Coolhaus Salty S'mores Ice Cream

Coolhaus isn't new to the blog, but all of the past reviews have been written by Nick. In the fall I realized that Shaws was starting to carry their products and now Wegmans and Price Chopper is too. PC only had four flavors Friday night, but one of the them was just too hard to resist.

Coolhaus Salty S'mores Ice Cream

aka Julia S'more-gan
salted Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream,
graham cookie butter marshmallow swirl & dark chocolate squares
(new 2017 name is Campfire S'mores)

That is a good way to start a pint!

I'm going to cheat and roll all of my scoopings in to one big review because the reality is that I've scooped this pint several times over the last 24 hours and splitting up my thoughts is useless at this point.

Overall, yes, I am enjoying this one. If I had to sum it up quickly, I would say it like this: "Nick would like this flavor". They use graham flour in the mix and it adds that bit of a complex graham kick that he always enjoys. I enjoy a more traditional, sweeter, non-"spicy" graham base. It's neat to have once in awhile, but nothing I would gravitate towards regularly.

I mentioned this being my first Coolhaus experience. Obviously this isn't the same as going up to one of their trucks and getting the true taste of a freshly crafted ice cream sandwich, but this will be the only Coolhaus experience that many of us get. Too many words aside, my biggest surprise with Coolhaus is how gummy  the ice cream is. I expected a fairly unique flavor, which I did get, but it's still weird to me how much an all natural flavors can rely on stabilizers. I get that they need a product that can handle transport and waiting on the shelf for someone to grab it, but man, this would have been so much better with a gum-free texture.

Oh, I should mention the "salty" factor. It's part of the larger equation here and doesn't stick out in any particular way. I like to think I notice salt in general because I'm not a fan of when it's overdone, but it totally blends in with everything else here. It's taking things up a notch and nothing more. Don't be afraid if the name scared you a little.

So, between the kick and the texture, this isn't something I would regularly pick up at $5.99 a pint. That said, I still had fun. This pint was still more than good enough to try the others flavors even if it's just to experience the flavor profiles and not the texture.

Ok, the floor is open, who else is seeing Coolhaus on their store shelves?

Update: after interacting with Coolhaus on social media, I actually received an email from them about this flavor. It turns out that the texture of this one is on purpose and meant to mimic the texture of a s'mores (aka the squishy marshmallow part). I did not expect this (I blame Breyers, Edys, Friendlys, etc). As always, I am leaving the review as is, but this has been an interesting development. I am now stoked to try my next pint of Coolhaus.

Verdict?  interesting flavor
Buy this brand Again?  sure