Freezer Faves: Kemp's White Chocolate Raspberry

While this blog is primarily a fan of local scoop shops, it acknowledges that sometimes a person just wants to stay in for the night. That being said, this is one of my Freezer Favorites.

• • •

"Decadent mascarpone cheesecake ice cream with a luscious raspberry swirl and white chocolaty chips."

Need I go on?

Sure, the base may not scream of mascarpone and there aren't as many raspberry swirls as I'd like, but damned if this flavor ain't the truth. With the white chocolaty flakes packing every bite, this flavor is similar to Häagen-Dazs' Double Belgian Chocolate Chip, in that it utilizes a sweet and creamy base with a differently textured mix-in to produce a chocolate truffle effect, albeit a white chocolate truffle.

When I turned a half gallon of this flavor into a mere two portions, I knew I had my hands on an instant classic.

Kemps' White Chocolate Raspberry, I salute you!

Freezer Faves: Häagen-Dazs' Double Belgian Chocolate Chip

While this blog is primarily a fan of local scoop shops, it acknowledges that sometimes a person just wants to stay in for the night. That being said, this is one of my Freezer Favorites.

• • •

I have blogged about this flavor before. Indeed, it was this flavor that inspired me to share my extensive ice cream knowledge on the blogging platform when a co-worker I had a decade-and-a-half ago falsely claimed there were no good American chocolate ice creams. And this flavor was once considered my all-time favorite ice cream flavor. But while my palate has become more refined over the years, there is no denying that Häagen-Dazs' Double Belgian Chocolate Chip still kicks serious butt.

While it has gone through a number of name changes over the years--Belgian Chocolate Chocolate to the simplified Belgian Chocolate to its new, most accurate name--the flavor has remained the same. A pint of creamy chocolate ice cream that is nearly fifty-percent dark chocolate shavings. Every single bite is equal parts ice cream and shavings so delicate and small that they are nearly indistinguishable from the base were it not for their full-bodied punch of flavor. The effect is that of a chocolate truffle ice cream with two types and textures of chocolate blending into a wholly original experience.

Häagen-Dazs' Double Belgian Chocolate Chip, I salute you!

Freezer Faves: Talenti's Roman Raspberry

While this blog is primarily a fan of local scoop shops, it acknowledges that sometimes a person just wants to stay in for the night. That being said, this is one of my Freezer Favorites.

• • •

When my lactose-intolerant lady friend told me her favorite dairy-free grocery store option was made by Talenti, I balked. I've never been impressed with their gelato. Quite frankly, I thought their gelato stunk and tasted of the plastic container it came in.

Enter Roman Raspberry dairy-free sorbetto.

Soft, scoop-able sorbet. None of that icy block that you have to scrape and scrape and scrape away at until you eventually get a satisfying amount onto your spoon. And the flavor envelops your taste buds with tart berry flavor that forces you to pause a moment to savor before dipping your spoon in for more.

 

Now, authetic, fresh sorbetto is comprised of merely sugar, water and the fruity flavoring agent, be it fruit or juice. Talenti's Roman Raspberry contains more than that; it is a mass-produced grocery store product so of course there are preservatives...but the final product has only six ingredients! Ultimately, though, one should trust the taste buds. It is so close to being the real thing, one might question if, in fact, it is the real thing. I dare say it is.

Talenti's Roman Raspberry, I salute you!

Pandemic Land Special: What's Good in the Grocery Store?

There hasn't been a ton to report on dessert-wise during pandemic times. I am limited to the spots that are walking distance from my apartment. But while I prefer to review local spots, the pandemic has allowed me to settle in with a few new grocery store favorites AKA my Freezer Faves. This week I will be reporting on my best new discoveries as well as a few old stand-bys. Scroll on for more...

Downstate Donuts in Chicago, IL

Many of us Chicagoans have been craving the foods we cannot access easily during quarantine due to them being outside walking distance. Imagine my delight when a friend spread the gospel of a new doughnut place that delivers! The purveyor in question is Downstate Donuts, where the doughnuts are made with potatoes. Indeed when the half dozens have arrived at my door, they smelled like potato chips. They didn't taste like potato chips, but there's no denying that smell.

As the weeks continue to pass in quarantine, I've allowed myself to make more than one order to this wonderful establishment and create a list of their donuts, from my favorite to my least favorite. Don't get me wrong, though: all of them are good!

