As I was coming back through South Carolina on my way home from a business trip, I started to look for some cheap gas before crossing the border back into North Carolina. Since I take this route regularly, I’m aware of which stretch of road usually has the lowest prices. As I scanned over the price billboards of a few different stations, I settled on the QuikTrip and pulled in. I headed straight for the refrigerated section to grab a drink to help out with the humidity outside. Muscle memory then kicked in as I unconsciously walked towards the freezer section to see if they had anything interesting. To my surprise, an entire shelf was dedicated to pints from 2nd Street Creamery. Considering I’ve only seen this brand at a grocery store about a half hour away from my home, I grabbed a few flavors I hadn’t tried before. The one that excited me the most had to be Mint Chocolate Victory!
According to the 2nd Street Creamery website, this flavor came to fruition on February 19th, National Chocolate Mint Day. They explain, "This was the day we decided to devote our efforts to creating the best tasting mint chocolate chip ice cream. What a fun day! All we did was play around in the kitchen trying to make this happen. I remember we started with this really delicious mint ice cream and added fudge sauce. Yep – that was good. We liked it so much, that we decided to add some fudge cookies…and that was “good-er”. So we thought, “Why not??” Let’s toss in some chewy brownies and that was the “good-est” of all! Bingo!”
This super-premium mint ice cream with fudge sauce, fudge cookies and chewy brownies comes in at a lower-than-expected 270 calories per serving and after peeling back the lid, seems too good to be true. 2nd Street Creamery’s thick fudge sauce has completely broken through the surface of the light colored mint base to provide one of the most impressive first layers I’ve ever seen. Although it’s nearly impossible to taste the mint ice cream by itself because of the amount of mix-ins, I sneak my spoon around the chocolate to secure some. While the thick, super-premium consistency is a given, my first impression from the mint base comes from the mellow, subtle flavoring. The lack of potency from the herb results in an ice cream that lacks the cooling effect found in many other mint based flavors. After analyzing the foundation of Mint Chocolate Victory!, I was ready to move on to the three other ingredients: the fudge sauce, the fudge cookies and chewy brownies.
Even though I was able to capture the mint base by itself, any normal sized bite was guaranteed to have at least one mix-in involved; and sometimes all three. The brownies seem to be the same used in their Tons of Brownies flavor and are just as impressive when combined with mint instead of vanilla. These bits of brownie are chewy, stick to your teeth and get your taste buds ready for the other chocolate ingredients to come. The fudge cookies are shaped like truffles, provide a gritty texture as they break down and work well with both the mint ice cream and the brownies. The final component, 2nd Street’s flowing fudge sauce, is among the thickest I’ve seen. The liquid consistency and rich chocolate taste immediately enhance any bite it becomes a part of. This had no problem becoming one of the best tasting mint ice creams I’ve ever experienced, but because of the incredible amount of mix-ins, it's hard to compare to other mint flavors. Mint Chocolate Victory! most certainly doesn't fight fair.
Where I Found It: QuikTrip Gas Station
Grade: A
