While Ben & Jerry's didn’t get as diverse in this pint as they are for their future pints, this was one I never really got around to trying or simply writing a review for. I had a mix-up on my last pint of Candy Bar Pie, and because of it, I had a coupon for a free pint. So either way, if I didn’t get a good pint, no harm no foul. But lets get into the review. Karamel Sutra featuring a core of soft caramel encircled by chocolate & caramel ice creams & fudge chips. Upon lifting up the lid, I saw exactly that except for the fudge chips, but I know that once you dig into the pint under the surface you usually strike gold, so lets see what this has to offer.
If you have read any of my previous reviews, you know that I’m not the fondest of the Ben & Jerry's chocolate base, so I had some skeptical thoughts going into this pint. Also, the caramel ice cream has not been used in a lot of their line, which is different, so I figured being a guy that enjoys caramel as a mix-in; hopefully I’d gotten a good pint. With that, I noticed a huge swirl or glob of caramel in the corner of my pint upon popping the lid. As I got into the first bite, I went right into the caramel glob with a mixture of caramel ice cream and chocolate ice cream. While I’m not the biggest believer in the chocolate base, it’s very underwhelming compared to the strong caramel swirl, which is very good in all Ben & Jerry’s pints. After a few bites, I have to say the caramel base has a hint taste of caramel, but nothing overpowering compared to the basic vanilla you get in their pints. Again, the chocolate is nothing to rave over, its got a subpar rich taste to it, mostly a bland chocolate flavor, but overall, when you combine the fudge flakes soon to be seen, and the caramel swirl which is huge as you go down, its honestly masked and it compliments very well.
About 5-6 spoonfuls in and then its like a goldmine. Fudge flakes are everywhere, and when I mean everywhere. I mean in every single bite on the chocolate side. I would simply scratch my spoon across the pint to get a fudge flake and a mixture of caramel, chocolate, and caramel base and it came out very good and a great combination. The pint really does shine by being able to mix and match the flavors and mix-ins. Eating just the caramel alone is boring, as would the chocolate, but when you throw in the flakes (which were all over the place, I counted over 20 in my pint) and the very thick caramel swirl. This one shocked me as far as my expectations went. The caramel swirl is so rich it tastes like a fresh mixture of butter, cream and sugar with a powerful aftertaste that is very desirable, hence why I picked around the pint and left the globs of it for last!
With a small addition of another mix-in, say a cookie, brownie pieces with caramel, cookie dough chunks, or fudge covered pretzels with the small flakes, that would make for an easy A in this pint.
Where Bob Found It: Wegmans
Bob's Grade: B
