Talenti Gelato Sea Salt Caramel #19

[New for 2011] I couldn't help myself and decided to use my lunch break to see how Stop & Shop is handling all the great new items available for 2011. First I noticed the new Magnum bars from Unilever, and then I spied those Jala froyo bars that Gigi reviewed recently. I wasn't seeing a whole lot else until I got to the end of the aisle.

Oh yeah, Stop & Shop is now carrying Talenti! Not only that, but instead of just carrying a few flavors, there are seven flavors in front of me. I'm pretty excited to see Belgian Milk Chocolate, Sea Salt Caramel, Mediterranean Mint, and Black Cherry - Amarena. Had I been headed home, I probably would have went with the black cherry, but since I'm on my own, I can't resist the caramel.

--Cool, I just checked and Sea Salt Caramel is Talenti's newest flavor!

I apologize for the car cam action, but actually that coloring is about right. Ok, now check this out...

That's right, CARAMEL is the first ingredient! I'm not sure that I've ever seen an ice cream where the first ingredient isn't some form of milk. I had been trying to talk myself out of buying anything, but once I saw that, I was hooked.

I wasted no time digging in. I took a few bites and it's definitely not what I was expecting. At first, I'm thinking dry would be the word I use to describe this treat. The Talenti double dark chocolate was kind of dry, but I assumed it was just the cocoa doing it. I took a few more bites and I thought about it some more, and I discovered a better word: tacky. Probably not the most flattering word, but, I'm not really sure it's the most flattering texture either.

Check it out. I managed to pull the penny test off in the car. I can't prove it with a picture, but now that I think about it, these cubes very much remind me of the caramel cubes I found in Häagen-Dazs Reserve: Fleur de Sel caramel ice cream. Sounds like an excuse to buy some more H-D Reserve and compare hehehe.

Sorry, let's get back to the gelato, in particular, the taste. By making caramel the main ingredient, Talenti has managed to create a very uniform caramel flavor throughout the pint. You'll be happy to know it's not an overpowering caramel either, it's fairly restrained. Actually, I'm trying to think if I've ever had a quality caramel that wasn't well balanced. It's sweet but not too sweet, and it definitely wasn't too salty. To be honest, I can't think of one other treat that has put this much effort into creating this kind of caramel base. It's a shame that the texture is off... would it be wrong to add whip cream?

As I put away the gelato and headed back to work, I tried to sum up my experience and my aftertaste. After a little thought, I just needed one word: Werther's. That's right, this stuff is like eating Werther's Original hard candies. This isn't a bad thing, I like Werthers, it's just funny how much they remind me of each other at the moment.

So I don't love this one, and I can only give it a basic recommendation for caramel lovers, but have no fear, I will definitely being heading back to try more flavors... did I mention Talenti is only $4.49 at Stop & Shop?

On Second Scoop: Even though I'm sure that the dryness of this one is going to turn a lot of people off, I still like the overall flavor and I still had a little trouble stopping. I stand by my original point that this is very much like a caramel candy and not a caramel ice cream. There's also not a ton of mix-ins which is a shame, they might break up the tacky nature of this treat. 

Update: I did a match up between this and H-D in 2013, click here for more.