REVIEW: Sam's Choice Moose Tracks

We consider Moose Tracks somewhat of a mercenary service for store-brand ice creams. Some underachieving, low-fat flavors call upon this famous fudge to help escalate their effectiveness. So what happens when Moose Tracks fudge is added to a super-premium ice cream that could already hold its own? Sam's Choice is here to let us find out for ourselves. After cranking out A-rated flavors like Coffee & Donuts, Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake and Sea Salt Caramel we were looking forward to this combination of vanilla ice cream with famous Moose Tracks fudge and peanut butter cups.

As usual, the first layer of this Sam's Choice quart was impressive. A thick, stiff stripe of the Moose Tracks fudge sat right on top, leaving little room for our scoop to move around without being impeded. After transferring a few spoonfuls into a bowl, the peanut butter cups made themselves visible and did so until the very bottom. Sam's Choice has built their reputation on bold swirls and an abundant amount of mix-ins, both of which they continued to do with their Moose Tracks flavor. The vanilla, chocolate and peanut butter themed ingredients come together to create a top-notch mixture of classic flavors and another A for Sam's Choice.

Where I Found It: Walmart
Grade: A

REVIEW: Sam's Choice Blackberry Crumble

As we wrap up our investigation of the worthwhile flavors from the recently released Sam's Choice super-premium ice cream lineup, Blackberry Crumble's description made it seem like we may have saved the best for last. Blackberry ice cream with pie crust pieces and blackberry ripple sounded like another ideal way to cool off this summer. While we're accustomed to thick, goeey swirls sticking to the lid of the pint as we pull them apart, our particular quart was missing most of its first layer, but considering we have eight servings to sort through, we continued on without holding any grudges.

The blackberry ice cream is a nice balance between sweet and tart that not only impersonates ripe blackberries but also provides a great foundation for the other ingredients. The super-sized swirls we've seen in the past from Sam's Choice were substituted for a more traditional blackberry ripple to accompany the blackberry base. The small bits of pie crust combined with the berry components created a sensation designed especially for summer. Even with all this, we've set high standards for Sam's Choice and we would have liked to have seen the mix-ins in the same quantity and recklessness as some of their other pints.

Where I Found It: Walmart
Grade: B

REVIEW: Sam's Choice Peanut Butter Chocolate

As we continue our exploration of Walmart's super premium Sam's Choice lineup, Peanut Butter Chocolate was next on our to do list. With a description like chocolate ice cream with peanut butter ripple and peanut butter cup pieces, this concept isn't new to the world of ice cream, but after seeing what they were able to do with coffee, cheesecake and caramel ice creams, we were more than willing to see what they were capable of with this classic combination. As we've seen with some other cartons from Sam's Choice, the first layer takes pride in showing off its swirl; in this case a thick concentration of peanut butter ripple poking through the top.

Our first bite of the chocolate base left us unimpressed, but with all the other mix-ins circling about, we weren't too concerned. The huge stripes of peanut butter were rigid and required breaking into smaller pieces with our golden spoon, but were well worth the extra effort. This peanut butter swirl was reminiscent of eating the real stuff straight from the jar and the natural saltiness complemented the sweet, chocolate ice cream. The final component were the huge peanut butter cup halves, that when combined with the other ingredients, almost became overkill; which isn't something we say often. Bites including all three pieces were almost too rich, however that still doesn't change how tasty the first few bites were.

Where I Found It: Walmart
Grade: B

REVIEW: Sam's Choice Sea Salt Caramel

After the success of Sam’s Choice flavors like Coffee & Donuts and Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake, we continued our exploration through the quart sized, super-premium cartons now competing with Ben & Jerry’s and Haagen-Dazs. Walmart followed a proven recipe to create their Sea Salt Caramel by combining caramel ice cream with caramel sea salt truffles and caramel ripple.

Many manufacturers have combined savory-filled truffles, a sweet swirl and caramel ice cream before, but only a select few look like this when you pop off the lid. The thick stripes of that caramel ripple may be in line with most of the other first layers we’ve seen from Sam’s Choice, however they still deserve to be appreciated. Our first bite of the actual ice cream is smooth and mild to start, eventually developing a not-so-subtle sweet, caramel flavoring towards the tail end of each bite.

The tiny truffles aren’t found frequently enough to make their way into each bite, but are still consistent from top to bottom. Each bite-sized candy starts by adding a rich, chocolate taste, the only cocoa-filled component of the entire creation, and as soon as you’ve started concentrating on the chocolate, a burst of the sea salt caramel on the inside brings you back to salty caramel bliss. Bites including any of the caramel sauce creates somewhat of a caramel overload, but in a welcomed way; complementing both the caramel base and sea salt caramel truffles. The result is another easy A.

Where I Found It: Walmart
Grade: A

REVIEW: Sam's Choice Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake

After starting our exploration of Walmart’s new Sam’s Choice lineup with Coffee & Donuts, a smashing success, the next we’d analyze would be Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake: white chocolate ice cream with pieces of cheesecake and raspberry swirl.

Just like our last container, there’s no hiding the mix-ins for this flavor. Removing the lid left us looking for napkins as the outrageous amount of raspberry swirl spilled over the sides. With only flecks of the cheesecake evident in the white chocolate ice cream, the first scoop of our spoon uncovered a huge chunk.

