Ciao Bella montebianco gelato

[2013 Seasonal Batch] Dear ice cream nation, let me steal a page from Junk Food Guy's playbook and bring you a public service announcement during this busy time of year. I know we all have way too many expectations of what needs to happen, but this doesn't give you the right to park 3 inches from my car door and force me to climb in the other side, nor should you cut me off in the checkout lane because somehow your items are more important than mine. Be nice.... until it is time to not be nice. Anway, Ciao Bella has a few limited edition items at Whole Foods this year, and while I shied away due to pumpkin overload on the first flavor, I think it's time to try one of the other two. (Did I mention they were on sale for $4.59?)

Ciao Bella montebianco gelato

Delicate chestnut cream laced with organic dark chocolate

Ok, I get chestnuts (roasting on a open fire) as part of the holiday season, but what is up with the name? I'm thinking montebianco = Mont Blanc, but what does that have to do with anything? Oh wait, according to wikipedia, Mont Blanc is a dessert made of pureed, sweetened chestnuts topped with whip cream. And now you know.

I like the look of the tiny chocolate bits everywhere, here's hoping there's lots of chocolate bits hiding inside. There is a faint smell, it's just barely there. It's a little nutty, but my brain almost thinks I smell cookies and cream ice cream as well.

I dig right in since it's already softened from the ride back from the store. This is definitely not one of my usual flavor. It kind of tastes like I'm eating the forest... where's the dark chocolate? Seriously, I need a little chocolate to break things up.

Ahh, there are a few bits of dark chocolate. The base isn't super potent, but it still overrides the chocolate for the most part. Yeah, honestly, I have no idea how I feel about this one. Chestnuts are such a rogue flavor and I'm just not that well versed with my nuts.... wait, scratch that... wait, no, that's wrong too.

Now this isn't the smoothest or milkiest gelato I've had. Is has that fine grain icyness that pervades some gelatos. I'm trying to let it melt rather than chewing so as to extra that bit of sweetness from the flavor combo. Hmmm. My brain is debating if it's better to chow down or savor this one, I'm just not sure.

The dark chocolate chunks are small and fairly prevalent. I was hoping that they would have been strong enough to balance out the chestnut flavor, but again, that goes back to my unfamiliarity with chestnuts in general. The overall flavor profile isn't so weird as to make me stop, but I think part of my continued scooping is my own curiosity of trying to settle in to this one.

...and I think I've eaten over half the pint, so take all the proceeding comments for just that, comments. Or in other words, this is a well made product that you shouldn't be afraid to try. I wouldn't want this every night, but now I can happily cross chestnut gelato off my frozen bucket list.

On Second Scoop: Ok, I'm starved and it's snowy, so it's time to down my afternoon snack. As I let it temper, I check out the ingredients and notice it says "Chestnut Flavor" way at the bottom of the list as opposed to some kind of puree or extract. Part of me thinks I don't like it flavorwise, part of me might be having a mission to marzipan flashback, but then the rest of me is enjoying this chilly treat. It's definitely not one you take giant bites of, but it's a interesting, slow flavor, that's for sure. (Ha, there are lots of chips at the bottom, shame it wasn't like this the whole way.)

Verdict?  well done and different
Buy Again?  nah