
1. Sub Zero
2. Ben & Jerry's ("Cake Batter with Chocolate")
3. Tropical Dreams
4. Maggie Moo
5. Cold Stone
Best Cookies and Cream
1. Baskin Robbins
2. Ben & Jerry's ("Milk and Cookies")
3. Ben & Jerry's ("Cookies and Cream")
4. Cold Stone (in their "Signature Creations")
Sweet Cream
1. Sub Zero
2. Cold Stone
3. Maggie Moo
4. Marble Slab
Caramel & Dulche De Leche
A+
1. Ciao Bella Caramel and Brown Sugar Gelato (special order at Whole Foods Market)
A -
2. Java Cow, Park City shop
3. Ben & Jerry's Spectacular Speculoos (dark caramel on one side, vanilla on the other, with bits of cinnamon cookie in it)
4. Ben & Jerry's Karmel Sutra (note: one side of this is chocolate ice cream, one side caramel ice cream)
B
5. Haagen Dazs chocolate carmelized oat (Artisan line)
6. Haagen Dazs caramel cone
B -
7. Ben and Jerry's Rockin Blondies
8. Blue Bell dulche de leche (co. is currently in recall with no sales till about 2016)
9. Graetor's Caramel Truffle Gelago
10, Haagen Dazs dulce de Leche - a 2013 release
C
11. BYU caramel cashew
12. Three Twins Butterscotch
13. Talenti Caramel Cookie Crunch
14. BLVD
15. Ben and Jerry's Scotchy Scotch Scotch
16. Sub Zero, national chain
SALTED CARAMEL BELOW - all are Cs and Ds:
C, cont.
17. Ben and Jerry's Salted Caramel
18. McConnell's salted caramel (Whole Foods Market)
C -
19. Haagen Dazs Gelato Sea Salt Caramel
20. Sam's Choice salted caramel (Walmart stores)
D+
21. Tropical Dreams sea salt caramel (western chain, from Hawaii)
D
22. Steve's Dark chocolate (non dairy - coconut milk)
23. Jens sea salt caramel (note that their chocolate ice cream is very good)
24. Whole Foods (store brand)
DISCONTINUED Caramel FLAVORS:
1. Ben & Jerry's Dulche Delish - a 2013 release, now gone
2. Haagen Dazs Caramel Apple - a 2013 release, now gone
Amaretto
1. Maggie Moo - NO LONGER IN UTAH
2. Marble Slab - DITTO
3. Cold Stone
4. Tropical Dreams Coconut & Almond with Amaretto (also see under coconut above)
5. Sub Zero
Cheesecake - plain flavor
1. Sub Zero
2. Ben & Jerry's with Brownies (minus the Brownies)
3. Cold Stone
4. Marble Slab
Cheesecake combinations (including Plain, Oreo, Strawberry, and Raspberry)
1. Sub Zero
2. Ben & Jerry's with Brownies (minus the Brownies)
3. Cold Stone
4. Tropical Dreams with Strawberries
5. Ben & Jerry's with Strawberries
6. Ben & Jerry's with Raspberry's
7. Marble Slab
8. Baskin Robbins with Oreos
Praline
1. Baskin Robbins
2. Marble Slab
Butter Pecan
a. Baskin Robbins A- (it used to be A+ as a pecan ice cream base; but they changed it perhaps about 2010 to a buttery pecan base - not as good and lighter in color)
b. Haagen Dazs B
c. Java Cow, Park City (has too many nuts) B
d. Ben and Jerry's B
e. Blue Bell B-
f. Sub Zero C
g. BYU C-
h. Talenti D
i. Private Selection (Smiths/Krogers) D
j. Haagen Dazs Bourbon Pecan
All others rate in the C's and D's. We've tested over 20 brands of Butter Pecan, including Schwans, Maggie Moo, and others.
Black Walnut
a. Baskin Robbins B+
b. Kroger Deluxe (sold in Smiths and Krogers) B
c. Leatherbys C+
d. Schwanns C
Coffee ice cream
Tested side by side 2015.
Note: #1 is actually Barts, once available by mail order only, but now only for sale in their few shops near their headquarters in Massachusetts. A+
Items 1-3 are clearly the best of this flavor, and 4-7 are pretty decent:
A
1. Baskin Robbins (MILD)
2. Cold Stone (MILD)
3. Tillamook Stumptown Cold Brew (FAIRLY STRONG) (super- premium; they also have a standard premium below)
Note: Ben and Jerry's coffee ice cream only: CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE IN UTAH.
This flavor is a standard at the company Scoop Shoppes. However, the last "Scoop Shoppe" in Utah closed in 2014 at the Gateway Mall, SLC. Now the closest thing to it is Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz (#9 below) which is often released to grocery stores in pints, where it is available as of spring 2015). Occassionally the regular coffee ice cream flavor is released by the company to grocery stores - it comes and goes.
A-
4. Turkey Hill Columbian (strong for Premium ice cream)
5. Gelato Fiasco (Whole Foods Market or Harmons) (STRONG)
6. McConnell's Turkish (STRONG)
7. Haagen Dazs Coffee Cream Caramel
B+
8. Umpqua (with chips) (MILD) TESTED ONLY AGAINST SUB ZERO BELOW AND THOSE ABOVE.
9. Sub Zero (MILD)
10. 365 (Whole Foods Markets' brand) (MILD)
B
10 a. Ben and Jerry's Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz (STRONG)
10 b. Trader Joes (Double Rainbow) (STRONG)
B-
10. Haagen Dazs coffee
THE FOLLOWING 5 ARE NOT TESTED WITH ALL OF THIS LIST:
11. Boulder Espresso Choc chip (STRONG)
11a. Graetor (tested with some on this list, came below Boulder)
11b. Maggie Moo Capacino
11c. Schwann's
11d. Double Rainbow
12. Haagen Dazs java chip
C
13. Farr
14. Private Selection - Cafe con Leche
15. Tillamook - Expresso Madness and Coffee almond fudge (coffee part alone)
C-
16. Sam's Choice (at Walmart)
17. Dreyer's
18. Yeti (at Whole Foods Market)
19. Talenti
D+
20. Tropical Dreams mocha
D
21. Archer (at Target)
22. Ben and Jerry's coffee toffee
23. Steve's cinnemon coffee
TESTED, BUT NOT WITH 16-23 ABOVE
1. Agave Dreams (STRONG) D
2. Baskin Robbins, Coffee and Donuts D
TESTED IN 2011, NOT WITH SEVERAL ON THIS LIST
2. Swans - B
3. Graeter's - B
DISCONTINUED FLAVORS
1. Haagzen Dazs Five
2. Haagen Dazs vanilla bean espresso
TESTED IN 2011, BUT NOW NOT AVAILABLE IN UTAH (or we could not find for latest test):
3. GS tiramasu C
4. Marble Slab coffee ice cream A
5. Maggie Moo espresso bean B+
6. Marble Slab espresso A
7. Maggie Moo capacino B
8. Starbucks coffee B
9. Starbucks java chip B
(end of coffee ice creams)
Avocado
1. Magnolia (from Hawaii) B+
Rocky Road, Burnt Almond Fudge ice creams
A-/A
Haagen Daz Rocky Road
B+
McConnell's Chocolate Almond Brittle
Farr Burnt Almond Fudge
Baskin Robbins Rocky Road
Baskin Robbins Chocolate Almond
B
Baked Bear Rocky Road
Rockwell Creamery Rocky Road
Tillamook Rocky Road
B-/B
Dreyer Rocky Road
B-
Leatherby's Rocky Road
Leatherby's Burnt Almond Fudge
BYU's Burnt Almond Fudge
C-
Meadow Gold Rocky Road
C - -
Breyer's Rocky Road
D
Russell's Burnt Almond Fudge (strong artificial almond flavor)
Exotic ice cream flavors
B-/B
Last Course's jalapeno berry B-/B
D+
Last Course's Rosemary honey D+
Pina Colada
A-
Haagen Dazs
B
Sub Zero (weak)
B-
Marble Slab (strong)
C
Sub Zero pineapple
C
Baskin Robbins
Pistachio
6 Aug 2018
B
Haagen Dazs
B-
Mora
C-
Ben & Jerry's (A texture, D strong, probably artificial flavor)
Buttery Brown Sugar
6 Aug 2018
B/B+
Gelato Fiasco, Sweet Resurgam
Ben & Jerry's Pecan Sticky Bun
B
Ben & Jerry's Oat of this World
B-
Wasatch Creamery, Heber
* Top 9 selling ice cream brands.
