Ciao Bella Madagascar Vanilla Gelato

So I said I would keep an eye on Ciao Bella now that they have scored a little space in my local Market Basket, but there still aren't a lot of flavor options. What to do, what to do? How about we cover the new formulation of the very first gelato I ever tried over seven years ago.

Ciao Bella Madagascar Vanilla Gelato

Whoa, nice strong aroma of vanilla extract when I first remove the lid. You have to get your nose nice and close, but it's there.

I do love a bespeckled vanilla. I take a few bites and it tastes like it smells aka it tastes like vanilla extract. I don't know if that's a bad thing to any of you, but I love the smell of vanilla extract. I don't know if it's because it reminds me of cooking or if it's just a pleasant aroma in general, but I love that smell. Wait, I'm supposed to be talking about the gelato.

It's not hard to enjoy this gelato. It's got a nice clean taste and I do love when a vanilla has that nice vanilla extract like complexity to it. It's the number four ingredient so it makes sense it's so prevalent. I could easily just sit here and scoop the melting edges for the next twenty minutes and be very happy.

If I have to be critical, I will say that there is this very mild watery note to the gelato. With all natural ice creams, there is usually this neat, simple breakdown on your tastebuds that leaves this nice milky note. With this gelato though, there is a little bit more of a watery note. Nothing killer, but it's there. The funny thing is that I mentioned that same note in that original review seven years ago.

Overall it's a fine product. It's simply a matter of how strong you want your vanilla flavoring. If you are picking this up more for the fact that it's gelato, well, it feels much more like a bit denser all natural ice cream than your typical gelato.

On Second Scoop: I decided to nibble on this one off and on for the next day or two and I enjoyed it. As I'm sitting there snacking along, I read the side of the container which talks about how the flavor should finish on a buttery note. I tried to pick that up but I just don't. To me it's watery, not crazy watery, but watery. My two big points for the first scooping stand. One, it tastes like vanilla extract. Two, it's not as smooth as something like Talenti. Just keep those in mind when you decide to try it and you'll be fine.

Verdict? enjoyable
Buy Again? sure