Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream is a pint of vanilla ice cream with a caramel swirl & fudge covered waffle cone pieces. While the name may be bland, it sure resembles what you may think of in Chubby Hubby (except for the pretzel pieces that are fudge covered instead its waffle cones) and instead of a peanut butter kind of swirl you have the Caramel Swirl. So not much of a trade off, but after smashing Chubby Hubby I had a feeling this would be similar to a degree, so lets get into the pint.
Upon cracking the lid, you are presented with Ben & Jerry's better base, their vanilla, and small chunks of fudge covered waffle pieces with a sign of caramel swirls (always a good sign). With the first bite, you are really hit hard with the upcoming dark chocolate fudge pieces that have a hard consistency, but not frozen solid like a Peanut Butter Cup or Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup as Ben & Jerry's tends to do with their mix-ins. Similar to Chubby Hubby, they are softer in texture, but provide a great crunch like you would expect a fresh waffle cone to have like if you went to Cold Stone Creamery. The pieces are very thin kind of reminding me of Nutty Caramel Swirl with the amount of fudge flakes it involved. The Caramel Swirl in this pint though was not something to brag about at the top of the pint.
With that said, most pints do get better as you do venture further into them, and that is the case again for this one. Americone Dream started a little light on the top with the smaller fudge pieces and a hint of a caramel swirl, but once you get about 1/4-1/2 of the way through the pint, the swirl becomes globs and the pieces of fudge covered waffles cones turn into a landmine and its every bite or multiple per bite which is a very good thing (if you love mix-ins such as myself).
My overall thought is that it’s a good pint. There’s nothing that stands out of the line given its pretty basic besides the inclusion of waffle cone pieces covered in fudge, but the caramel swirl is typical from multiple Ben & Jerry pints, which is good but not overly good. I think of a Steve's Salted Caramel and effect it provides and it can’t be touched. Jeni's Salted Caramel packs a denser caramel flavor, but this is good and is a rich swirl, (not sweet like some caramel can be). Overall it’s good, but nothing to rave over hence my final scoring. If you like a basic pint this is right up your alley, but if you like to get into things that are more complex or branch out to try things that involve more mix-ins or a variety of toppings, this may not be your favorite.
Where Bob Found It: Wegmans
Bob's Grade: B