(Private label brands sell the most - grocery stores that put their own name on ice cream that is made for them by manufacturers.) Then:
1. Blue Bell
2. Breyers
3. Haagen Dazs
4. Ben & Jerry's
5. Dreyers (lower fat version they call "Slow Churned)
6. Dreyer's/Edy's Grand (regular ice cream)
7. Wells Blue Bunny
8. Turkey Hill
9. Breyer's Blasts
Top selling flavors:
According to:
Food Network, a list several years old.
1. vanilla 29%
2. chocolate 8.9
3.butter pecan 5.3
4. strawberry 4.3
5. neopolitan 4.2 (containing 3 of the above 4)
6. chocolate chip 3.9
7. cookies and cream 3.6
Dairy Reporter (2013), reporting International Ice Cream Association members' votes, which make and sell 85% of the world's ice cream.
1. vanilla
2. chocolate
3. butter pecan
4. neopolitan
5. Rocky Road
Statistic Brain (2013) - all those with double-digits sales nationwide:
1. chocolate 28% (in the West: only 21%)
2. vanilla 26% (West: #1 at 22%)
3. cookie dough / cookies and cream (if separated out, they both might drop out of the top 5) 22% (West: 19%)
4. butter pecan / swiss almond (ditto on drop out) 19% (West: 15%)
5. mint chocolate chip 15% (West: 15%)
6. strawberry 12% (West: 12%)
7. rocky road 11% (West: 19%)
OUT OF BUSINESS: Last Course Dessert Parlor, SLC and Draper, dark chocolate
B++
13. Ben & Jerry's Shake It (malted milk chocolate, light chocolate)
B+
14. New York Super Fudge Chunk. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM. See note below about their chocolate ice cream base. The advantage of this is the nuts added. The disadvantage is the hard candy pieces.
15. Ben & Jerry's regular chocolate (superpremium) - Their chocolate-only is sold only in B & J "scoop shops" currently, no longer in Utah (but you can get some if you dig it out of the New York Super Fudge Chunk available in grocery markets).
(Per the note higher up this page: They were #1 for chocolate ice cream that had national distribution many years, but B & J has steadily gone downhill since about 1992. Even after cheapening it, they still remained #1 until the mid-2000s. One of the big reasons for their fall from the top spot is their changing their brand of cocoa. Through some detective work of sorts we learned their great cocoa they used for their first few decades was "Bensdorp" out of Holland. Then they got the current cheaper one in the mid-2000s, causing B & J to slip out of First Place.)
NO LONGER IN UTAH, BUT RATED HERE:
Marble Slab Swiss
NO LONGER IN UTAH, BUT RATED HERE:
Maggie Moo Dark Chocolate
16. Graetor's, sold at Smith's in Utah. They have some better flavors than chocolate; overall they're very high quality, and have improved each of the last several times we tested it since 2014.
Note: This Cincinnati based company of a couple dozen parlors in the greater Cincanatti and northern Kentucky area has been distributed nationwide at Krogers/Smiths for several years now. It is a strange one to rate because it has a strong Swiss flavor - we guess they use Nestles commercial cocoa powder - which some rate in the B's and others in the C's. Black Raspberry Chip is their best flavor, and we've tried many, even flying in over a dozen flavors on dry ice before they obtained national distribution. Overall we like the chocolate.
NO LONGER IN UTAH, but rated just after Graetors (above):
Blue Bell Milk, currently not available in Utah. It was selling in Utah only at I Like Ike's scoop shop at the Riverwoods Mall in north Provo at the Provo Beach Resort, but no more.
Note: A little background about them - they are an iconic brand out of Texas and famous through the South and Midwest. The company began in 1930 but sold ice cream under the company's original name beginning some time after 1910, having started in 1907 making butter. Blue Bell claims to be in 26% of the nation's super-markets. An independent source actually puts them as the number one seller in the country, after private labeling ice cream companies (such as those sold in grocery stores with their own store names).
NO LONGER AVAILABLE IN UTAH, BUT RATED here:
Blue Bell Dutch
17. Haagen Dazs Rocky Road. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM. Their reg choc is #1 above, but the nuts and marshmallows lowers the Road.
NO LONGER IN UTAH AS OF OCTOBER 2018, BUT IN OTHER STATES: Baked Bear Dessert Parlor, Lehi and West Jordan
18. Haagen Dazs Midnight cookies and cream, using their dark choc ice cream
UNTIL OUR LATEST TEST IN NOV 2018, THIS BRAND WAS RATED HERE, BUT THE NOVEMBER BATCH WE HAD WAS WAY UP THE LIST, SO THEY WILL KEEP MAKING IT THAT WAY:
Rockwell Creamery milk chocolate (Provo)
B/B+
19. Wasatch Creamery, Heber, at Farmers markets in Park City and SLC, plus various shops. It's called "Chocolate 3 Ways." CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
20. Baskin Robbins Rocky Road. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
20A. Baskin Robbins Chocolate Almond. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
21. Baskin Robbins Chocolate Oreo. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
(Note: Baskin Robbins Vanilla based ice cream with Oreos goes here. Since it is not chocolate-based ice cream, it receives no official ranking on this list.)
22. Baskin Robbins Fudge
DISCONTINUED FLAVOR, RATED HERE: Haagen Dazs dark chocolate chip gelato mousse. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
NO LONGER AVAILABLE IN UTAH: Cia Bella Mascarpone Gelato. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
23. Schwanns. Available only via home delivery. Light milk chocolate, has lasting power - folks don't get tired of it compared to most others above that taste stronger and richer.
24. Humboldt
25. Baskin Robbins Chocolate Mousse
26. Mora (rated below Baskin Robbins Mousse and above Villa Dolce, below, but not tested with many other brands below here.)
27. Villa Dolce Italiana Gelato, sold at Medici Pizza Parlor Ice Cream, Orem and nationally, Dark Chocolate. ONLY TESTED WITH THOSE ABOVE and Dreyer's below:
28. Tillamook regular Chocolate. (Note: their inferior chocolate ice cream, "Udderly Chocolate," with chunks, is available lately more often than regular, but rates further down the list below, as the chocolate flavor is not as good.) CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
Steve's Brooklyn Blackout Cake. NOT CURRENTLY IN UTAH STORES, but has been, and the company is still alive so it might return:
Note: This Cincinnati based company of a couple dozen parlors in the greater Cincanatti and northern Kentucky area has been distributed nationwide at Krogers/Smiths for several years now. It is a strange one to rate because it has a strong Swiss flavor - we guess they used Nestles commercial cocoa powder - which some rate in the B's and others in the C's. Black Raspberry Chip is their best flavor, and we've tried many, even flying in over a dozen flavors on dry ice before they obtained national distribution. Overall we like the chocolate. (of Brooklyn, NY, was sold at Sprouts, but the ice cream brand was bought out by Dean Foods in Dallas and is being re-vitalized)
Steve's Brooklyn Blackout Cake. NOT CURRENTLY IN UTAH STORES, but has been, and the company is still alive so it might return:
Note: This Cincinnati based company of a couple dozen parlors in the greater Cincanatti and northern Kentucky area has been distributed nationwide at Krogers/Smiths for several years now. It is a strange one to rate because it has a strong Swiss flavor - we guess they used Nestles commercial cocoa powder - which some rate in the B's and others in the C's. Black Raspberry Chip is their best flavor, and we've tried many, even flying in over a dozen flavors on dry ice before they obtained national distribution. Overall we like the chocolate. (of Brooklyn, NY, was sold at Sprouts, but the ice cream brand was bought out by Dean Foods in Dallas and is being re-vitalized)
Note: A little history for you - The original Steve's started in Boston in 1973, which sold to another owner in 1977 and another in 1983. In 1990 we first tested it as straight chocolate ice cream in Miami. That original Steve's went out of business in about 1998 after a 25 year run. But in 1980 the original owner of Steve's, Steve Herrell, began opening a few franchises of Herrell's in the Boston area, with the same flavors as the original company he had started and sold, and they are still in business today. [Why is this company important to bring up? This was the original co. to have mix-ins! And the idea was later cloned by Cold Stone and Marble Slab.] Unfortunately Herrell's is not sold in pre-packaged pints for grocery store distribution. Meanwhile, in 2009 the old Steve's brand name was bought by a former employee, and the company launched in 2011 with New York stores and packaged pints for national distribution, which is available at Sprouts and elsewhere. The new Steve's offers 15 creative flavors only, all different than the original Steve's company (Only Herrell's now has the original Steve's flavors.) The new Steve's has no basic flavors. This chocolate BKLN is the closest thing to a basic chocolate ice cream they have. That new owner, Dean Foods, took over summer of 2017.