L-to-R: Wild Blueberry, Strawberry Rosé,
Lemon Mascarpone, Vanilla Sour Cream

Strawberry Rosé - My favorite of their offerings, they actually boast that this is their first savory doughnut...but it tastes sweet to me! The strawberry glaze is the best I've encountered.

L.R.P. (Lemon Ricotta Pistachio) - Hot on the tail of the previous doughnut, the layered combination gets better with each bite.

Vanilla Sour Cream - Don't bypass this one just because it sounds simple. This classic is classic for a reason.

Sweet Potato Maple - A delightful balance of sweet potato and maple, I actually prefer this version to their other option Maple Pecan, which has too much going on flavor-wise in my humble opinion.

Lemon Mascarpone - As you have probably deduced by now, in addition to having a variety of glazes, Downstate Donuts also uses different doughs. This particular doughnut is decadent and rich.

Italian Cream Cake - I ate the whole thing, but I'm still not totally clear on what was going on with it. All I know is that it was good. The website says the cake doughnut has coconut milk in it!

L-to-R: Vanilla Sour Cream, L.R.P.,
Chocolate Sea Salt, Brown Butter Chai

Wild Blueberry - The glaze has more than a hint of lemon in it, which sadly overpowers the blueberry, even though there are hunks of blueberries in the doughnut.

Brown Butter Chai - I expected more of a punch of flavor than I got in this doughnut, but when has cinnamon on a glazed doughnut ever been bad?

Chocolate Sea Salt - More salt than I prefer on this tasty chocolate glaze. I feel it necessary to reiterate that while this is near the bottom of the list, it still was good!

Salted Peanut Butter - This was the only doughnut of theirs that didn't taste unique to me. I feel I can grab something similar at other doughnut spots.

Delivery from Downstate Donuts is available on Saturday mornings only, so get your orders in before 5pm on Friday this week.

Pierre Hermé in Paris, France

I was three days into my Paris trip still waiting for my "Wow" moment with Parisian food. Things had been good--and a select few great--but nothing had completely blown me away yet. As luck would have it, Day Three was also the day I would be trying the number one spot on my dessert list: Pierre Hermé.

Most famous for his macarons, Hermé has fashioned his fair share of original flavor combinations. To name a few: Jardin Oriental (rose, orange blossom and candied ginger), Jardin de l'Atlas (lemon, orange blossom and Maquis honey) and Montebello (pistachio & raspberry). What I was lining up for is his most famous flavor creation, Ispahan, in both macaron and croissant form.

What is Ispahan, you ask? Raspberry and lychee with a hint of rose. Going in, I wasn't entirely sure that this would be as great as advertised--my experiences with floral flavors has usually been negative--but my doubts were put to rest when the duo ahead of me in line ordered five of the seven remaining Ispahan croissants!

From my first bite of the croissant, I knew I had walked through a doorway into a new world, forever changed. With a thin, sweet glaze on top of the pastry, the tart raspberry intertwined with the sweet lychee on a floor of soft rose petals. The words from my mouth were expletives with modifiers of the divine persuasion.

When my trekking brought me near a different location of Pierre Hermé on Day Four, I made sure to stop in. This location did not have pastries of the croissant variety. It didn't appear that they had sold out; I could be wrong, but it appeared croissants simply weren't one of the items offered. Luckily, the macarons I had eaten on Day 3 were the best macarons I've had in my life--and you thought I'd forgotten to discuss those. Highlights of the ten flavors I tried from their Autumn Collection were Ispahan, Mogador (passion fruit with milk chocolate), Infiniment Chocolat Paineiras (pure origin Brazilian chocolate from the Paineiras plantation) and Infiniment Cassis (black currant).

TL;DR: If you go to Paris, make sure to stop in at Pierre Hermé, but while you can't go wrong with the macarons, check that the location offers Ispahan croissants. Or just go to the location I went to: 72 Rue Bonaparte in Saint-Germain.

Craft Soda Week: The Worst Sodas

This week the ol' blog is celebrating Craft Soda Week. Glug, glug, glug.

• • •

Let us also honor the bottom three worst soda I've ever consumed. Counting down...

Spruce Beer.

3.) Beverly by Coca-Cola. Out of Italy.
Discontinued in 2009, I sampled it at the Atlanta tourist trap World of Coca-Cola. This allegedly "bitter citrus" soda tastes like carbonated quinine and ear wax.

