While Walgreens houses a few exclusive offerings from Haagen Dazs, this latest exclusive comes from the people at Ben & Jerry’s. Back in mid-April, a Twitter follower of mine sent me a picture of a Walgreens weekly ad in his area stating the impending release of a flavor made specifically for them: Truffle Trifecta. Although the official description was hidden, when the flavor finally made its way to a pharmacy near me the carton stated this was a combination of chocolate ice cream with marshmallow, fudge and caramel truffles. Judging from the pint’s exterior, this trio of truffles is nothing more than a chocolate coating surrounding a flavored interior filling. People who indulge in ice cream often tend to have formulated an opinion about Ben & Jerry’s chocolate base, but I’m still on the fence. It’s straightforward flavor and rich finish usually needs the assistance of some other ingredients to create a pint worth picking up, so we’ll see if the truffles can do the trick. It's also nice to see the Fairtrade symbol sitting just to the right of the title.
This particular arrangement of chocolate components tips the scales at 280 calories per serving, which quickly verifies its super premium classification. The first layer of my pint shows no hints of the truffles hiding below, but after plunging my spoon into the dark brown base, it isn’t long before my path is blocked a few of the small chocolate cups. My first bite of the chocolate ice cream is smooth, simple and exactly how I had remembered. The only complaint I have with Ben & Jerry’s chocolate base is that sometimes it tends to drown out the taste of some of the other ingredients, especially if they aren’t chocolate as well. Seeing as how every truffle looks identical from the outside, it’s a guessing game as to what the filling will be made of whenever you land one on the end of your spoon.
These dime-sized candies are plentiful and each has a thin chocolate coating that cracks away with little effort. The first type I land is of the fudge filled variety and adds little contrast to the rich ice cream besides a more intense chocolate flavoring. The second, the caramel truffles, are much like the ones found in Triple Caramel Chunk and release their sweet buttery innards once broken open. The classic combination of chocolate and caramel work together well, but simply can’t compete with the last truffle type. The marshmallow kind were not only favorite, but the sticky interior most effectively offset the powerful traits of the ice cream. After taking a bite containing all three truffles with the chocolate base, I couldn’t help but feel I had experienced this combination of tastes elsewhere. Then I realized this was very similar to their famous flavor, Phish Food. If I’m craving chocolate, caramel and marshmallow, I’ll be sticking to the fudge fish and gooey swirls contained in that.
Where I Found It: Walgreens
Grade: C
