[By Nick] For
Jeni's enthusiasts, today marks a glorious day. After
a listeria scare that forced them to shutdown to clean their facilities as well as destroy all of their ice cream that had been produced, they're back and running with their scoop shops opening back up today. Now I've had this review in my backlog for awhile (I got this pint free from
my Whole Foods tour... almost a year ago) and today couldn't be a better excuse to finally post my thoughts about this pint.
Jeni's Splendid The Buckeye State Ice Cream
Salted Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Chips
Ahhh, the classic combination of peanut butter and chocolate with a Jeni's spin. I was definitely excited to try it. However, there's a reason I've pushed off this review for awhile. This ice cream is good but not run out to the grocery store good, especially not at the $12 price tag my Whole Foods was carrying it for.
The salted peanut butter base was nice and a different experience than I was expecting. It tasted more like salted peanuts than it did peanut butter. Not a bad thing but I was hoping for some sweetness to cut all that nuttiness going on. The dark chocolate doesn't help on the sweetness front either. It's high quality and bitter how I like it but it just isn't what's needed in this pint. A milk chocolate would've done wonders to balance the flavor but as is, it's a salty, bitter combo that's good in its own right but not enough for me to actually want to buy it myself.
It all goes back to their price point. I'm curious to see how this listeria ordeal changes things. If they keep the same price, there are similar flavors that taste better and cheaper out there such as
The Gelato Fiasco's Peanut Butter Stracciatella and Graeter's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. Heck, I'd take any of Ben & Jerry's peanut butter based flavors over this to be honest.
[Start rant] Not to kick them when they are just getting back on their feet, but can someone explain to me the appeal of Jeni's because I can't see why people are so devoted to a brand that isn't all that special yet charges like they're the greatest frozen dessert on the planet. I've yet to have a flavor that warrants a repurchase besides their Dark Chocolate, and with all the ice creams I've tried since, that statement is getting less and less true as well.
[end rant]
Oh well, Jeni's is back and I encourage everyone to purchase their products if you've ever been a fan or are curious as to what they're offering. My opinions mean nothing and this company took a huge toll due to their recent situation. Okay, I'm done. If you headed to one of their scoop shops today or plan to, let me know what you got or want to get!
Verdict? Needs more sweetness
Buy Again? Nope
It seems that you are not a fan of Jeni's. I have tried asking them for coupons and they said that they don't give out coupons.
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried it any yet.
I just went to Baskin Robbins and they have some exciting flavors! "Golden Oreos and Churros" <--- it a cinnamon ice cream with golden oreos, churros, a fried dough ribbon! I'm going give it a try hopefully on Tuesday. Also no sugar added brownie supreme ice cream.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you didn't like this one. I have their cookbook and have made this flavor (among many others) and it's really amazing--my sister-in-law said it's her favorite ice cream ever. Maybe they use less sugar in their own recipe?
ReplyDeleteWhy is Jeni's so expensive?
ReplyDeleteAlso, with a name like "The Buckeye State Ice Cream", I would have thought that they would use buckeyes as a mix-in instead. Nothing beats peanut butter dipped in chocolate. Plus, doing so would have amplified the sweetness and the peanut butter flavor that you claim it lacked.
A lot of the popularity of (and support for) Jeni's has to do with the quality of ingredients that they use, and the sourcing as well - not necessarily because of their flavors (i.e. - flavor appeal when compared to other brands).
ReplyDeleteI've tried two Jeni's flavors - this one and Brown Butter Almond Brittle. I was not a fan of the buckeye - and had it been my first jeni's, I wouldn't have really been excited to try any others. However, the almond brittle was the first one I tried - and it was the best ice cream I have ever eaten! It made me want to savor it, and it took me over a week to eat it (I can down a pint in a day - so this is pretty unusual). I'd recommend this flavor very very highly!
ReplyDeletewally
@Alison Fisher I thought about buying the cookbook, are the recipes legitimately great super-premium ice cream like you would buy in stores or is it "homemade" ice cream (that always turns out meh)?
ReplyDeleteIf you are a coffee fan the black cat espresso is well worth a scoop or at least a sample. They use real coffee beans in their base.
ReplyDeleteAlek, they make good ice cream, just not worth their price tag. They don't do coupons by the way. Also, we've known about the churros flavor, Dubba needs to go review it since I don't have a BR.
ReplyDeleteAlison, I liked it but like I said, I've had better and from similar companies. If I made ice cream, I wouldn't hesitate to pick up her book though.
stride, honestly there's notgood reason why they're so high priced when other companies are doing the same business practices. As for the buckeyes, they're from ohio which is calle dthe buckeye state so they're forgiven on not inclding them like Graeter's is with Buckeye Blitz.