2.) Sweat by Jones Soda. Out of Seattle, WA.
Jones Soda likes to have fun. For years they had an annual Thanksgiving pack that included feast-flavored sodas, ranging from the appetizing (Cranberry Sauce soda) to the bizarre (Mashed Potatoes soda). But one even stranger soda pack they created was themed after the Seattle Seahawks, a series of sodas that represented what the team had to go through (Dirt, Turf, Sports Cream, Sweat) to achieve Victory (the final soda). Sweat had me gagging.

1.) Spruce Beer by Empire Bottling Works. Out of Bristol, RI.
Root Beer is popular, Ginger Beer recognizable and Birch Beer more of a niche product. Some jokers decided to try out the flavor of spruce in a beverage, resulting in a creamy flavor at the start and the most god-awful Windex aftertaste imaginable.

Craft Soda Week: The Best of Discontinued Sodas

This week the ol' blog is celebrating Craft Soda Week. Glug, glug, glug.

• • •

We all have the one that got away. In my case, I have three delicious sodas that got away.

1.) Apricot Peach by The Switch. Out of Richmond, VA.
While most of the country was marveling at Izze and Orangina for their high juice content, Richmonders had a short stretch of years when a small company was putting out a 100% juice that, thanks to a patented method, was carbonated. Not only was the product amazing, the flavors were also creative, like my favorite Apricot Peach. Dry and tangy with a bite. In the years that followed my east coast college experience, the bottles disappeared and the Switch seemed to be dead. But internet research seems to show a product going by the Switch that offers more typical fruit juice flavors and possibly a focus on school vending machines.

2.) Pink by Jones Soda. Out of Seattle, WA.
This brand first was introduced to me when my brother was in college. At the time, Jones Soda had several flavor names that were fun and told you little of what to expect from their flavor: Happy, Fufu Berry and, my favorite, Pink. It tasted, well, pink if the color were a cream soda. We're stretching back to half a lifetime ago, so my memories of how much I liked the flavor exceed my specific memories of its taste. If only I could drink again!

3.) Blueberry Cream by Soda Shaq, a subdivision of AriZona Beverage Company. Out of Woodbury, New York.
100% blueberry juice is strong stuff that'll put hair on your chest, as they say. And artificial blueberry is less common than, say, the (fictional) blue raspberry. Who'da thunk that Shaquille O'Neal would be behind the creation of an artificial blueberry soda that was cozy and smooth? As a bonus, the can was huge, like all AriZona cans are.

Craft Soda Week: The Best of Mass-produced Sodas

This week the ol' blog is celebrating Craft Soda Week. Glug, glug, glug.

• • •

Not all mass-produced sodas are of low quality. Some even still use real sugar. Here are my favorites:

Key Lime...in terrible lighting.

1.) Key Lime by Stewart's, a subdivision of Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. Originally out of Mansfield, OH.
Stewart's may have an olde-fashioned feel to it--their Orange Cream soda is offered on the menu at Cracker Barrel--but some olde-fashioned things are bona fide classics. Stewart's Key Lime brings a bit of sour with a bit of sweet to create a winning alternative to an often overly sour carbonated lemonade.

2.) Aranciata Rossa (blood orange) by Sanpelligrino. Out of Italy.
Out of a brand that rarely missteps comes the crowning prince: Blood orange. I describe blood orange to the uninitiated as a cross between a grapefruit and an orange, but even that doesn't capture the red fruit's bittersweet and sweetbitter pulpy richness. I've had several blood orange sodas, but this one captures it best.

3.) Cheerwine by Carolina Beverage Corporation. Out of Salisbury, North Carolina.
Though it alleges to be a cherry soda, it blessedly isn't one of the medicinal-tasting cherry sodas we all have suffered through. Nor is it simply a Black Cherry a la Dr. Brown's, which is nothing to sniff at. No, Cheerwine tastes like a perfect cherry soda mixed with the difficult-to-improve-upon Dr. Pepper. A dark flavor with a sweet crispness. Though once a regional specialty, it can now be found nationwide at certain retailers.

Pumpkin Spice.

