[New for Very Late 2022] Oh Van Leeuwen, you had to sneak in three more flavors before 2022 ended, didn't you? And the timing is fairly impressive too. We've got champagne flavor to celebrate New Years, Red Velvet for Valentine's day, and we've got this for Mardi Gras (Feb 21).
Van Leeuwen King Cake Ice Cream
sweet cream ice cream with yellow, green and purple swirls
and cinnamon blondie cake pieces
I definitely expected to see at least one swirl really pop out at me...
Wait, those are the "swirls"?
But wait, it gets worse! I take my first bite and I'm hit with the same cinnamon fireball flavor that I got from their caramel sticky bun flavor. What's up with that? Granted it's not as intense as it was there, but it's very reminiscent. Why would they do this? I've had several King Cakes over the years and the first thing that comes to mind is the sweet icing flavor. I never think a strong cinnamon flavor, let alone spicy cinnamon. What were they thinking?
Does this make sense to anyone? Is this some regional thing? Or some new fad? What have they done? I bought this pint trying to give Van Leeuwen a chance to redeem themselves a bit by giving me a straight forward sweet flavor, but instead they've zigged way left and given me something unexpected... and honestly, kind of unwelcomed.
I think I would be more forgiving if the swirls were actual swirls rather than dollops of sweetness. I get not wanting to go overboard on food dye for coloring, but I was definitely expecting some pizazz here. Instead, I got something that reminds me of fruitcake...
Ok, maybe I'll be less bitter tomorrow, but don't count on it. At least the cake pieces weren't dried out rocks of flour, so that's a positive right?
On Second Scoop: oh man, it seemed even more overwhelming the second time. I tasted nothing but fireballs when I went in for a second scooping. I think I'm all done with this one.
Verdict? opposite of what I expected
Buy Again? nope
Buy Again? nope
They just seem to keep striking out
ReplyDeleteReal q: have you ever enjoyed a Van Leeuwen flavor? I’ve tried a couple after reading your reviews, and have thought that they’re fine. Then again, you are MUCH deeper into ice cream than I am! But at what point do you acknowledge that their style isn’t suited to your preferences?
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried their King Cake yet, but they have a third new flavor too - Red Velvet Cake for Valentine's Day. It was...okay. I might just be biased against it, though. I loved Ben & Jerry's Red Velvet and pretty much just wanted it to be that, and it wasn't. Their Marzipan flavor has been my favorite so far. Well, that and their weird ones.
ReplyDelete@Anon1: no need for this to be this spicy
ReplyDelete@Anon2: So this marks the 15th flavor I've tried from them and I would argue that I enjoyed the first (faux) pint the most. I don't think that it's a bad product overall, but I do question a few tactics. One, while I enjoy new flavors, I don't love the constant short lived nature of their flavor rotation. Two, do you have the same problem with the dried out mix-ins that I almost always seem to? Three, I often question how they dial in their flavors. I often feel like with a bit of tweaking, they could really be something special. That said, I keep telling myself to try them less, but then they come out with something and I go "hey, maybe this is the pint that will convert me to a true fan".
@Allie: thank you for the info, I have updated the post!
I keep wanting to like them, but seems like I always get an icy pint (thank you local Walmart). The flavors aren't worth going into my local dumpy Walmart, either.
ReplyDeleteThis is literally my favorite ice cream ever…. Who hurt you? 🤪
ReplyDeleteLoved this flavor too!!! Very rich & creamy, I'll buy more as soon as I can find it!
Deleteto each their own! thanks for sharing that you enjoyed it, always good to get varying opinions. are you a big fan of van leeuwen in general or just this one flavor?
ReplyDeleteI had to Google this flavor to see if it was just me. But the "swirls" in mine were just rock-hard bits of colored sugar. I just ate about 5 bites and I actually feel unwell.... regrettably 5 bites too many
ReplyDeleteIt tasted like they crushed root beer dum dums in it
DeleteOk so I honestly I have enjoyed almost every flavor I have tried by them especially the affogato &coffee( or whatever it’s called lol) anyways my husband absolutely loves the red velvet with the maroon colored label not said to be “limited edition.” So the other day I found a pint that was like a candy red color labeled “limited edition” said to be Red Velvet so I was like ok so maybe they just updated the label. Noticed there were some maroon colored ones but figured you know it’s the same thing so I bout the “updated” one. Well let me tell you that was some NASTY ice cream and definitely was NOT the red velvet that comes in the maroon container. It was so bad that he threw it out and went back to the store to buy the “original label” one which was just as it always has been, red velvet colored(the other one was an off like tannish orange color??) and delicious. I am just curious if anyone knows what’s going on with the different labels and is this kind going to replace the original one? I seriously hope it was just some kind of mishap or something because that would be a terrible move on their end in my opinion?
ReplyDeleteshame you didnt grab a picture. I only know of the red-colored red velvet pints, sorry.
DeleteI tried the chocolate cookie dough honeycomb, and the peanut butter swirl honeycomb. I won’t ever buy this brand again. In the cookie dough pint I literally found four pieces of cookie dough and no honeycomb. In the peanut butter honeycomb swirl there was hardly any peanut butter and no honeycomb whatsoever. You might as well be buying just the ice cream with nothing in it. I don’t recommend spending over seven dollars for this.
ReplyDeleteI've definitely enjoyed some Van Leeuwen flavors, but I only paid $5 a pint, not $7.
Deletejust for perspective, here is a review of their regular honeycomb flavor
https://www.onsecondscoop.com/2021/10/van-leeuwen-honeycomb-ice-cream.html