29. Three Twins Bittersweet (at Whole Food Markets sometimes, and one can special order it at Good Earth) 30. Three Twins Brownie Batter (ditto) CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
B
31. Ben & Jerry's Half Baked (tested with some above and below, but not all, so we estimate it fits here). CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
32. Hatch's Chocolates, SLC (not tested with others side by side on this list, but fits about here).
33. Turkey Hill All Natural
34. Three Twins choc malt (at Whole Foods Markets sometimes and Good Earth, but if not in stock, can perhaps still be ordered). CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
NO LONGER MADE: Dreyer's Frozen Custard Chocolate Malt
35. Dreyer's. See note above of how it has dropped to this spot.
36. Ben & Jerry's Tonight Dough (has caramel in it) - CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
37. Ben & Jerry's Everything But the . . . CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
38. Ben & Jerry's Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Core CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
39. Ben & Jerry's Karmal Sutra CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
40. Haagen Dazs Peant Butter Chocolate. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
41. Ben & Jerry's S'mores CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
42. Ben & Jerry's Phish Food CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
43. Sprouts Rocky Road Ice Cream (not their gelato, down below)
44. 365 organic ice cream (at Whole Foods Markets) (their gelato is rated much farther below, as it has less butterfat)
45. 365 (Whole Foods Brand) regular ice cream
46. Jeni's Darkest Chocolate
47. Alden's Organic
48. Julie's Organic
49. Culver's Frozen Custard
49. Haagen Dazs Belgian
50. NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS, BUT ESTIMATED TO GO HERE ON THE LIST: Maxine's organic from Three Twins
B-/B
51. Yetti (possibly belongs just below B&J's Choc Fudge Brownie)
52. Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
53. Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Therapy CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
54. Ben & Jerry's Brownie Batter Core CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
55. Rockwell Creamery dark ice cream (in "Rockwell Road")
56. Sprouts Gelato (low fat, as gelato is)
57. Schwann's Gelato
58. Figo (whole foods market, slc)
59. Tillamook chocolate fudge brownies frozen custard
60. Chocolat (brand name) - Dominican
OUT OF BUSINESS (their SLC shop), but still in Hawaii and maybe California: Tropical Dreams Fudge
NO LONGER SOLD: Ben & Jerry's Roasted and Toasted Dark Chocolate CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
61. Tillamook's Udderly Chocolate CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
62. BYU reg choc (Available only in Utah. Really decent, but if they want to rise up the
taste-test charts, they need to add a Super Premium brand and vastly improve their recipe and brand of cocoa, especially if they want to compete with Penn State's Creamery, the godfather of great ice cream shops, who influenced even Ben & Jerry's and Haagen Dazs. (For afficionados, Penn State has a 2 week short course and full semester courses in ice cream making.)
63. BYU Choc Fudge Mousse
(We last tested the following two in 2011, which ranked right after BYU:)
64. Utah State University Creamery. As an agricultural and food science school, they pride themselves on their ice cream, but it might need a Super Premium version.
65. Red Barn (in Santaquin, Utah). They make their own - our hats are off to them - great atmosphere to buy and eat ice cream.
NO LONGER IN UTAH: Tropical Dreams Nutella. CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
B-
67. Meadow Gold (most stores)
68. Blue Bunny (used to be the worst ice cream in America in 1999, now is not bad, they've made improvements - maybe reading this website with its many hits yearly(!)
69. Breyers (most stores) (Used to be better than Dreyers, then went steadily down hill since 1992, when it was at its best. Never have we seen a brand change its chocolate ice cream so much over the past 25 years as Breyers.)
70. Hemisfares
71. Western Family (most stores in West)
72. Leatherby's (their own shops in Salt Lake Valley)
73. Private Selection chocolate ganache (Smith's/Kroger's own upscale brand)
74. Simply Balanced - for low fat it's surprisingly decent tasting (at Target)
75. Cold Stone reg choc
76. Simply Organic (not tested with these others but fits about here)
C+
77. Java Cow, Park City (their own shop; their best flavor was Maple Walnut, but discontinued that flavor in about 2016). Superpremium.
78. Freddy's Concrete (Frozen Custard), at their Midvale burger shop
79. Roll With it Creamery, Provo
80. Nielsen's frozen custard (at their own shops)
81. Boulder Chocolate Pudding ice cream - at Whole Foods Market
82. Archer Farms (Target) - reg chocolate
83. Archer Farms - chocolate with brownies
No longer sold in Utah: Marble Slab Fudge was rated here. In fairness, this was tested at one of their shops gong out of business, and it didn't seem to taste as good as when we had tried it previously, as they may have been skimping on the ingredients or the process - therefore, it could rate higher than here.
84. BYU Ernestly chocolate with caramel CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
85. Forte (at Whole Foods Markets)
86. Clemmy's (at Whole Foods Markets)
87. Sub Zero Milk choc (at their own shops)
88. Sub Zero dark fudge (not on menu, at their own shops)
C
The following 6 were tested separately from all the others on this list, but rated about here as C's:
89. Turkey Hill (tested in 2015 but not with the others above) C-
90. Igor Frozen Custard. Sold at their shop in Layton, Utah. (tested in 2011)
91. Sunnyland (tested in 2011)
92. Deluxe (tested in 2011)
93. Country Rich. In stores. C (tested in 2011)
94. Blue Bell Triple chocolate (currently under re-call, coming back in 2016) CHOCOLATE BASED BUT NOT A TRUE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
95. Sam's Choice (at Walmart)
(Coney's frozen custard from American Fork and Orem was here, but went out of business in late 2015)
96. Agave Dream (at Whole Foods Markets)
97. Whole Foods Gelato - (Whole Foods Markets; note that their "365 Ice Cream" above is good, however)
98. Umpqua (at Winco)
99. Cold Stone dark truffle
100. Howdy, Sugarhouse (fits somewhere between 70-88, as it was not tested with all on this list. Wish it were higher - they're fine folks! Tested the week they opened, in about 2016, so perhaps they've upgraded the flavor since.)
101. Chocolat's Kalimantan - too dark for most (at Good Earth)
102. Chocolat's Ghana - too dark for most (at Good Earth)
No longer sold in Utah: Marble Slab dark was rated here. As with their flavor above, this was tested at one of their shops gong out of business, and it didn't seem to taste as good as when we had tried it previously, as they may have been skimping on the ingredients or the process - therefore, it could rate higher than here.
103. Farr Chocolate Hazlenut
104. Sam's Choice Chocolate Hazelnut
D
105. ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: Red Button, Associated Food grocery store family
106. Rita's gelato (at their own shops, using their original recipe of egg; before the recipe changed in late summer 2015 due to rising price of eggs; we haven't tested the new egg-less version)
107. CoolHaus Molten Chocolate Cake (at Harmon's).- not tested with many on this list, but it rated C- and lands here or below by a bit.
108. Talenti Belgian Milk chocolate (better than their other chocolate flavors) - at most stores
109. Snoqualmie Mukilteo Mudd (at Winco)
110. Talenti Double Dark Choc
111. Talenti Fudge Brownie (at most stores)
112. Choctal Costa Rican - too dark for most (at Good Earth)
113. Cold Stone choc cake batter
114. BLVD (at Whole Foods Markets)
114. BLVD (at Whole Foods Markets)
END OF LIST of Chocolate Ice Creams.
