Tea-rrific Brown Butter Sticky Toffee Ice Cream

[By Nick, New for 2014] ‎I'm going to start this review off by saying that I'm not a fan of tea at all. Never have I liked it and I doubt that'll change anytime soon. All that said, when I heard Tea-rrific was making a limited edition toffee flavor, I knew I had to try it. It is currently a Whole Foods exclusive and lucky for me they were sampling it at my local Whole Foods a couple weeks ago.

Tea-rrific Brown Butter Sticky Toffee Ice Cream

Smoky Lapsang Souchong and Browned Butter

with a sticky toffee swirl & toasted almonds

Side story time! Okay well when I went to Whole Foods, I met with one of the co-founders in which I proceeded to tell her I wasn't a fan of tea at all. This led to her forcing me to sample flavors. First up was the one Dubba reviewed not too long back. It actually wasn't bad and things were looking good. Then she gave me a spoonful of their Ginger Matcha flavor... Let's just say she saw my face, gave me a napkin and I spit out my first ever ice cream sample in front of an owner. Yep, I'm a real professional. Moral of the story, believe me when I say I don't like tea. That said, I met her husband not too soon after. Okay, wait, they're literally a husband and wife team traveling the country showcasing their products and they even had their children with them. This is like the American dream for me in a way and definitely an inspiration. With all that out of the way, he sent me home with a pint of this limited edition flavor and here we are.

Okay, no matter how I photograph this pint, it'll always look like a hot mess so we'll just have to deal with the photos as is. The description might be a little scary but when taking in to account the quantities of toffee here, I can see that smokiness working well with the toffee sauce.

The base is definitely smokey and it's actually good in a weird way. ‎Honestly, since I know nothing about tea, I can't say if it's like the tea that was used to make it. Still, it's unique and a change of pace from the traditional flavors I've had of late.

I think the reason I like the base is the toffee sauce. It's essentially liquid toffee and I would buy a gallon of it for personal use... It's actually quite sweet which helps counter-act the smokey base. There's notes of brown sugar with more of a caramelized nature to everything. The sauce is just plain out delicious if you ask me.

Lastly, there are the almonds that are involved. While I didn't expect their flavor to be to prevalent, I was pleasantly surprised. They didn't get drowned out by the other components and added the nuttiness I was missing from the toffee sauce. They also retain their structural qualities adding a crunch in every bite they're incorporated into. I think Tea-rrific might have a new fan in me.

I honestly came into this one with no expectations. I'm glad I didn't end up having the same reaction I had with the Ginger Matcha flavor and was able to finish off the pint by myself over a few days. It's definitely unique and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes toffee or tea or just wants to try something new.

Verdict?  Smokey base is weirdly good and the toffee sauce needs to be bottled
Buy Again?  I'll grab another pint before it ends up disappearing on me