Saturday, January 7, 2017

Ben & Jerry's Brewed to Matter Ice Cream


[By Nick, Target Exclusive] It's a new year and I'm going to attempt to return to the old me. While I won't be doing multiple reviews per week for all of you to enjoy, I'm going to try to get at least one review in per week. Let's start this streak with a Target exclusive that has eluded me for the past year and a half.

Ben & Jerry's Brewed to Matter Ice Cream
Coffee Ice Cream with Fudge Chunks & a Brownie Batter Swirl

This flavor was released back in the Summer of 2015 but every time I went to find it, it was never there. Actually, Dubba and I knew about this one at the end of 2014 because of our super secret intel... intel I almost got buried in the flavor graveyard over when I visited Ben & Jerry's headquarters. I gave up on finding it to be honest and even forgot it existed. That was until I was wondering through Targets frozen section and there it was staring back at me. Hopefully this one will be worth the wait.

There's a coffee aroma coming off this one which is a plus. I don't know if it's me but that coffee base isn't like it is in their other coffee flavors. The flavor is a bit mild and not robust like in other flavors like Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz or Coffee Toffee Bar Crunch. It's not what I was expecting and it's a bit disappointing.

The fudge chunks are rich, milky and prevalent throughout the pint. Ben & Jerry's is always solid when it comes to their fudge chunks and that's nothing different here. What interested me the most but also disappointed me the most about the flavor is the brownie batter swirl. There's no way anyone could tell this apart from a fudge swirl. I was hoping for a thicker, slightly gritty texture from it to give me the "lick the spoon" feeling. That's not what you get here. You get a thin chocolate swirl that's okay and all but has nothing brownie batter about it besides the color.

With everything combined, this one was very lackluster to me. Nothing about this shined and was by far my worst coffee flavor from Ben & Jerry's. That coffee base was way too weak and the swirl wasn't anything special. I found myself digging for the fudge chunks and calling it a day. If you haven't been able to find this one like me, don't worry about it. You're not missing a thing.

Verdict?  Terrible way to start out 2017
Buy Again?  Nope


11 comments:

  1. HA! Obviously I know of both words but it never dawned on me that elude is kind of the opposite of allude. Typo corrected.

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  2. Starting 2017 with Ben n Jerry's is a sure fire way to know its going to be bad lol.

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  3. How's the baby Nick? Hoping the little guy will love ice cream as much as the rest of us.

    I was very excited to try this when it first came out but it was a total miss for me.

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  4. Anon #1, thanks for the correction!
    Bob, what's with the Ben & Jerry's hate? Those $10+ pints are messing with your head.
    Ano #2, the little guy is doing awesome. My fiancée gave him a little bit of plain vanilla a little while ago and he loved it! You can follow me on Instagram (@fyeahsundaes) to see the little man.

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  5. Stop eating garbage ice cream and get some Little G!

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  6. Anon #3, just because it cost $18 a pint doesn't mean it's good. What are you really paying for to get to that price point? Nothing more than twice the mix ins of most brands.

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  7. Ben n Jerry is totally played out. They basically ran out of innovation on what they do best, which is flavors based off of baked goods like Oatmeal Cookie or Key Lime Pie or Tirimisu etc. They just have stopped introducing a lot of new flavors and are in a stagnant period.

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  8. Thanks for sharing your Instagram Nick! The baby is beyond adorable and your fiancé is lovely. Beautiful family. Glad he liked the vanilla.

    I agree with you on the Little G. I would try it if it were sold locally for a reasonable price but have a feeling it would be too mix in heavy for me.

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  9. @Nick

    *shudders* $18 ice cream?? *drools*

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  10. I think its kind of a fallacy to compare a product like Ben and Jerry's to a craft ice cream like little g's (or s&s, ample hills, etc). It'd be like holding edy's to the same standard as HD or B&J, or chips ahoy to mom's homemade cookies. They're very different products for very different consumers, and to knock one for being on a different level than the other doesn't exactly make sense to me.

    Sorry for such a boring post. Dubba and Nick, thanks for such consistently great reviews! Nick, glad to hear your family is doing well.

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