Note: Light ice creams are essentially diet ice creams - Dreyer's "Country churned" and others are similar. Few would rate any higher than a D.) One brand we tested was Halo Top Light.
DISCONTINUED FLAVORS (of still-existing brands):
Haagen Dazs Dark Chocolate.This one seemed much better in 1991. C
Haagen Dazs "Five" chocolate B+
BYU Bronco Cocoa Bean D (note: their regular choc is good to very good)
Schwan's super premium pints - chocolate B+
GS Gelato Triple D
Sorano double chocolate gelato (made by Boulder) C
Turkey Hill All-Natural (their higher grade version commonly found in stores in the East) (tested in 2015 in the East, but not with the others above) B-
Brands and Flavors NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH:
Maggie Moo - reg choc B+
Maggie Moo - dutch choc (grading slightly lower) B+
Maggie Moo - mallo C-
Marble Slab - Swiss Choc (very top of list of B+ category) B+
Marble Slab - Dark Choc (in middle of D category) D
Marble Slab - Fudge (near bottom of C- category) C-
Marble Slab - mallo C-
DISCONTINUED BRANDS:
Yummies frozen custard, Springville B
(Was #1 chocolate: Stonyfield Farms / Stonyfield Organic -"After Dark Chocolate" - - from New Hampshire - now only sold as frozen yoghurt - You may contact them at this address IF YOU WANT TO REQUEST IT TO COME BACK: http://www.stonyfield.com/contact-us)
Ice Cream Notes:
Years ago we tested all the non-Premium Ice Creams like those sold in national chain grocery stores such as Smiths/Kroger, (as well as in Utah's grocery stores - Macey's, Harmons, etc. made by third party manufacturers. None rated higher than C. These are usually the cheapest priced ice creams. The dead giveaway is if they don't list "milk and cream," on their ingredients list, but rather "non-fat milk and milk solids." Run from them!Yummies frozen custard, Springville B
(Was #1 chocolate: Stonyfield Farms / Stonyfield Organic -"After Dark Chocolate" - - from New Hampshire - now only sold as frozen yoghurt - You may contact them at this address IF YOU WANT TO REQUEST IT TO COME BACK: http://www.stonyfield.com/contact-us)
Ice Cream Notes:
Gelato is Italian Ice Cream with less butterfat to be considered ice cream, but low air, like super premium ice cream has, which makes it denser and heavier for the same amount of volume as regular and premium ice creams (in ice cream parlance, it's called "over-run" and is based on a semi-complex formula); however, super premium ice cream has much more fat.
Our favorite gelato bars - Spin Cafe, Heber City; Settebello Pizza, downtown SLC; Gloria's Little Italy, Provo, and Terra Mia's in the Orem University mall, outside near movie complex. Also Tropical Dream in SLC. There are other good ones as well. Most however are mostly mediocre, making their gelato from mixes.
Best Raspberry Chocolate Ice Cream
a. sub Zero B
b. Cold Stone B
c. Ben & Jerry's (Raspberry Core) B
d. Maggie Moo B-
e. Baskin Robins B-
f. Marble Slab D
Best Chocolate plus Chunks Ice Cream
1. Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk
2. Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie
3. Ben & Jerry's Cheesecake Fudge
4. Ben Jerry's Fair Trade
5. Baskin Robbins Chocolate Almond
6. Baskin Robbins Rocky Road
7. Haagen Dazs Rocky Road
8. Colt Stone German Chocolate
9. Maggie Moo's Destinaton Dark Fresh Escape (almonds, strawberry, fudge)
10. Maggie Moo's Chocolate Banana
11.Maggie Moo's Red Velvet Fresh Escape
12. Cold Stone Fresh Escape Peanut Butter
13. Marble Slab White Chocolate
14. Cold Stone Chocolate Hazlenut.
Note: Former #1 chocolate:. NO LONGER MADE. Stonyfield Farms / Stonyfield Organic -"After Dark Chocolate" - - from New Hampshire - available by special order only through the Good Earth Natural Foods locations throughout Salt Lake and Utah Valleys and in health food stores in other states. (Most grocery markets sell only Stonyfield frozen yoghurt - don't mess with that - get the ice cream!).
You may contact them through this WEBSITE PAGE IF YOU WANT TO REQUEST IT TO COME BACK: http://www.stonyfield.com/contact-us
We tested these all side by side in 2016, 2014 and 2011.
We have other tests before that which include over 30 additional brands not listed here, all in the Cs and Ds, many of them private label brands for grocery stores.
These ice cream were all tested side by side except where indicated below.
ALL THESE ARE 'SUPER-PREMIUMS' except for a few premiums. Of the top 18, only Tillamook is a premium, but holds its own against super-premiums.
27 Nov 2018
A's
1. Madagascar Vanilla from Choctal, made in Pasadena, CA, available at Harmons and Good Earth stores in Utah A+
Note: these are their other 3 vanilla ice creams:
a. Indonesian A-/A
b. Papua New Guinea B+
c. Mexican (with cinnemon) B
2. Jeni's Honey Vanilla (at Whole Foods Market) NOT TESTED SIDE BY SIDE WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST, WHILE MOST ALL THE OTHERS HAVE BEEN.
3. Jeni's N. Dali Estate vanilla (at Whole Foods Market)
4. Beachy Cream (from Santa Monica, in 2016 was available at Good Earth stores, now perhaps by special order)
5. Agave Dream
6. Sam's Choice (at WalMart)
7. Trader Joe's (made by Double Rainbow)
8. McConnell's RR Lochhead Vanilla Bean
9. Nielsen's Frozen Custard, SLC
10. Schwann's French Vanilla (Premium, not Super Premium as the above all are. Sold only November - December each year in decorative one gallon holiday tins, with stock left over usually to February. This company delivers to people's homes.) (NOT TESTED ALL WITH ON THIS LIST)
B+
10A. TESTED ONLY WITH #1 ABOVE AND #14 BELOW, LANDING ABOUT HERE: Humboldt Organic at Trader Joes
10B. Snoqualmie (like Haagen Dazs) at Winco
11. Freddie's burgers, in Midvale (national chain)
12. Tillamook "Old Fashioned Vanilla" (not their other varieties of vanilla, which are not NEARLY as good)
13. Ben & Jerry's (used to be #1 for over 20 years, but they have lowered their quality and likely changed their vanilla source. They were #1 until 2014.)
14. Three Twins "Madagascar Vanilla" (available at health food stores; if they are out, get it by special order through their distributor).
14a. TESTED ALONE: Last Course: Tahitian Vanilla
15. Tropical Dreams
16. Graeters (at Ohio ice cream shops plus nationally and locally at Smiths/Krogers)
17. Haagen Dazs Vanilla Bean (better than reg. vanilla, below)
18. Culver's, several in Utah, national chain (not tested with other B's, but probably rates here near the top)
19. Meadow Gold
NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH, but rated here: Blue Bell
20. Blue Bunny (a huge improvement in quality since their dead last position for most flavors among 40+ brands we began testing in 1999)
21. Turkey Hill
22. Sub Zero
23. Dreyers plain vanilla (they have a couple other vanilla varieties that we did test over the years this is their best)
The next 5 rate about here, but were not tested in 2016:
24. Breyers
25. 365 - from Whole Foods Markets
26. Private Selection - regular vanilla
27. Baskin Robbins
28. Schwann's reg. vanilla (see above French Vanilla, under A's)
28A. ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: 3 Twins Madagascar
C+
28B. ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: Last Course, SLC and Draper
28C. ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: Hatch's Family Chocolates, SLC, plain Vanilla
28D: ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: Baked Bear
C
THESE NEXT 5 WERE TESTED TOGETHER BUT NOT IN 2016:
29. Chocolat's Mexican Vanilla (beside #1 regular vanilla above).
30. 365 Organic - at Whole Foods Markets
31. Haagen Dazs - regular Vanilla
32. Double Rainbow's Organic - at Real Foods, Orem
33. Russell's / Farr's (same company) (Occasionally we prefer BYU's vanilla)
34. BYU
35. Sprouts Honey Vanilla ice cream (not gelato)
35A. ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: Rockwell Creamery
C-'s
36. Farr Frozen Custard
37. Boulder
38. Yeti
39. Figo
40. Private Selection (at Smiths/Krogers) Double Vanilla
41. Straus
D
42. Julie's
43. Western Family French Vanilla (in the western United States)
44. Java Cow, Park city
45. BLVD - at Whole Foods Market
46. Cold Stone regular vanilla
47. Western Family Vanilla Bean
48. Cold Stone French vanilla
NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH: Maggie Moo
NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH: Marble Slab (same company as Maggie Moo)
49. Talenti Tahitian
50. NON DAIRY: Steven's Burnt Sugar Vanilla
Note: In our site, "Best Shakes in Utah," the order is changed because many vanilla ice creams taste better or worse when made into a shake!
