Baskin-Robbins Gold Medal Ribbon Ice Cream

Update! Boardwalk Frozen Treats, the folks behind Baskin Robbins pints, say the product line is definitely not dead and that we'll actually see 4 new flavors in 2016. My apologies for my incorrect assumptions about this product line going away. I have edited the review, but tried to leave it as much intact as possible as most of my thoughts still hold true.

[New for 2014] So this next review will be our last latest review of the Baskin-Robbins at home products. Why you ask? Because I'm pretty sure this line up is dead (but it's not!). Market Basket had all their pints discontinued down to 99 cents and I just ran through all of Stop&Shop's selection and all the pints are expiring within the next 3-6-9 months when in general many fresh pints expire after 18 months on the shelf (though this does vary by brand). A cancellation really shouldn't surprise us wouldn't have surprised me. Baskin-Robbins makes a fine in store product, but when you throw your name on a lower end product, what do you really expect to happen? Sure you might grab a few sentimental buyers, but all the crazy flavors they are known for are no where to be found. Instead we got budget versions of 15 of their more basic flavors. What a waste, but at least it will clear room for some other company to expand.

Baskin-Robbins Gold Medal Ribbon Ice Cream

vanilla flavored and chocolate ice creams with caramel ribbon

Side note: Yeah, I picked up pralines 'n cream first for this farewell post, but Nick reviewed that one a year and a half ago. Uggg. I knew I should have went with the gold medal ribbon instead on that first trip to the store (though it was 2 months from expiring which is why the pint in this post is from a different stop & shop)... or I wish they would have had some rocky road pints left over. Oh well, at least the praline pecans were quite tasty.

That's actually a pretty interesting opening shot.

No shortage of caramel in this shot.

Ok, I may have cheated in the first scooping and just aimed at the fairly tasty caramel swirl to keep things exciting. The base is boring so what else was I to do? I mean, it basically tastes like a hoodsie cup with a caramel swirl, and while a hoodsie cup is great at a 5 year old's birthday party, it's not exactly what you expect from the Baskin-Robbins name.

I will say that I'm making short work of this faux pint as I've had at least 8 of the 14 available ounces here. It's not that it's terrible, the bites with caramel are good enough, but this is Baskin-Robbins. I want to be wowed like they do with (some of) their in-store Quarts. That's the good stuff (that comes from a plant in a different state). This is was feels like a scam to get money out of us. For shame BR, I hope you learned your lesson.

On Second Scoop: Ok, just to clarify my point (because I feel like I haven't made myself very clear these last several months), I want to point out that if this was some kind of generic pint that I picked up for $2, I would say it's not that bad. There is a certain pleasantry to how the caramel blends with the budget base flavor. In other words, it tastes cheap, but I've had much worse.

Verdict?  bu-bye try harder!
Buy Again?  nope/can't/won't