Minty Meltdown!

[Some are new for 2022] To make up for the fact that I've gone to one post a week, I'd like to do some catchup with a many pint post. Sound good? I don't cover mint much which is a shame because I really like mint ice cream these days (even if it doesn't always like me). Today's lineup will include the brandy new peppermint patty from Van Leeuwan and the new-ish Mint Chocolate Chance from Ben & Jerry's.

Tower of Mintiness

Ben & Jerry's Mint Chocolate Chance Ice Cream

mint ice cream with fudge brownies

Ben & Jerry's Mint Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream

peppermint ice cream with chocolate sandwich cookies

Van Leeuwan Peppermint Patty Ice Cream

peppermint ice cream with chocolate chips and swirls of fudge

Mint Chocolate Chance.... is pretty boring honestly. Mint Chocolate cookies has that great classic cookie & cream vibe and succeeds. VL goes for the peppermint patty vibe. It's not perfect, but the unexpectedly crunchy chocolate bits help mix things up and keep you scooping for more. 

Note, this isn't a typical chocolate chip crunch in the VL flavor. This is more inline with a solid chocolate coating chip, and I approve of this choice. 

Chance just doesn't bring any kind of wow factor... actually, maybe they should have taken a page from the VL book and added chocolate chips.

At least the B&J's flavors have a solid clean mint flavor. VL definitely leans more towards fun peppermint, though the lighter texture probably has something to do with that. Also, VL has a non-stop chocolate factor, so you can't really stop and just think about plain mint ice cream.

I've commented at times at how a mix-in can kind of jar you out of a nice moment with a flavor. Strangely enough, the opposite is true for the Chance flavor. When you get a brownie flavor, especially one from a premium company, you expect a respectable brownie that will give you a nice flavor and texture burst along your journey. That doesn't happen here. The brownies on my pint were just the right texture to blend right in with the ice cream, but that's not what I want from a brownie flavor. I want to think about a brownie sundae, not a plain ice cream.

My second biggest complaint today? The VL flavor uses chocolate liquor and I'm pretty sure that's leading to a bit of a weird aftertaste. Granted, I tried all three flavors at once, but I'm almost positive it came from the VL.

Ok, that's it! I kept it kind of short and sweet. I was tempted to put them in separate posts, but the way I think about these flavors is very much related to how I would compare these flavors. All have positives, and only mint chocolate cookie has no negatives... in fact, this particular pint was best by mid September and it still tasted excellent. Sometimes you just can't beat a classic flavor.

On Second Scoop: Classic still classic. Chance is well done but still boring. VL is still pretty fun, but I'm still trying to interpret the flavor from the swirl. Usually I comment that swirls taste like Hershey's or maybe a cheap knockoff of Hershey's. I don't get a Hershey's vibe here. The swirl is unique and has some pop, but I don't know that I actually like it a ton.... and yup, there it is again, that weird aftertaste. It took a few minutes after I stopped, but it's back again!

Bonus(?) Pint: The non-dairy mint chocolate cookie flavor debuted in 2020.... unfortunately this pint was also produced in 2020, and considering it's late 2022, I'm in no mood to eat a freezer burned pint that is over a year past it's best buy date. It got buried at the bottom of the chest freezer and that's where it stayed until just a few days ago. It's now in the trash unfortunately. I couldn't get in to the other two sunflower butter based flavors and I just couldn't get over my hesitation about mixing mint and sunbutter. It just sounds wrong....

Verdict?  the classic is my favorite
Buy Again?  at least one of them!