Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Therapy A scoop shop only flavor.

2/2/2012 Update: Chocolate Therapy is back in pints!

I had a tantalizing realization the other day. I, lover of super premium ice cream, can now hit a Ben & Jerry's scoop shop at lunch time. Now I don't want to have just any flavor, so I think it's time to a scoop shop only flavor, say something that first came out in 2005 : Chocolate Therapy.

photo courtesy of notmike.com

See, there was a time when this was available in grocery stores as part of the Mood Magic flavors. There was also " In a Crunch (peanut butter ice cream, fudge-covered peanuts, crispy fudge swirl), Last Straw (strawberry ice cream, fudge truffles, strawberry fudge chunks) and Apple-y Ever After (brown-sugar ice cream, ginger caramel swirls, apple chunks) " **click to read more of Ken Hoffman's article.

Chocolate Therapy was also availabe as a pint in the U.K. for awhile but I get the feeling it's not around anymore. However, you can still play a terrible CT online game over at benjerrys.co.uk

Ok, admit it, that Chocolate Therapy does not exactly take an appetizing shot but what do expect from a chocolate ice cream with chocolate cookies and a chocolate pudding swirl. "But Dubba, I dont see any cookies?" Well, you're right because I didn't bite any cookies. Sure, there are those dark patches that could be some kind of cookie swirl... or is that the pudding? No no, I don't see a literal pudding swirl either. Other reviews have just called it a chocolate pudding ice cream swirl. You know, for therapy, this is pretty confusing.

Let's start over: This stuff tastes good, I mean like real good. In fact, the kid in the family infront of me got the same thing, and when his dad asked how it was, he gave a smile and a thumbs up. It's good just like you'd expected it to be. It's chocolate chocolate chocolate and should cure whatever chocolate fix you need. That said, it's not what I expected. I wanted to see pudding swirls, there's no pudding. I wanted cookie chunks, but there's none of those either. This is good and you'll enjoy it, but be prepared for what it really is.

Now before I go, I need to make some points about my overall experience.

One: the store doesn't open until 12. Does no one realize that some people take lunch at 11:30?

Two: I really wanted to try a waffle cone, but they didn't have any ready. What they did have was the stale, day-old waffle bowl that you see above. I just should have went with a sugar cone.

Three: The price was a bit much, though techncally that was my fault. A small is two scoops and will set you back $4.25. It didn't look like much so I mistakenly went with a large, 3 scoops, for $5.25. Tack on a buck for the waffle bowl and were sitting at $6.25 for a single serving. Next time I'll keep it simple.

Four: Apparently they don't clean up the outside after they close the store. Granted it's dark and scary out there, but you think someone could have come in at 11:30AM and cleaned the joint up. There were cups and napkins all over the outdoor sitting area. It could have been worse, and I like that they had picnic tables, but I decided to sit in my car and listen to the radio. You know, it'd be nice if they cleaned the latest graffitti off the building as well.

ok, enough complaining, 'til tomorrow!

Verdict?  unexpected, but still good
Buy Again?  as a chocolately fix (or shake)