Arctic Zero Light Ice Cream
So let's try doing a quick round robin of all the flavors. I assume I will second scoop them one by one later. Keep this ranking in the mindset that I do not really eat ultra light ice creams. Ok, let's go!
Cookies & Cream: This might still be my favorite. The C&C flavoring does a good job of masking how light on calories this stuff is. It's not exactly mainstream ice cream, but it's holding its own.
Mint & Chocolate Cookies: This one also benefits from cookie crumbs to balance everything out. Yes I can tell it's very light, but there is a certain kind of mint candy fun factor going on. It's easy to keep scooping even if the texture is a bit different.
Toffee Crunch: I'm ranking this third right now. Decent toffee flavoring to mask any overpowering lightness. My daughter didn't like this one but she never eats toffee things.
Cookie & Brownie Dough: my daughter has this one and the toffee flipped on her list. This one doesn't have a magical brown sugar base or anything, but a few cookie dough bits were enough to distract me on a quick scooping.
That leaves Vanilla Bean & Chocolate Chunk. I didn't fall in love with either one. My daughter says she liked the extra vanilla flavoring, but I felt that both were a bit too far off texture wise. Wait, that probably makes it seem to extreme. How about this, for a regular ice cream eater like myself, these were the most noticably not regular ice cream. The problem with core flavors is that you have nothing in the way to distract you. If I saved these til after I eat the others, maybe I won't notice the difference as much.
Now I'm not saying these taste like mainstream or premium ice cream, but considering that Arctic Zero hit this calorie point without sugar alcohols, well, I have to say that these really aren't that bad. I've dug in to a lot of "healthy" ice creams for you guys and I've definitely had worse. I feel like they are on the right track here. Hey, if you prefer halo top or another contender, that's fine, but don't be afraid to try one of these out. They definitely aren't like their original product line.
On Second Scoop: I've been scooping these containers one by one, here and there, and for the most part, my opinions have stayed similar with one exception. I had a little more of the C&B dough one on sunday and it was fine, but when I went to have a bit more tonight and it tasted like styrofoam. Not sure what happened as the rest still taste ok (maybe the vanilla is a little more weird). The funny thing is that I was ready to rank it about the toffee since I figured out what bothered my daughter about it. At this point I am tempted to make the list go: C&C, mint cookie, pb?, chocolate, toffee, dough, vanilla. Ok people who like ultra light ice cream, what do you think?
With so little calcium(and it's unclear what 5% constitutes since RDA guidelines have recently changed) I wouldn't bother--and actually I have to wonder, what is in these things if they don't have the natural calcium and protein that goes along with low fat milk products. I really am boggled over how they have so little.
ReplyDeleteDubba, in previous posts the defining characteristics of FDD came up, so I have to ask: how are all of these diet "ice creams" actually ice cream? They don't seem to have the milk fat ratio, but maybe diet foods don't have to go by FDA standards. (I come from the dairy state, so I know how finicky they are about these things.) On another note, maybe one day you will try out the Turkish stretchy ice cream they have in NY at Booza. I heard it is coming to stores soon. Thanks for the 6-pack review.
ReplyDeleteThis review may finally get my to try Arctic Zero again after years of refusing to buy it. The old stuff tasted like cardboard. Of the cookies and cream flavors I've tried, Breyer's actually ranks above Halo Top, Enlightened, and Three Twins. Despite the other flavors lacking, Breyer's C&C has GIANT cookies pieces to make it great. Otherwise, I tend to prefer Chilly Cow for it's premium feel and Enlightened for mix-ins. Although, I will say that Target's new ultra light cookie dough flavor is on point. Yeah...I admit that I'm a bit obsessed,
ReplyDeleteI'm boycotting to spite myself. I've always loved their ultra-low calorie pints, and defended the price (and sometimes taste) because they did have a reasonable amount of protein without a lot of sugar. It's steadily decreased in protein over the years, and now they are basically sugar with a dash of pea protein.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm going higher-calorie low-calorie frozen desserts, I'm going to Enlightened.
This is my long-winded bitter way of saying that this low-calorie 'ice cream' lover won't try the new AZ pints. :)
ps...I do appreciate your reviews!!
Toffee Crunch was your THIRD favorite!?! I tried all of these, and that was hands down my favorite! By far the sweetest of the bunch with the most mix ins! o:
ReplyDelete@RG: maybe think of it in relation to serving size. You get 2g of protein and 3g of fiber in something that is only 58g total (where the Steve's ice cream I ate was 5g protein and 0 fiber in 106g per serving). feel any better?
ReplyDelete@Anon: i get so confused too, how about this: https://www.idfa.org/news-views/media-kits/ice-cream/ice-cream-labeling
@Crybug: ha! yeah I was one and done with their original lineup as well, but this is definitely a different creature. That said, I love Three Twins cookies and cream!
@NC: not even one if it was massively on sale? hehehe
@CJ: haha, can't help it, love C&C in general
@dubba--i'm mostly concerned with calcium, enlightened is 15% PER SERVING, so 60% per pint, since skim milk has more calcium/protein with lower fat concentration, it seems the calcium got sucked right out of these pints
ReplyDeleteNope. they can ride the non-dairy train and I'll stay on my lower carb one :) Though admittedly, it was pretty high in sugar before they reduced the protein.
ReplyDeleteGood question about the calcium- Enlightened has milk protein isolate in it, which is high in calcium. Looks like these ice creams don't have that ingredient. I don't think the calcium has been removed, they just don't have anything added that has additional calcium. Even if this was pure skim milk, 70 grams of skim milk has only 9% of your daily calcium, and 2.4 grams protein, and this isn't just skim milk.
ReplyDelete@AT--thanks for explaining that, the "Slim Twin" line has the same high calcium levels, but no isolate, unless that's the same as "organic milk protein concentrate." Is that source of calcium as good as other dairy sources---i wonder why they add it, as i thought i was the only freak who bought the product to boost calcium intake
ReplyDelete