Ice Cream Tasters: Two Dips Ice Cream Tasters

"Ordinary People in Search of Extraordinary Ice Cream"

MINI ICE CREAM REVIEW

Turkey Hill 'Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough'

"Brown sugar and molasses flavored ice cream swirled with chewy cookie dough and dark chocolate chips."

KRIS - The base of Turkey Hill Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is brown sugar and molasses flavored ice cream. This is different from the normal vanilla base in cookie dough ice cream, so I was looking forward to tasting it. The fact that Turkey Hill boasted on the cover that it was the "Original Recipe" and that this was "Real Ice Cream" led me to think that it was "back to basics time" with Turkey Hill. We uncapped the container to find loads of choco chips and few cookie dough pieces. The ice cream didn't have any real smell and the consistency was not very creamy (probably due to only 25% saturated fat). The cookie dough itself was gritty in texture and flavorful. I just wished there were more chunks and for as many choco chips as there were, they didn't have much of a flavor at all! Bummer. The ice cream itself was pretty good and was by far the best part about the concoction.

FRED - Turkey Hill "Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough" is a pretty standard looking ice cream from the outside. The promise of "brown sugar and molasses flavored ice cream" in combination with chocolate chip cookie dough pieces sounded interesting, mostly because most other ice cream manufacturers just use a vanilla ice cream base. Unfortunately, that's about where the interesting part of this ice cream ended. When we opened the container, there was only one chocolate chip cookie dough piece to be seen. Turkey Hill's "Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough" looked more like a non-alien-green "Mint Chocolate Chip" ice cream. Thankfully, there was some redemption in that the ice cream tasted good enough. There was no aftertaste, but there also weren't many chocolate chip cookie dough pieces to be found. I felt like I was on an ice cream treasure hunt, but there was never any prize to be found. There were FAR more chips than cookie dough and this would have been a Cone Up review if it were opposite.

FEATURED ICE CREAM REVIEW

Edy's 'Maxx Chocolate Cookies 'N Cream Collision'

"Chocolate Ice Cream with Chocolate Cookies and Chocolaty Chunks"
KRIS - Total: 11 (out of 20)
Edy's Ice Cream has a pint-sized version called "Edy's Maxx." Finally, their version of instant gratification! Made to rip of the lid, grab your spoon and dive right in in the parking lot, this ice cream was sold properly in a convenience store. Printed right on the label were the words "satisfaction guaranteed." When is the last time you have heard that phrase used for ice cream? I felt like I just bought a large appliance! With that claim, this ice cream has a lot to live up to.

First, and foremost: what caught my eye was the fact that the container was black with a beefy, chunky, in-your-face font. It looked like a "man's ice cream" (whatever that means). I felt like I should be driving a big truck or working heavy machinery in the presence of this ice cream. All joking aside, I liked the look. It was different and eye-catching with its metal on black motif.

Edy's Maxx "Chocolate Cookies n' Cream Collision" (again with the vehicle terminology) is the combination of chocolate ice cream, chocolate cookies and "chocolaty chunks." With 35% of your Daily Saturated Fat Value, this was not a super premium full-fat ice cream. It set up a little airier and lighter in body.

Under the lid was chocolate colored ice cream, loaded with cookies and chunks from the get-go which is good since there isn't a lot of room in a pint to hold back the good stuff! It was over-filled, reaching over the top of the container and it smelled like chocolate ice cream.

I could hear Fred's first bite; an audible crunch from one of the chocolaty chunks. Cookie and chunks were in every bite. The "Maxx" was living up to its claim. My problem with the flavor of the ice cream stemmed from the thought that it tasted like a fake chocolate cereal; like Count Chocula. And while used to love the Count growing up, I want my ice cream to taste real.

The cookie bits were tiny, which was a touch disappointing but acceptable. The cookies were very soggy, but had a good flavor. They tasted like the chocolate part of a chocolate sandwich cookie. I was definitely left wanting more from the cookies.

Now, the chocolaty chunks were a horse of a different color. They tasted like the real deal and were varied in size. Most were about the size of a Pez candy bit. This chocolate tasted of good quality.

The price point rings in lower than its super premium neighbors, which it should. Premium ice creams, though in the same sized containers should not be priced the same as super premium.

Overall, the ice cream was a nice find in its convenience size. I wasn't a fan of many parts to this ice cream and would only buy this size again if I picked a tried and true flavor from Edy's. I'm not sure a "Maxx" quantity of bleh is better than quality of anything. I guess I should write them and ask them what happens when my satisfaction wasn't met by their guarantee.
FRED - Total: 11 (out of 20)
What could possibly be unlikable about a "MAXX" ice cream? Doesn't everybody want more from their ice cream? Unfortunately, Edy's MAXX "Chocolate Cookies 'N Cream Collision" left me wanting just as much more as if I'd had some store brand chocolate ice cream.

Let's start with the positive. There's no doubt that the Edy's MAXX "Chocolate Cookies 'N Cream Collision" ice cream container will catch your eye. With a black background, an image full of chocolate, and a huge "MAXX," it's hard to think that this ice cream is going to be anything other than a complete chocolate overload. Because of that, anything less than complete chocolate ice cream overload was going to be a disappointment.

I must take up a little space to ask who uses the double-X anymore? "MAXX?" Really? Wasn't that something that was big in the 80s or 90s? I realize that everything old is new again, but I think we could have left the double-Xing of words behind with parachute pants and laser backgrounds for portraits.

Once again, upon opening the container of Edy's MAXX "Chocolate Cookies 'N Cream Collision" ice cream (that really is a very long title for just a pint of ice cream), there was no seal. I'm kind of getting tired of Edy's not putting some sort of seal on their ice cream. Most of the other major players in the ice cream industry either have a tamper-proof lid or some sort of seal over the ice cream when you lift the lid. Not Edy's. It's time for them to put a bit more effort into protecting our ice cream.

Let there be no mistake. This ice cream looks like chocolate ice cream with chocolate with a serving of chocolate and a side of chocolate. And if there was any doubt as to how much chocolate there was going to be, it even smelled full of chocolate. "Would you like some ice cream with your chocolate?" passed through my thoughts.

I was quickly tired of looking at Edy's MAXX "Chocolate Cookies 'N Cream Collision" ice cream and got my first spoonful. That first spoonful had two chunks of chocolate and one cookie part. The chunks were a good size and had a good taste, but the cookie part was a bit soft and mushy. A few bites later, I was up to a total of four chocolate chunks and still just one cookie part. A few more bites and I had a total of five chocolate chunks and just two cookie parts. So much for "MAXX."

Relenting on the idea that this ice cream would be stuffed and overloaded with chocolate, I kept wondering why it wasn't very chocolately in general. After all, when you get an ice cream that has the words "MAXX" and "Chocolate" in the title, you expect a full chocolate flavor, right? I decided to just try some of the chocolate ice cream by itself, without any extras and that's when I figured it out: the chocolate ice cream itself isn't very chocolatey. It's bland chocolate. And because of that the extras only bring it up to just-above-normal chocolate ice cream. It's like somebody at Edy's had a great idea, made an overloaded chocolate ice cream, gave it to a non-chocolate lover and that person freaked out and told them it had too much chocolate, so they fixed it by using a bland chocolate ice cream as a base.

Unfortunately, for this chocolate lover, I would rather just have a good regular chocolate ice cream or regular Cookies and Cream ice cream. The promise of Edy's MAXX "Chocolate Cookies 'N Cream Collision" just doesn't come through and makes it a big disappointment.