The white chocolate base was a bit underwhelming, especially after expecting the same result as we found in White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle from Haagen Dazs. Fortunately, the raspberry swirl and cheesecake pieces provided plenty to pick up the slack. The thick, almost jam-like sauce worked perfectly with the mild, white chocolate base, and created a pretty impressive bite when all the ingredients were enjoyed at once.

Where I Found It: Walmart
Grade: A

READER REVIEW: Bob's Review of Sam's Choice Sea Salt Caramel

As Sam's Choice gets more and more rave reviews, I wanted to test another flavor that was an instant classic when it came to a gelato in Talenti's Sea Salt Caramel and 2nd Street Creamery's Copper Kettle Caramel to see where this truly ranks among the caramel flavors out there. I would have to say that before trying this, Sea Salt Caramel and Copper Kettle Caramel were my two favorite caramel pints I've had in the past, so lets see where this stands.

Sea Salt Caramel is Caramel Ice Cream with a Caramel Swirl and Sea Salt Truffles. As you pop the lid, you notice the glaring caramel swirl among the quart, and also small little chocolate pieces where the truffles are underneath the light looking caramel base. The overall flavoring of the caramel base is good, not great like Talenti or 2nd Street, but it's above average especially for only 230kcals per serving even though it doesn't give you the rich and creamy buttery caramel taste of others.

After digging in further to the pint I got to experience a few pieces of the truffle and of course the caramel swirl. I do have to say this, the caramel swirl is what makes this ice cream. It's so dominant and not lacking at all. The outsides of the container are literally globs of caramel and you just get other random chunks of caramel throughout the quart. The truffle pieces are no where near as much as you found in 2nd Street or Talenti. Talenti has enough that they're included in nearly every other bite or a couple per bite. This is maybe one small flake every few bites.

Overall this is a good pick up for the amount of calories (230) per serving. You get an incredible swirl, perhaps the best caramel swirl I have had. It is so rich and dense in flavor the caramel truly shines. The base is good, again not great like some others, but it's on par if not better than Ben & Jerry's. The truffle mix-ins are hit or miss, no where near as much as Talenti, around as much as in 2nd Street, but the pieces are far smaller and not as dense as those others when trying to compare it to competition.

Where Bob Found It: Walmart
Bob's Grade: B

READER REVIEW: Bob's Review of Sam's Choice Coffee & Donuts

As I went into my super Walmart to grocery shop, I soon realized they moved everything in the ice cream row, and as I continued to venture further I noticed 2nd Street Creamery was now discontinued and replaced with a new brand called "Sam's Choice". After looking over the flavors and reading reviews online Coffee and Donuts seemed like a killer hit, so I had no second thoughts on picking up this quart and giving it a whirl.

Coffee and Donuts is labeled as coffee ice cream with swirls of icing and donut pieces. Upon lifting the lid you see a lighter and rich looking coffee base, small white glimpses of a glaze swirl and no donut pieces to be seen. Now as we all know upon taking a few bites you soon find landmines or small pieces of mix-ins for the most part. What shocked me most as this pint is labeled as 200 kcals per serving (9g Fat, 26 Carb, and 2 Protein). Normally super premium ice creams are a bit denser in caloric intake per serving, but this shocked me at the flavor and how well it replicated exactly what it claims.

Upon first bite the coffee ice cream is dense, and in my opinion, is better than Ben & Jerry's, while matching Cold Stone Creamery in richness/denseness when it comes to flavor. It reminds me of drinking a medium blend of coffee but has a nice, creamy flavoring to it. The key component of this pint is the swirl, and as you get into this pint, it reminds me of the thickness of the core in Ben & Jerry's for some bites because you get nothing but a thick, rich, and buttery glaze coming right off a glazed donut you would get at Krispy Kreme.

As you barrel down the quart (I split this into two pint containers) the donut pieces are very hit or miss. It reminded me of the only pint of Blue Bell I had when I was in Colorado where it lists a lot of mix-ins but they are very sparse in the pint. These very sparse donut pieces and soft/chewy in texture but are nice, these are much harder to find compared to the dominant glaze swirl. For the Kcal Amount, the amazing swirl give this pint a very solid score. This is a must pickup!

Where Bob Found It: Walmart

Bob's Grade: A

REVIEW: Sam's Choice Coffee & Donuts

While browsing the freezer aisle of my local Super Walmart, I stumbled upon a new brand. It seems Walmart is getting into the super premium ice cream game with their self-branded Sam’s Choice. Only available in one quart containers, twice the amount of most super premium pints, I grabbed the best sounding one: Coffee & Donuts. This coffee ice cream with swirls of icing and donut pieces sounded strikingly similar to that of our all-time favorite ice cream from New Orleans Ice Cream Co.: Cafe au Lait & Beignets.

At 200 calories per serving, the nutrition facts are certainly elevated to that of a super-premium. With the lid removed, it’s hard not to notice the huge concentration of icing sitting right on top. I collected some on my spoon along with the coffee ice cream and gave it a whirl. Far better than we were expecting. The coffee ice cream was dense, overly sugared and full of flavor. The swirl was thick, gritty, and tasted identical to the warm glaze you’d find paired with a donut, which gets us to the last ingredient.

The donut pieces aren’t as prevalent as the sugary swirl, but really elevate the effectiveness of Sam’s Choice first entry. These soft and chewy pieces of fried dough work perfectly with the coffee ice cream. Bites including all three components are enough to break this brand into our top 10.

Where I Found It: Walmart
Grade: A