Note: a top 3 was Stoneyfield Organic's "Gotta Have Vanilla."
LEARNED May 2014: their ice creams were DISCONTINUED (but not their frozen yoghurts).. You may contact them through the following WEBSITE page address IF YOU WANT to request one of the 3 Best Vanilla ice Creams we ever tested TO COME BACK: http://www.stonyfield.com/contact-us
Best Strawberry Ice Cream
5 Aug 2018
A
1. Rockwell Creamery
2. Cow Java, Park City
NO LONGER IN UTAH, BUT IS ELSEWHERE: Maggie Moo A
DITTO: Marble Slab A
3. Haagen Dazs
4. Ben & Jerry's A-/A (in 2013 it tested above Haagen Dazs, but each year they drop their quality); they only release it occasionally, every few years it seems
A-
5. Mora, Orem
6. Graeters (usually only available with choc chips, but sometimes as pure strawberry ice cream, as in 2013. Available at Krogers/Smiths nationwide, and in their own shops in southern Ohio and Kentucky) A-
B+
NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH: Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla with Strawberries B+
7. Meadow Gold
B
8. Schwann's
OUT OF BUSINESS: Tropical Dreams B
9. Western Family (tested 2013) B
10. Baskin Robbins B
11.Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake B
12. NOT TESTED WITH OTHER B'S, ONLY WITH THE A's, ABOVE; BUT IT WOULD FIT ABOUT HERE: Wasatch Creamery, Heber: B
B-
NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH: Blue Bell Strawberry B-
12. Tillamook B-
13. Dreyers B-
14. Breyers B-
C+
15. Blue Bunny C+
16. BYU Creamery C+
17. Cold Stone C+
18. Turkey Hill C+
19. Double Rainbow (at Whole Foods Markets) c+
C
20 Whole Foods Market brand C
21. Organicville - in Health Food Stores C
C-
22. Sub Zero C-
23. Simply Organic (not tested with these others but fits about here) C - -
D's
24. Russell's / Farr's (same company) D
A's
1. Sub Zero
2. Ben & Jerry's Willie Nelson's Country Peach Cobbler
3. Marble Slab
B's
4. Private Selection (Premium) (at Smiths/Krogers)
5. Cold Stone
6. Graeters
7. Blue Bell (Premium)
8. Tropical Dream
Best Mint Ice Cream
Best Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream in the U.S. - 2 tests:
rev. 8 August 2018
TEST 1:
A+
1. Wasatch Creamery, Heber (NOT TESTED WITH #2, BUT LIKELY LANDS AS #1)
2. Beachy Cream (from Santa Monica, Ca): Mint brownie - fresh mint leaves! At Good Earth stores, special order
A
3. Rockwell Creamery, Provo shop, fresh mint leaves!
OUT OF BUSINESS: Tropical Dreams, Salt Lake City
4. Three Twins Confetti Mint (Sprouts) - FITS ABOUT HERE - TESTED WITH ONLY SOME ON THIS LIST
A-
5. Humboldt ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST
6. Baked Bear
7. Ben & Jerry's: mint and as mint cookies and cream
8. Mora NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS BELOW ON THIS LIST
9. Dreyers Custard
10. Trader Joes
11. Haagen Dazs
12. Freddie's (at Midvale burger place) - about here - not tested with all on this list
B+/A-
13. Graeters (at Smiths)
NO LONGER SOLD IN UTAH: Blue Bell (Premium)
B+
14. Yetti (at Whole Foods Markets and Sprouts)
B/B+
15. Nielsen's Frozen Custard, several Utah locations
B
16. Baskin Robbins (Premium)
B-/B
17. ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH OTHERS ON THIS LIST: Baked Bear
C/C+
18. Snowqualmi (at Winco)
TEST 2:
(all super premiums)
A+
Beachy Cream
A
Wasatch Creamery, Heber
Rockwell Creamery, Provo shop, fresh mint leaves!
OUT OF BUSINESS: Tropical Dreams, Salt Lake City
Double Rainbow Organic
Three Twins Confetti
A-
Ben & Jerry's Cookies with mint
Ben & Jerry's Mint Emporium
Baked Bear ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH MOST ON THIS LIST
Mora ABOUT HERE, NOT TESTED WITH MOST ON THIS LIST
Nielsen's
Haagen Dazs
Freddies Frozen Custard (at their burger shops)
Dreyer's Frozen Custard
B+/A-
Graetors
GONE FROM Utah: Blue Bell (not super-premium)
B+
Talenti
Yetti
B
Baskin Robbins
365 Organic, from Whole Foods Market
Java Cow, Park City shop
B-
Aldens
Culvers
CS
C+
Western Family (not super premium)
C Boulder
Straus
Organicville
D+/C-
Sprouts Organic
Best Peanut Butter -Vanilla Ice Cream in the U.S.
A+
1. Marble Slab
A
2. Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter cup (uses peanut butter ice cream)
B
3. Boulder Peanut Butter cup (uses vanilla ice cream)
4. Baskin Robbins (Premium)
C
5. Cold Stone
C-
6. Alden (Premium)
7. Private Selection (Premium)
8. Western Family (Premium)
9. Breyers (Premium)
10. Sub Zero
Best Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
A+
1. Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Fudge Core
2. Haagen Dazs chocolate peanut butter
3. Ben & Jerry's Peanut butter cup
4. Blue Bell (Premium)
A
5. Schwans (Premium)
6. (Somewhere in top 5 is Sam's Choice, from WalMart, not tested with others on this list)
B+
7. Tillimook (Premium)
B
8.Basking Robbins (Premium)
9. Dreyers (Edy's east of the Mississippi) (Premium)
10. Farr's Peanut Butter Cup (western reason)
11. Ben and Jerry's Peanut Buttah Cookie Core
B-
12. BYU Creamery (Premium) (in Utah only)
13. Marble Slab
C's
14. Turkey Hill (Premium)
15. Cold Stone
16. Farr's (Premium) Choc peanut butter
D
17. Soreno
Best Maple Nut Ice Cream in Utah
A+
1. Java Cow, Park City
A
2. Umpqua (at Winco)
B+
3. Ben & Jerry's (comes without nuts), This was a maple ice cream now discontinued.
B
4. Schwans (Premium) (if no nuts: C+)
B-
5. Russell / Farr (at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Park City; we assume is from Russell's since the chocolate mix is): (Farr rated C- for maple in 2011 however)