Liz, I understand their bsuiness practices but other companies do the same things and are charging far less for a superior product in my book. The Gelato Fiasco will always be my example because they source the highest of quality ingredients and all the stuff Jeni's does yet charges around $5 less. I haven't had a GF flavor that wasn't better than a Jeni's.
Wally, I tried it and reviewed it. I was apparently shorted on my mix-ins and was very disappointed with that. The flavors were great but when you're hand-packing pint, such a mess up shouldn't happen at all.
Found this if anyone is curious, contains the inspection report from just before the shutdown http://radio.wosu.org/post/fda-inspections-reveal-many-problems-jenis
ReplyDelete@Nick - I totally understand what you're saying, trust me. I'm just trying to figure out the answer, and that's all I can come up with, haha. I've never seen Gelato Fiasco around here (obviously I've read your rave reviews though), so I hope to find/try it soon!
ReplyDelete@2c5751ca-f142-11e4-8c2c-73a49f720d67 Their recipes are legitimately great. At one point last year I was making a new recipe every week instead of buying storebought. The berry crumble flavor is another of our favorites.
ReplyDeleteLiz, yeah I've heard the ingredients reason far too many times aha. I think they either just work better as a scoop shop instead of a pint or people just want to brag about spending so much on ice cream. The world is weird. Where are you located? I could possibly help you track The Gelato Fiasco down!
ReplyDelete@Nick - Thank you so much, I appreciate that! I'm in Ohio. I actually looked up on Gelato Fiasco's website earlier about locations, and it turns out they sell some relatively close by (not at any stores that I usually go to, but that's okay, haha). Also, do you recommend McConnell's ice creams? Those sound like they're on the same level as Jeni's and Gelato Fiasco.
ReplyDeleteLiz, no problem. Good to know you can find them near you. As for McConnell's, I can't give a recommendation. While I've heard good things about them, I haven't tried them myself since they're not in my area and buying them online is even more outrageous when you factor in shipping. I guess people are finding them in their Fresh Markets so I'll have to go check out mine and see if they're in stock. I'd definitely buy a pint of them before I bought another Jeni's flavor given the options though.
ReplyDelete@Nick - I bought a pint of McConnell's at one of my local grocery stores yesterday (lots of flavors available; and there were also a lot of Steve's ice creams available, which I've seen quite a few reviews for lately). Better price for these ice creams, but still higher quality ingredients (you've officially turned me against Jeni's, haha!). I will let you know how the McConnell's pint is (I bought the Double Peanut Butter Chip, which looks like it has a LOT more going on than the Jeni's Buckeye State pint).
ReplyDeleteLiz, Steve's is a brand I can recommend aha. The Sunday Morning and Strawberry Ricotta are my favorites from them. They're actually sending me their new flavors this week. I've heard great things about that flavor from McConnell's though. Oh and don't be turned off to Jeni's because of me. I mean you are in Ohio so if you're close to one you could go to a scoop shop and have a better time sampling them than I coudl here in NY=p
ReplyDeleteI've had issues with Steve's being icy. The flavors ive had of McConnels have been great. Some of Jeni's are worth the money, some are not, but they try to support small family farms, bakeries, etc so that's why they are more expensive.
ReplyDeleteibagoalie, other companies do the same thing and none of them are changing such high prices. While they might have been the first, there business model has been copied by others and they're putting out superior products each time.
ReplyDeleteBetween the pricing and the listeria scare, I wouldn't go near Jeni's. Agree with you, there is much better product out there.
ReplyDeleteIs it bad the price scares me more than listeria? Ill have a pint of $4 Listeria swirled Madagascar Vanilla before I have a $10 pint of Jeni's.
ReplyDelete@TheIcon: BAHAHAHAHAHA
ReplyDelete@Nick - Definitely looking forward to your Steve's ice cream review!
ReplyDeleteAnon, I don't blame you.
ReplyDeleteTheIcon, you just won the internet for the day.
Liz, can't wait for them to arrive to be honest aha.
Love high end ice creams like Jeni's, Graeters, and Gelato Fiasco. Ingredients are important to me and the taste of these justifies the price. If you like sweet ice cream, this one is likely not for you, but I find it to be the best peanut butter/chocolate combination that I have tried and I think I have had them all...the Jeni's salty caramel rocks as well. We are a bit spoiled here in Ohio with Jeni's and Graeters (and others) -- don't think I can ever go back to cheap ice cream. They just taste artificial now.
ReplyDelete