Friday, August 12, 2011

Julie's Organic Ice Cream Bars
Vanilla Ice Cream & Dark Chocolate


Greetings everyone. Today we are getting down to basics. That's right, we're simplifying things all the way back to some organic fundamentals. Let me introduce the Oregon Ice Cream Company. Now, you probably don't know that name, I certainly didn't, but maybe you their products. They are the proud makers of Alden's Organic Ice Cream and Julie's Organic Ice Cream.

I've been walking by their organic products for awhile now but I just haven't gotten around to trying it until today. Alden's just does ice cream while Julie's has a range of products. Now I'm not sure if it's the same ice cream with a different name, or just similar philosophies, but we've got flavor overlap and their FAQs state they come from the same plant. I'm also not sure how far their reach is, but considering that Oregon ice cream is a west coast company in my east coast freezer, I'd say they are doing pretty good for themselves.

I was making my bi-weekly trip for a few unique products from Whole Foods when I realized that Julie's Organic Ice Cream single serve treats were hiding at the bottom of one of the freezers. How convenient: I'm hungry and they're right in front of me. Now I had the Chocolate Ice Cream & Dark Chocolate in my hands when something made me think that maybe I should start off with the Vanilla & Dark Chocolate.

 Good Call : It only costs a few extra cents to label the inside wrapper

Wait, did I buy a Magnum bar when I wasn't looking? 
Nope, no Magnum logo on the handle, so I'm safe.

And there's the shot that's gonna make you hungry! (I think)

Now, there are two big differences between this and the Magnum Classic bar. One, while the shells are both fairly thick, you'll notice Julie's shoves in less ice cream than the Magnum treat. Second, that's not bad lighting, the ice cream actually is an old school, off white color while Magnum is a much brighter white with vanilla bean flecks mixed in.

Before I even took a bite, I was expecting a nice rich ice cream in a nice dark chocolate shell like the one I found in my Ciao Bella Gelato Dip. Boy was I in for a surprise! I took that first bite and was shocked at how bitter the dark chocolate shell was. I get that there are fancy $7 chocolate bars out there full of bitter dark chocolate taste, but I was not expecting it at all!

Thankfully I did settle into the treat a bit, but the nature of the chocolate never truly faded. In fact, a bit of chocolate shell was left on the stick when I was done. I am a proud member of the clean plate club, so I snagged that last bite and unfortunately the taste got stuck in my mouth. You could say I'm being too picky, but keep in mind I am comparing this to other ice cream bars, so I base my opinion on the fact that I don't want a treat to make me grab a glass of water to wash it down.

The ice cream itself is fine I think, but this really isn't a fair test so I'll have to pick up a container at some point for some stand alone testing. Had it been a bit thicker I could have come up with a better opinion, but we'll have to leave it as a decent ice cream with a decent taste.

Would I buy this $2.19 treat again when I could have a non-organic Magnum bar for a $1.79? Probably not, at least not for me. Maybe the shell would balance better with the chocolate ice cream, but at this point, I'm not that curious to find out. Those who like bitter chocolate will approve, everyone else is out of luck.

Verdict?  Not for me
Buy Again?  Very Unlikely

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 bar (81g)

Amount Per Serving
Calories 260from Fat 160
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 18g27%
- Sat Fat 11g55%
- Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 55mg18%
Sodium 35mg2%
Total Carbohydrate 22g7%
- Dietary Fiber  0g 0%
- Sugars 17g
Protein 3g

Vitamin A 6%Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 8%Iron 0%

12 comments:

  1. Looks awesome, and the labeling of the wrapper is a great idea, but it would really be better if they actually marked the flavor on there too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. yeah, I was going to complain, but just labeling the package is the majority of the battle in my book.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The BEST.Most nutritious ice cream on market today.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nothing scream nutritious like 11 grams of saturated fat in one tiny bar!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Then get a Popsicle if you do not want reg whole milk ice cream that uses the cream.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Seriously? Julies is the epitome of bad Earth packaging. Today I saw their 4 pack, yep, just a 4 pack of ice cream sandwiches which were packed in an upright canister. What a waste of materials for very little food. Shame on you Julie.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Anon: ummm.... what? what's wrong with their cylindrical design? I think it's quite clever actually. Are you mad that it's harder to recycle then say a cardboard box?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I feel bad but have to say, their ice cream is not good. I expected a very rich, delicious product due to it being organic and very high in fat and sugar. Nope. Tasted like it was made with skim or soy milk and very little sweetener. Like someone who hates sweets. Disappointing indeed. If you are going to have a dessert, make it good.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Too many cry-babies on this chat board. This is not a product to be complaining about. I always try out chocolate covered ice cream bars, looking for the best one. The Julie's 'Vanilla Dark Chocolate' is a perfect classic ice cream bar.
    Tastes excellent. The dark chocolate tastes great. Who is the madman who is saying otherwise? This is a 'classic' ice cream bar tastes like what we all enjoyed as standard equipment in the 1960's and 1970's. Nowadays, most ice cream bars taste artificial chemical. This is a traditional natural ice cream bar.

    ReplyDelete
  10. @NHill: Crybabies? Really? that's how you start a civil discussion? I'm sorry you are old and cranky and can't handle the fact that someone doesnt like something that you like. How dare some of us have different opinions!

    Have any of you ever noticed that the jerkiest people always believe their product is perfect while the rest of us reasonable folks merely point out what we like about our preferred product?

    ReplyDelete
  11. I loved the julie s organic milk chocolate ice cream not too sweet just right can't stand that overly sweet nasty cheap ice cream like bryers yuck 😝

    ReplyDelete

*** All comments are moderated ***
Expect a delay before they are posted