6. Meadow Gold (Premium). B-/C+
C+
7. Western Family (Premium) (in Western U.S. only). Tested 2011.
C -
8. Private Selection (Premium) (Smiths)
9. Sub Zero
D -
10. Arctic Zero Vanilla-Maple (diet ice cream - no fat)
Best Coconut Ice Cream
(Also available in Gelato at many Gelatarias, which are also often found in Italian Restaurants, but this list is Ice Cream only:)
A+
1. Bangkok Thai Restaurant, Park City (own ice cream)
2. McConnell's - at Harmon's and Whole Foods Markets
A
3. Ben & Jerry's (has nuts and chips)
4. Sub Zero
5. Snowqualmie, rates about here, above Graetors; available at Winco; another test placed it at B-
6. Graetor's with chocolate chips
7. Tropical Dreams (strong)
A-
8. Talenti
B
9. Baskin Robbins Coconut with almonds
C+
C
11. Sorano
C-
12. Marble Slab
13. Dreyers Pineapple Coconut
D
14. Tropical Dreams Coconut with almond (see the version WITHOUT almond above)
Best Banana Ice Cream
A-
1. Cold Stone
2. Beachy (at Good Earth stores in Utah)
3. Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey
B-
4. Tropical Dreams
5. BYU Banana Nut
C-
6. Steve's Banana Pudding Ice Cream
Best Lemon & Lime Ice Creams
A
1. Figo gelato
2. Three Twins - lemon cookie
3. Tropical Dreams (Hawaii, Utah, and CA)
4. Sprouts Lemon Merange ice cream
5. Snowqualmie
A-
6. Sub Zero - lemon
7. Sorano
B-
8. Haagen Dazs Five (discontinued sub-brand: "Five")
9. Sprouts Lemoncelo gelato
C++
10. Baskin Robbins Key Lime Pie C++
C
11. Baskin Robbins Gold Rush (strong, like lemon candy) C
12. BLVD
D+
13. NO LONGER IN UTAH: Marble Slab key lime
Best Watermelon Ice Cream
1. Sub Zero A-
2. Maggie Moo C+
Best Passion Fruit Ice Cream
1. Tropical Dreams C- (bitter)
Best Mango Ice Cream
A
Haagen Dazs
B
Tropical Dreams
Magnolia
B-
Sub Zero
C++
NO LONGER IN UTAH: Maggie Moos C++ (faint flavor)
Best Orange Ice Cream
1. Tropical Dreams - Blood Orange B+
2. Sub Zero C++ (tangy)
Best Tropical Fruit Ice Cream - from Tropical Dreams
(only in Hawaii and Utah, sold at Tropical Dreams store only)
1. Lava Flow (only in Utah: base of pina colada with fresh bananas and strawberries: A-)
2. Blood Orange B+
3. Passion Fruit B
4. Pina Colada
5. Strawberry Coconut B-
Best Cinnemon Ice Cream
A
1. Tropical Dreams
A-
2. NO LONGER IN UTAH, BUT ELSEWHERE: Maggie Moos
3. Ben & Jerry's
4. Sub Zero
C+
5. Boulder (strong flavor)
Best Ginger Ice Cream
A-
1. Boulder - at Whole Foods Markets
B++
2. Tropical Dreams (only occasionally available)
3. Haagen Dazs 2015 introduction of the Artisan Collection: "Ginger Molasses Cookie" - the base is ginger
Cherry Ice Cream
Best Cherry and Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream
A
1. Sub Zero
2. Schwans Sweet Dark Cherry (makes 3d best shake for cherry grading B)
3. Baskin Robbins Cherry Jubilee (makes best shake for cherry grading A-)
A-
4. Haagen Dazs Cherry Vanilla (makes 2nd best shake grading B+)
5. Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia (it used to be the best before they added marachino cherries to the mix and/or changed it in other ways)
6. Somewhere in top 6 is Haagen Dazs' Banana Split, which has dominant cherry flavor. Tested separately from others on this list.
B/B+
7. Java Cows, Park City. Named Cherry Springer, it uses the best cherries.
B-
8. Cold Stone
9. Dreyers (the cherry part of their Spumoni ice cream)
C+
10. Breyers Cherry Vanilla (makes 3rd best shake in this flavor)
C-
11. Farr (Premium) (in Utah only)
D
12. Blue Bell Cherry with chocolate bits
13. Private Selection Cherry Cobbler (2014 introduction)
F
14. Private Selection (Premium) (In Smiths/Krogers). Cherry with chocolate bits
15. Blue Bunny Bordeau Cherry
Note: The best grade of cherries inside ice cream are:
1. Baskin Robbins A
2. Haagen Dazs B
3. Schwans C+
Best Black Cherry Ice Cream
A
1. Marble Slab - NO LONGER IN UTAH
2. Tillamook
3. Sub Zero
B-
4. Maggie Moos
D+
5. Tropical Dream
D
6. Graetor's (was B- in 2011, they seemed to have added marichino cherries to it - yuk!)
Best Blackberry Ice Cream
B
1. Sub Zero
2. Tillamook
3. Sam's Club Blackberry Crumble
D
4. Alden
5. Julie's
6. Java Cow ("Purple"
Best Raspberry Ice Cream
A
1. Graetor's Raspberry
2. Haagen Dazs White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle
A-
3. Marble Slab Raspberry
B
4. Sub Zero
5. Straus
6. Tropical Dreams
7. Talenti's raspberry and cream gelato
B-
8. Tilamook (with white chocolate)
9. BYU Creamery
Best Black Raspberry Ice Cream
A
1. Blue Bell (2014 test)
B+
2. Graeter's (with chocolate chips; we tested it minus the chips and with the chips - same grade)
B's
3. Sub Zero Black Raspberry
4. Private Selection Black Raspberry
5. Turkey Hill Black Raspberry
Best Berries COMBINED 5-FLAVOR TEST
In summary we found the best berry ice creams in this order (in comparing the best brands of each flavor below):
1. black cherry
2. black raspberry
3. cherry
4. raspberry
5. blackberry
(strawberry is in a whole different category)
A's
1. Marble Slab Black Cherry - their best kept secret
2. Tillamook Black Cherry
3. Blue Bell Black Raspberry
4. Graeter Black Raspberry
5. Sub Zero Cherry
6. Haagen Dazs Cherry Vanilla
7. Schwans Dark Sweet Cherry
8. Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia (it used to be so much better without marachino cherries added in more recent years; a mistake Graeter's has also made with their Black Cherry ice cream)
9. Hagen Dazs White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle
A-
10. Marble Slab Raspberry
B+
11. Baskin Robbins Cherry Jubilee
B's
12. Sub Zero Raspberry
13. Sub Zero Black Raspberry
14. Sub Zero Blackberry
15 Tillamook Blackberry (2014 - about here)
16. Sam's Club Blackberry (2014 - about here)
17. Private Selection Black Raspberry
18. Straus Raspberry
19. Turkey Hill Black Raspberry
20. Marble Slab Raspberry
21. Maggie Moo Black Cherry
22. Tropical Dreams Raspberry Cream
B-
23. Cold Stone Cherry
24. Tillamook Raspberry in white chocolate (2014 - about here)
25. Dreyer's (cherry in the Spumoni)
26. BYU Creamery Raspberry
C+
27. Breyer's Cherry Vanilla
C-
28. Farr's Cherry (in Utah only)
D's
29. Alden Blackberry
30. Julie's Blackberry
31. Tropical Dreams Black Cherry
31. Blue Bell cherry with chocolate bits
33. Graeter's Black Cherry (used to be B+ till they added marichinos): 2014 - about here
F
34. Private Selection Cherry (Smiths/Krogers). Cherry with chocolate bits
35. Java Cow Purple (blackberry) 2014 - about here
36. Talenti Black Raspberry (with chocolate flakes) 2014 - about here
37. Blue Bunny Bordeau Cherry
Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
1. Ben & Jerry's
(Note: They are the inventor of this flavor, which put them on the map and got them national distribution, although Cherry Garcia is now their #1 seller while this is #2, as of 2013, but still probably true.)