4.) Ginger Beer by Gosling's. Out of Bermuda. 
The right amount of spicy bite without overpowering the ginger flavor. I've tried numerous ginger beers, from the super-spicy Jamaican brands to the watered down versions that ought to be labeled ginger ale. Of all of them, it is Gosling's that has held the place at #1 for me.

5.) Mango by Jarritos. Out of Guadalajara, Mexico.
Some sodas are all about the sugar buzz, while others can be refreshing. This soda is one of the latter. And artificial mango flavor seems to approximate actual mango flavor a little bit better than other fruits, in my humble opinion. This one does it best.

Honorable mention: Pumpkin Spice by R.W Knudsen's, a subdivision of The J. M. Smucker Company. Out of Orrville, OH.
This seasonal alternative to carbonated apple cider adds a magic blend of pumpkin patch to your apple picking season.

Craft Soda Week: The Best of Fruit-Flavored Sodas

This week the ol' blog is celebrating Craft Soda Week. Glug, glug, glug.

• • •

It baffles me that the most majorly distributed fruit soda is lemon-lime. While lemon-lime is refreshing, it isn't known for being sweet; with sweetener being the second ingredient after water, why not go for fruits that are, well, sweeter.

Anyway, here's my Top 5 fruit-flavored sodas:

Concord Grape.

1.) Concord Grape by WBC Craft Soda (formerly Goose Island). Originally out of Chicago, IL. Now out of Redding, CA.
Before I tried this, I'd never understood the appeal of grape sodas, which were often cloyingly sweet, like a Jolly Rancher Slurpee. This soda, which is getting harder to find than WBC's other flavors, has made a convert of many folks I've shared it with. It is getting harder to find though, which is disconcerting.

2.) Peach by Bundaberg. Out of Queensland, Australia.
Crisp with a fizzy bite. Not as well-distributed as Bundaberg's Root Beer or Ginger Beer, which is a crying shame.

3.) Kitty Piddle (orange pineapple) by Totally Gross Soda, a subdivision of Avery's. Out of New Britain, CT.
Sweet with a tang, this unfortunately-named soda is the standout in a wonderful line of sodas, each with their own intriguingly(?) awful name: Dog Drool, Bug Barf and Toxic Slime, to name a few.

4.) Strawberry by Sprecher's. Out of Glendale, WI.

Peach 4-pack.

Natural strawberry is among the greatest flavors on earth. Artificial strawberry is its own form of sugary delight. This soda captures a little bit of both.

5.) Point Premium - Orange Cream by Point Premium, a subdivision of Stevens Point Brewery. Out of Stevens Point, WI.
The right combination of creamy and orange, the first sip of this soda goes down so smooth you want to guzzle the whole thing in seconds. But it'll taste better if you pace yourself.

Craft Soda Week: The Best of Root Beer

This week the ol' blog is celebrating Craft Soda Week. Glug, glug, glug.

• • •

Ah, root beer. The finest of sodas. Look at nearly all the craft soda companies out there and I wager that you'll find more root beers than colas. (Cola is great, but we're talking root beer here, okay?)

What is it that makes root beer the flavor everyone wants to master? And what exactly makes a perfect root beer? Is it the bite? Is it the creaminess? Is it the sweetness or the rich flavor? I love a balance, but everyone has their own preference. Here are my favorites:

1.) Root Beer by Fitz's. Out of St. Louis, MO.

2.) Root Beer by Roots Pizza. Out of Chicago, IL.

3.) Root Beer by Dublin Bottling Works. Out of Dublin, TX.

4.) Root Beer by Sioux City, a subdivision of White Rock Beverages. Out of Queens, New York City.

5.) Root Beer by Henry Weinhard's, a subdivision of MillerCoors. Originally out of Colfax, CA.

Craft Soda Week

As someone who doesn't drink alcohol, something that has long annoyed me is when I dine out somewhere and their beer menu features dozens (or hundreds) of craft beer options--representing a clientele with a discerning palate--but their only soda options are Coke or Pepsi products. Boring. With each region having its own fun sodas, why not go local?

This week, I will be celebrating craft sodas. While it would be impossible to try all of the pop available, I have made a list of favorites I've encountered in my travels and from dining out at more conscientious food spots serving craft sodas in bottles or even on tap.

Please enjoy as I explore:
The Best of Root Beer
The Best of Fruit-flavored Sodas
The Best of Mass-produced Sodas
The Best of Discontinued Sodas
The Worst Sodas