Now that it's September, we can all look forward to Ben & Jerry's Candy Bar Pie (once banished to scoop shops) hitting shelves soon. Although I've only had the hand packed pint from a scoop shop, it was one of the best Ben & Jerry's experiences I've had and I'm expecting the pre-packaged pints to be even better. Until then, here's another review from Bob who recently picked up a hand-packed pint from a Ben & Jerry's scoop shop in Pittsburgh.
I recently had the luxury of visiting Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I cashed in the opportunity to get my hands on the scoop-shop exclusive, Ben & Jerry’s Candy Bar Pie. After having a double scoop and going back now for the full pint it was a world of difference in taste, mix-ins, and overall swirl. Right off the bat the only downside was the lady really short changed my pint and only gave me 3 out of 4 servings, but that does not impact the review one bit.
The top shows you that is has the fudge flakes present, peanut butter ice cream with fudge flakes, chocolate nougat & sweet & salty pretzel swirls is what is thrown into the mix here and you can honestly see the chocolate nougat and swirls present all over the place. What is amazing is how those swirls really give you a salty texture as you plow down through the pint, which is awesome. You get the savory taste of peanut butter and the sweet taste of the pretzel and if they had small pretzel chunks in here, this would be beyond epic to be honest with you.
The peanut butter ice cream is the same rich base used in What a Cluster and reminds me of the interior filling of a Reese’s Cup. I would have to say the peanut butter is a little more profound than in Peanut Butter Jam Session, so What a Cluster would be the best way to compare this (even with the marshmallow and caramel swirls in that pint). The fudge chunks and chocolate nougat are abundant and work their way into nearly every bite. This is perfect for someone like me who prefers the mix-ins to be on the heavy side. The sweet & salty swirls compared to my two scoop sample was much more profound. The amount of salty aftertaste with the richness of the peanut butter was a perfect sweet and savory combination that hits the best of both worlds, which was pretty hard to find in either of the scoops earlier. Even when I did manage to scoop some, the other peanut butter, nougat and fudge components effectively overpowered the little bit I had gathered. Overall the hand-packed pint was a major upgrade from the two scoops I encountered previously. I was very satisfied with this pint and it could be my third or fourth favorite flavor from Ben & Jerry's next to What a Cluster, Oatmeal Cookie Chunk and Everything But The. It's very hard to tell but I think Candy Bar Pie may get the edge due to the sweet savory combo which is truly fantastic. Hopefully next time I get a pint of this, it will be filled to the brim!
Where Bob Found It: Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop (Pittsburgh, PA - Forbes Ave.)
Bob's Grade: A