2. Baskin Robbins
3. Sub Zero
4. Hagen Dazs
5. Cold Stone
Best Birthday Cake Ice Cream
1. Marble Slab
2. Baskin Robbins
Best Bubble Gum Ice Cream
1. Baskin Robbins (pink)
2. Marble Slab
3. Sub Zero
4. Maggie Moo's
Best Cotton Candy Ice Cream
1. Ben and Jerry's B+
2. Baskin Robbins B
3. Marble Slab B -
4. Sub-Zero B+
5. Maggie Moo C-/D+
6. Java Cow, Park City D+
7. Cold Stone D
Note: This is an odd test. The first bite rates differently, yet after a few chews it goes to the list above, when the "after taste"settles in. The "First Bite Test" winners are below:
1. Sub Zero
2. Java Cow
3. Ben and Jerry's
4. Marble Slab
5. Baskin Robbins
6. Maggie Moo
7. Cold Stone
Best Cake Batter Ice Cream
1. Sub Zero
2. Ben & Jerry's ("Cake Batter with Chocolate")
3. Tropical Dreams
4. Maggie Moo
5. Cold Stone
Best Cookies and Cream
1. Baskin Robbins
2. Ben & Jerry's ("Milk and Cookies")
3. Ben & Jerry's ("Cookies and Cream")
4. Cold Stone (in their "Signature Creations")
Sweet Cream
1. Sub Zero
2. Cold Stone
3. Maggie Moo
4. Marble Slab
Caramel & Dulche De Leche
A+
1. Ciao Bella Caramel and Brown Sugar Gelato (special order at Whole Foods Market)
A -
2. Java Cow, Park City shop
3. Ben & Jerry's Spectacular Speculoos (dark caramel on one side, vanilla on the other, with bits of cinnamon cookie in it)
4. Ben & Jerry's Karmel Sutra (note: one side of this is chocolate ice cream, one side caramel ice cream)
B
5. Haagen Dazs chocolate carmelized oat (Artisan line)
6. Haagen Dazs caramel cone
B -
7. Ben and Jerry's Rockin Blondies
8. Blue Bell dulche de leche (co. is currently in recall with no sales till about 2016)
9. Graetor's Caramel Truffle Gelago
10, Haagen Dazs dulce de Leche - a 2013 release
C
11. BYU caramel cashew
12. Three Twins Butterscotch
13. Talenti Caramel Cookie Crunch
14. BLVD
15. Ben and Jerry's Scotchy Scotch Scotch
16. Sub Zero, national chain
SALTED CARAMEL BELOW - all are Cs and Ds:
C, cont.
17. Ben and Jerry's Salted Caramel
18. McConnell's salted caramel (Whole Foods Market)
C -
19. Haagen Dazs Gelato Sea Salt Caramel
20. Sam's Choice salted caramel (Walmart stores)
D+
21. Tropical Dreams sea salt caramel (western chain, from Hawaii)
D
22. Steve's Dark chocolate (non dairy - coconut milk)
23. Jens sea salt caramel (note that their chocolate ice cream is very good)
24. Whole Foods (store brand)
DISCONTINUED Caramel FLAVORS:
1. Ben & Jerry's Dulche Delish - a 2013 release, now gone
2. Haagen Dazs Caramel Apple - a 2013 release, now gone
(end of Caramel ice creams)
Amaretto
2. Marble Slab - DITTO
3. Cold Stone
4. Tropical Dreams Coconut & Almond with Amaretto (also see under coconut above)
5. Sub Zero
Cheesecake - plain flavor
1. Sub Zero
2. Ben & Jerry's with Brownies (minus the Brownies)
3. Cold Stone
4. Marble Slab
Cheesecake combinations (including Plain, Oreo, Strawberry, and Raspberry)
1. Sub Zero
2. Ben & Jerry's with Brownies (minus the Brownies)
3. Cold Stone
4. Tropical Dreams with Strawberries
5. Ben & Jerry's with Strawberries
6. Ben & Jerry's with Raspberry's
7. Marble Slab
8. Baskin Robbins with Oreos
Praline
1. Baskin Robbins
2. Marble Slab
Butter Pecan
a. Baskin Robbins A- (it used to be A+ as a pecan ice cream base; but they changed it perhaps about 2010 to a buttery pecan base - not as good and lighter in color)
b. Haagen Dazs B
c. Java Cow, Park City (has too many nuts) B
d. Ben and Jerry's B
e. Blue Bell B-
f. Sub Zero C
g. BYU C-
h. Talenti D
i. Private Selection (Smiths/Krogers) D
j. Haagen Dazs Bourbon Pecan
All others rate in the C's and D's. We've tested over 20 brands of Butter Pecan, including Schwans, Maggie Moo, and others.
Black Walnut
a. Baskin Robbins B+
b. Kroger Deluxe (sold in Smiths and Krogers) B
c. Leatherbys C+
d. Schwanns C
Coffee ice cream
Tested side by side 2015.
Note: #1 is actually Barts, once available by mail order only, but now only for sale in their few shops near their headquarters in Massachusetts. A+
Items 1-3 are clearly the best of this flavor, and 4-7 are pretty decent:
A
1. Baskin Robbins (MILD)
2. Cold Stone (MILD)
3. Tillamook Stumptown Cold Brew (FAIRLY STRONG) (super- premium; they also have a standard premium below)
Note: Ben and Jerry's coffee ice cream only: CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE IN UTAH.
This flavor is a standard at the company Scoop Shoppes. However, the last "Scoop Shoppe" in Utah closed in 2014 at the Gateway Mall, SLC. Now the closest thing to it is Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz (#9 below) which is often released to grocery stores in pints, where it is available as of spring 2015). Occassionally the regular coffee ice cream flavor is released by the company to grocery stores - it comes and goes.
A-
4. Turkey Hill Columbian (strong for Premium ice cream)
5. Gelato Fiasco (Whole Foods Market or Harmons) (STRONG)
6. McConnell's Turkish (STRONG)
7. Haagen Dazs Coffee Cream Caramel
B+
8. Umpqua (with chips) (MILD) TESTED ONLY AGAINST SUB ZERO BELOW AND THOSE ABOVE.
9. Sub Zero (MILD)
10. 365 (Whole Foods Markets' brand) (MILD)
B
10 a. Ben and Jerry's Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz (STRONG)
10 b. Trader Joes (Double Rainbow) (STRONG)
B-
10. Haagen Dazs coffee
THE FOLLOWING 5 ARE NOT TESTED WITH ALL OF THIS LIST:
11. Boulder Espresso Choc chip (STRONG)
11a. Graetor (tested with some on this list, came below Boulder)
11b. Maggie Moo Capacino
11c. Schwann's
11d. Double Rainbow
12. Haagen Dazs java chip
C
13. Farr
14. Private Selection - Cafe con Leche
15. Tillamook - Expresso Madness and Coffee almond fudge (coffee part alone)
C-
16. Sam's Choice (at Walmart)
17. Dreyer's
18. Yeti (at Whole Foods Market)
19. Talenti
D+
20. Tropical Dreams mocha
D
21. Archer (at Target)
22. Ben and Jerry's coffee toffee
23. Steve's cinnemon coffee
TESTED, BUT NOT WITH 16-23 ABOVE
1. Agave Dreams (STRONG) D
2. Baskin Robbins, Coffee and Donuts D
TESTED IN 2011, NOT WITH SEVERAL ON THIS LIST
2. Swans - B
3. Graeter's - B
DISCONTINUED FLAVORS
1. Haagzen Dazs Five
2. Haagen Dazs vanilla bean espresso
TESTED IN 2011, BUT NOW NOT AVAILABLE IN UTAH (or we could not find for latest test):
3. GS tiramasu C
4. Marble Slab coffee ice cream A
5. Maggie Moo espresso bean B+
6. Marble Slab espresso A
7. Maggie Moo capacino B
8. Starbucks coffee B
9. Starbucks java chip B
(end of coffee ice creams)
Avocado
1. Magnolia (from Hawaii) B+
Rocky Road, Burnt Almond Fudge ice creams
A-/A
Haagen Daz Rocky Road
B+
McConnell's Chocolate Almond Brittle
B/B+
Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge ChunkFarr Burnt Almond Fudge
Baskin Robbins Rocky Road
Baskin Robbins Chocolate Almond
B
Baked Bear Rocky Road
Rockwell Creamery Rocky Road
Tillamook Rocky Road
B-/B
Dreyer Rocky Road
B-
Leatherby's Rocky Road
Leatherby's Burnt Almond Fudge
BYU's Burnt Almond Fudge
C-
Meadow Gold Rocky Road
C - -
Breyer's Rocky Road
D
Russell's Burnt Almond Fudge (strong artificial almond flavor)
Exotic ice cream flavors
B-/B
Last Course's jalapeno berry B-/B
D+
Last Course's Rosemary honey D+
Pina Colada
A-
Haagen Dazs
B
Sub Zero (weak)
B-
Marble Slab (strong)
C
Sub Zero pineapple
C
Baskin Robbins
Pistachio
6 Aug 2018
B
Haagen Dazs
B-
Mora
C-
Ben & Jerry's (A texture, D strong, probably artificial flavor)
Buttery Brown Sugar
6 Aug 2018
B/B+
Gelato Fiasco, Sweet Resurgam
Ben & Jerry's Pecan Sticky Bun
B
Ben & Jerry's Oat of this World
B-
Wasatch Creamery, Heber
* Top 9 selling ice cream brands.
