For those of us living in the Southeast part of the United States, finding pints from 2nd St. Creamery can prove problematic. While others have resorted to visiting various Walmart locations for their fix, I’ve recently adopted the approach of checking out local, upscale gas stations. Over the months, I’ve secured six sensational flavors using this method, including some of my all-time favorites like Copper Kettle Caramel, Mint Chocolate Victory! and Tons of Brownies. With only a few more selections standing between me and conquering their entire lineup, I walked into a nearby convenient store chain called The Market Center feeling confident. Sure enough, as I strolled over to the ice cream freezer, I saw a flavor I hadn’t had the pleasure of picking up: Black Hills Strawberry Rhubarb. Even though I don’t really have a soft spot for strawberry ice creams, if anyone was going to be able to prove my taste buds wrong, 2nd Street Creamery was the company to do it.
This combination of strawberry ice cream with strawberries, rhubarb sauce and pie crust pieces comes in at 250 calories per serving; right in line with their other offerings. As usual, with the top removed, the first layer looks lavish. The super-premium strawberry ice cream shows off high concentrations of rhubarb sauce, plenty of pie crust pieces and no visible strawberry slices. By the time I arrived back from The Market Center, the pint was perfectly thawed out and I was ready to scoop a serving. The pale pink base is dense, sweet and a nice change of pace from the chocolate, caramel and vanilla ice creams I’ve become accustomed to from 2nd St. Creamery. The strawberry rhubarb sauce is thick, gelatinous like jam, and really ramps up the sweetness of every bite.
Although I had been expecting the worse, the actual strawberries involved in Black Hill Strawberry Rhubarb were few and far between. While they did add an icy texture and not much taste, luckily there weren’t enough of them to bring down the potential of this pint. The last, and my personal favorite part of this flavor, were the pie crust pieces. Unlike other companies that tend to throw in small crunchy pieces of fake pie crust, 2nd St. Creamery does pie crust the right way. They include insane amounts of soft, buttery cookie-like crust that compliments every other component. A bite combining the strawberry ice cream, strawberry rhubarb sauce and the sweet pie crust provides the best strawberry ice cream experience I’ve had to date. The pints from 2nd St. Creamery continue to impress and will force me to further my exploration of nearby gas stations looking for more.
Where I Found It: The Market Center Gas Station (Asheville, NC)
Grade: A
