Snospice Sundae Sunday

[New for 2015] Back at the end of November, I got an email from Brett, one of the people behind Snospice. I checked out his Snospice kickstarter but I admit that I was skeptical, but there's also a reason I'm not a fixer, not an innovator. Well, production began and Brett wrote to me again. I warned him I can be a little cranky, but he still wanted me to give Snospice a shot. I was still skeptical, but he said something that really got my attention. Basically he said it doesn't matter if you put this on budget ice cream or super premium ice cream, you use what you like and that my friends is a great point.

Snospice in Deep Chocolate Sea Salt, Cinnamon for Optimists,
Pumpkin Carriage, Lemon + Basil, Turmeric'd, & Cocoa Cayenne

Deciding to try the pumpkin first because all I really have in the freezer at this moment is Turkey Hill Caramel gelato. I was going to make a sundae but then I thought, you know, this might be a good time to try one of these.

Now the only directions are 1) shake a few shakes 2) stir a few stirs 3) Enjoy! Basically, the creator is in control which is good because we're all different. Let's start with just a taste.... hmmm, ok, now let's stir it all together. Hmmm, I do but don't taste it. Think I need more. I'm definitely in the target audience because I've been stirring my ice cream since I was like 8 or 9. I take a whiff and I'm still not sure I've added enough, but let's take another taste. I'm still not sure I've added enough, but sometimes subtly is a good thing. Not crazy subtle, but the snospice is still the supporting character here. Let's try a bit more.

Ok, stirred up and I think I'm at about the max amount I would want to add. Flavor is good and fun and I definitely recommend this combo of snospice and caramel base. The spices seemed to add a little bit of texture to the gelato as well. They don't completely disappear (as you can see from the photo). Ok, this was definitely a good start. Now what do I try next after I hit up the grocery store for some more vanilla ice cream to try these on?

Ok, time to be shocked because I'm going to try the Lemon & Basil one next. I don't know why but I'm feeling adventurous (after having just tried an awful maple bacon poptart, bleck!). First off, the mossy green color is a little disturbing on first shake and I don't really smell lemon. I take my first sample and yeah, there's a citrus kick there, though it kind of reminds me of a potent lemon ice tea as well. Hmmm, let's do an official mixing to test further.

It's actually kind of pretty, and yet again I will admit that it does make for an interesting flavor. You rarely see lemon in the freezer aisle (that's not sorbet), but there's definitely a vibrancy here when paired with my beloved all natural turkey hill vanilla ice cream (come on, you knew that plug was coming). I will point out that the lemon really lingers on the tastebuds. Rarely does an ice cream linger like that, like several minutes later I can still taste it. It's like the back end of a really flavorful tea. Interesting, definitely interesting. I could see pouring this one in when I want something light and vibrant. Hmm, I'm not sure if I want some more or I want to try another snospice.

Alright, I'm feeling emboldened, so here we go, time for Tumeric'd, though I don't really know what it is. I search the internet and while I figured it was spicy, webmd says it's used in curry but that it's also used to treat heartburn? Really? Oh well, do your own research if you haven't tried it already, but here we go.... I opened the container and I change my mind, I am oh so scared right now. It smells like some spicy Indian or Mexican dish.

I try pouring a little out and oh my is this one potent... oh man, why would you want ice cream that smells that way. Disclaimer time. If you don't listen to the nosh show, then you may not realize that I don't do spicy, in particular I never eat anything that smells like this. I get that a large portion of the population loves it, but it's not my style. I do think it smells more than it tastes. I know there are fancy words for that but I don't know them. I can only imagine what this would taste like if I had added a ton of it. Oh well. I don't think I'm be trying the cayenne one now.

Cinnamon for Optimists time! (cause I need to wash down that last sample). I sprinkle it on and it definitely doesn't smell quite like the cinnamon I have in the cabinet. I mix it around and yeah, I'm going to need more hehehe. It kind of reminds me of that cinnabon cereal.

Ok, I added some more and now we've have a real faint beige coloring. Funny, it's still not that strong, though in it's defense, I'm kind of known for being heavy handed with my cinnamon. This is a fine flavor, a bit different then the typical cinnamon profile you find in many other ice creams, but to be completely honest, I want a little more. It's not that the flavor is lacking anything in particular, instead I think it comes from the fact that cinnamon flavors usually have some other component, like cookie dough or a gritty swirl (or white chocolate chips). Ofcourse I could always add something myself, that is kind of the point of snospice. Finally, there's a little something to the flavor profile but I don't know how to describe it. I'm actually half tempted to a side by side comparison with the cinnamon in the cabinet, just to see how it plays out.

It is the final day of the first round of testing here and I am in bad need of chocolate. Oh yeah, it's time to try Deep Chocolate Sea Salt. Now usually you see sea salt with caramel, not chocolate, but let's see what happens. I sprinkle it on and it pretty much looks like the Hershey's cocoa I have in the cabinet. I go for my first bite and wind up inhaling the chocolate and getting a piece of salt on a tastebud. Ok, let's stir this first. I take another bite and me thinks I need more chocolate. MOAR I SAY. Just give me one sec....

Not quite as brown as the marketing photos

I'll be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I don't mean I'm deciding between love and hate, but I'm debating the salt factor. It adds an interesting note to the chocolate, but I also tend to be overly sensitive to the salt factor. Again, I don't mean that as a bad thing because that added complexity reminds me of... remind me of... brownies maybe? I really like that it's not your standard chocolate. That needs to be my point here and it's definitely a big positive, it's just that I personally wouldn't mind a bit less salt here.

Just for a comparison, I threw some hershey's cocoa in to another small bowl and yeah, it doesn't pop the same way. It tastes more like just dry powdery cocoa than that neat brownie vibe I got from the snospice. In fact, I'm not sure I really want to finish this plain cocoa bowl now.

Alrighty, I'm not going anywhere near the pepper one so it's time to wrap things up. I think my biggest concern going in to this was that these would be retreads of what's already in your cabinet, but overall, I like to think these truly are ice cream specific and not just some random creations. Also, it may seem simple, but you really do control the level of flavoring here. You obviously don't want to go overboard on the first sprinkling, but it was easy enough to tweak my creations as I got a feel for things.

If you want to try these, they are currently available online here. There is a discount if you buy a 4 pack (any four flavors) and a bigger discount for the 6 pack (one of each flavor).

Nice job Snospice. Thanks for the samples and I wish you the best!

Verdict?  better than expected!