(Private label brands sell the most - grocery stores that put their own name on ice cream that is made for them by manufacturers.) Then:
1. Blue Bell
2. Breyers
3. Haagen Dazs
4. Ben & Jerry's
5. Dreyers (lower fat version they call "Slow Churned)
6. Dreyer's/Edy's Grand (regular ice cream)
7. Wells Blue Bunny
8. Turkey Hill
9. Breyer's Blasts
Top selling flavors:
According to:
Food Network, a list several years old.
1. vanilla 29%
2. chocolate 8.9
3.butter pecan 5.3
4. strawberry 4.3
5. neopolitan 4.2 (containing 3 of the above 4)
6. chocolate chip 3.9
7. cookies and cream 3.6
Dairy Reporter (2013), reporting International Ice Cream Association members' votes, which make and sell 85% of the world's ice cream.
1. vanilla
2. chocolate
3. butter pecan
4. neopolitan
5. Rocky Road
Statistic Brain (2013) - all those with double-digits sales nationwide:
1. chocolate 28% (in the West: only 21%)
2. vanilla 26% (West: #1 at 22%)
3. cookie dough / cookies and cream (if separated out, they both might drop out of the top 5) 22% (West: 19%)
4. butter pecan / swiss almond (ditto on drop out) 19% (West: 15%)
5. mint chocolate chip 15% (West: 15%)
6. strawberry 12% (West: 12%)
7. rocky road 11% (West: 19%)
BEST Ice
Creams Ever – by flavor AND brand - Editor’s Picks: Tested side by side
28 June 2015
A
1. Maple Nut
- Java Cow, Park City, Utah
3. Butter
Pecan – Baskin Robbins (the only A or A- brand of butter pecan)
3. Chocolate - Haagen Dazs
3. Chocolate - Haagen Dazs
4. Mocha
( (technically mocha has choc syrup; but at Baskin Robbins it seems to be straight coffee ice cream) - Baskin Robbins
NOT TESTED WITH THIS GROUP, BUT FITTING ABOUT HERE, if one can obtain it from outside of Utah:
4a. Bart's coffee ice cream (not national distribution)
4b. Marble Slab coffee ice cream (not in Utah any more)
4c. Ben & Jerry's coffee ice cream (not in Utah any more; they might release it as a grocery store flavor some day)
5. 2nd BEST COFFEE ICE CREAM IN UTAH: –
Cold Stone
6. Caramel –
Cia Bella
7. 2nd BEST CHOCOLATE IN UTAH: New York Super Fudge Chunk – Ben & Jerry's (tied is regular chocolate, only in their scoop shops, not in Utah any more)
8. 3RD BEST CHOCOLATE IN UTAH: Organic
Chocolate – Double Rainbow
9. 2ND BEST CARAMEL IN UTHA: Caramel (Karmel
Sutra) – Ben & Jerry’s
10. Banana –
Cold Stone
11. 2ND BEST BANANA IN UTAH: Chunky Monkey from Ben & Jerry’s
12. Strawberry - Haagen Dazs
12a. (when it is available, Ben & Jerry's is second best)
13. Lava Flow (pina colada base with fresh strawberries and banana) - Tropical Dreams
12. Strawberry - Haagen Dazs
12a. (when it is available, Ben & Jerry's is second best)
13. Lava Flow (pina colada base with fresh strawberries and banana) - Tropical Dreams
14. Pina
Colada – Tropical Dreams
15. 2ND BEST PINA COLADA IN UTAH: Sub Zero
15. 2ND BEST PINA COLADA IN UTAH: Sub Zero
16. Coconut –
Tropical Dreams
17. 2nd BEST COCONUT IN UTAH: Sub Zero
18. Cherry – Sub Zero
19. 2ND BEST CHERRY IN UTAH: Cherry Garcia - Ben & Jerry's
A-/A
17. 2nd BEST COCONUT IN UTAH: Sub Zero
18. Cherry – Sub Zero
19. 2ND BEST CHERRY IN UTAH: Cherry Garcia - Ben & Jerry's
A-/A
20. Peach –
Sub Zero
21.Mango –
Sub Zero
22. 2ND BEST MANGO IN UTAH: Tropical Dreams gelato
22. 2ND BEST MANGO IN UTAH: Tropical Dreams gelato
A-
3RD BEST COFFEE ICE CREAM IN UTAH: Mocha Almond
Fudge – Baskin Robbins
4TH BEST COFFEE ICE CREAM IN UTAH: Columbian
Coffee – Turkey Hill
Lemon – Three
Twins
5TH BEST COFFEE ICE CREAM IN UTAH: Mocha – Sub Zero
2ND BEST LEMON IN UTAH: Sub Zero
Orange – Sub Zero
6TH BEST COFFEE ICE CREAM IN UTAH: Espresso
Chocolate Chip (strong) – Gelato Fiasco
Mint with
chocolate cookies – Ben & Jerry’s
Oreos in
vanilla – Ben & Jerry’s
B++
Raspberry (with white chocolate) – Haagen Dazs
B+
2ND BEST RASPBERRY: Sub Zero
10 of A- and B+ grade chocolate ice creams go here: A-: Trader Joes, Yeti's; and B+: Cia Bella Marscapone Gelato, Bule Bell Milk, Baskin Robbins World Class chocolate, Blue Bell Dutch, Baskin Robbins chocolate mousse royale, Baskin Robbins reg. chocolate, Haagen Dazs dark choc chip gelato, Schwans, Straus, Talenti Belgian Milk, McConnell's reg chocolate, McConnell's dark chocolate paso brittle, Three Twins Bittersweet chocolate
2 of B grade coffee ice creams go here (7th and 8th BEST COFFEE ICE CREAMS): Ben & Jerry's Buzz Buzz and Trader Joe's
Vanilla (BEST VANILLA of over 60 brands tested) – Chocolat (brand)
Black Raspberry – Graetors
B/B+
the final 2 of B/B+ grade chocolate ice creams go here: Three Twins chocolate malt and Tropical Dreams fudge
B
10 of A- and B+ grade chocolate ice creams go here: A-: Trader Joes, Yeti's; and B+: Cia Bella Marscapone Gelato, Bule Bell Milk, Baskin Robbins World Class chocolate, Blue Bell Dutch, Baskin Robbins chocolate mousse royale, Baskin Robbins reg. chocolate, Haagen Dazs dark choc chip gelato, Schwans, Straus, Talenti Belgian Milk, McConnell's reg chocolate, McConnell's dark chocolate paso brittle, Three Twins Bittersweet chocolate
2 of B grade coffee ice creams go here (7th and 8th BEST COFFEE ICE CREAMS): Ben & Jerry's Buzz Buzz and Trader Joe's
Vanilla (BEST VANILLA of over 60 brands tested) – Chocolat (brand)
Black Raspberry – Graetors
B/B+
the final 2 of B/B+ grade chocolate ice creams go here: Three Twins chocolate malt and Tropical Dreams fudge
B
Lime – Sub Zero
then 4 of B rated chocolate ice creams go here: 365, Figo, Jen's, Choctal Dominican
then 4 of B rated chocolate ice creams go here: 365, Figo, Jen's, Choctal Dominican
B-
3 of B- coffee ice creams go here: Haagen Dazs coffee, Boulder Espresso Choc chip, (STRONG), Haagen Dazs java chip
3 of B- coffee ice creams go here: Haagen Dazs coffee, Boulder Espresso Choc chip, (STRONG), Haagen Dazs java chip
Blackberry
Watermellon
C+
Pomegranite –
Haagen Dazs gelato’s swirl
Blueberry –
Sub Zero
Marionberry –
Tillamook
C
Peanut Butter
Fudge Core – Ben and Jerry’s (best of all peanut butter ice creams)
Huckleberry –
Sub Zero
Cinnamon –
Tropical Dreams / Sub Zero
This was interesting! Thanks for your research. I tried Java Cows Maple Nut and can't stop thinking about it.
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