Coolhaus Balsamic Fig & Mascarpone Ice Cream

Are you surprised I'm trying another coolhaus flavor so soon? Well, funny story. They saw my review of their s'mores flavor and were curious about my interpretation of its texture. Apparently it's supposed to be chewier than their other flavors, and to help prove it, they sent over a half dozen free samples for me to try. They sent over everything but their Chocolate Molten Cake (which I would have grabbed first), so let's go with their most unique offering instead.

Coolhaus Balsamic Fig & Mascarpone Ice Cream

Balsamic-glazed California figs in Mascarpone ice cream

Quick FYI: They are rolling out new packaging for 2017.

(this includes silly sayings on the foil seal)

Wow, this one smells great after removing the seal.

I don't really know what to expect with this one. I know balsamic can spruce up a strawberry flavor. I know I enjoy whole wheat fig newtons (yes whole wheat, it just clicks with the fig filling, trust me). And mascarpone is hard to spell, I mean it's a cream cheese, and we've had decent luck with cheese flavors on the blog. So this should be good right?

Ha, ok, I tease a little, ofcourse this is good, I didn't expect it not to be. The biggest concern really is how well the flavors will balance out, and then I guess the secondary concern is how exactly do figs work in ice cream. Well, you don't need to worry about either point. The flavors blend together well and the figs are kind of like raisins texture wise, though I feel saying that will sound negative.

This is a nice flavor though and the texture is now more in line of what I expected in the first place. It's got a nice cream cheese type flavor that's pleasant but not overpowering. The figs are something different and the fact that they aren't a super flavorful thing helps them meld with everything else. That's the big point here. Everything is dialed in nicely and this flavor is a lot less scary than it might sound (to people such as myself).

Nice job Coolhaus. Thank you for sharing these samples so I could put the s'mores flavor in perspective. It's easy for a company to just tell me to get lost but instead they took the time to explain everything and even sent samples to back it up. That's the mark of a good company and I wish them the best as they continue their expansion.

On Second Scoop: I'm finishing my third and final serving right now and I'm reminded that I should have plopped this one on the strawberry donut sundae I made yesterday... though technically I do have one donut left. Look, I'm not going to pretend that a flavor like this is for everyone, but if you dig cheesy flavors, this one shouldn't disappoint. They took the fairly uncommon idea of a cheese flavor and then put their own spin on it without going crazy. It's still an approachable flavor and someone like me appreciates that approach. Good job.

Verdict?  well done
Buy Again?  sure

Note: Nick reminded me that he reviewed this flavor almost three years ago, but I didn't notice because I had it filed under the architecture name.