N!CK's Light Ice Cream

HAPPY NATIONAL ICE CREAM DAY!

[By Nick] It’s not every day I get sent ice cream anymore, let alone an ice cream with my name on it! N!CK’s generously sent me 6 of their “Swedish-style ice cream” pints to try.

Great Value Circus Cookie Ice Cream

Testing, testing... Is this thing on?!

Nick here and I’m not 100% sure why. The coronavirus has made everything crazy to say the least. Now it seems to be that today's date means something to someone. Hmm, what could it be? Ahhh yes, it’s my 8 year anniversary of my first ever review.

Now don’t call this a comeback, this is and will always be the Dubba show. I just have a lot of free time on my hands these day. Why not fill it with some ice cream reviews?

Honestly, this year's releases have been a bit lackluster for my likes. Nothing too crazy has been released. If there’s a trend to be seen, animal crackers are hot this year. Can’t blame them, they’re adorable animal shaped cookies, what’s there not to like? Target even covers those babies in white chocolate. Oh yeah, because the cookies themselves need that to taste good.

I’m getting side tracked and talking about competitors, some things never change. That said, let’s get into today’s special review.

Great Value Circus Cookie Ice Cream

sweet cream ice cream with animal cookie pieces and pink icing swirl

A Message from Nick

It’s with a heavy spoon and a full bowl that I bid farewell to On Second Scoop. While my role has diminished over the years with other responsibilities, I’ve always been here in the background. Talking with Dubba, giving feedback or just plainly making fun of him.

I’m not leaving for any negative reasons. It’s not you, it’s me. I was offered a position at a major frozen dessert company that I couldn’t turn down. While you won’t be able to read my few and far between reviews anymore, you still can keep tabs on me and what I’m doing on instagram (@nickrovo)

Thank you for all your continued support throughout the past 6 years. And thank you to Dubba for all he has done for me as a mentor, a friend and as a father figure. I wouldn’t have this opportunity if it wasn’t for him putting his faith in me all those years back. I’m not crying, you’re crying. With that, I bid you all farewell.

This isn’t goodbye, this is I’ll see you in the ice cream aisle soon.

-Nick

High Road Malt Shop Sundae Ice Cream

[By Nick] 6 years, I’ve been writing about ice cream for 6 years. Sure, it’s not in the same capacity as I used to but it’s still astonishing to say the least. Without Dubba, none of this would’ve even been possible. I went from some kid talking to him daily about new products on the market to (in my eyes) one of his best friends (or annoyances). Of course without you all, this site wouldn’t have even existed in the first place. So thank you all for your continued support not just for me but for Dubba, On Second Scoop and the frozen dessert world as a whole.

Recently High Road sent me a care package out of the blue with a bunch of their new products. I’ll never complain about free ice cream. Sadly, half the container died in transit. Thankfully, the one flavor that stood out the most to me survived the trek.

High Road Malt Shop Sundae Ice Cream

Malted Sweet Cream, Jammy Cherries, Praline Peanuts, Caramel Fudge

Ample Hills Star Wars Ice Cream

[By Nick] A long time ago in a freezer aisle far, far away... Actually it was last week at my local Whole Foods that I spotted the Ample Hills x Star Wars collaboration while waiting to go see Black Panther. (Not a movie critic by any means but it was one of the best marvel movies to date!) I was honestly surprised to even encounter Ample Hills outside of NYC let alone 6 pints including these 3 pints. As you know, Dubba and I are nerds, so I was definitely excited. However, the $9.99 price tag left me conflicted. Did I want to review these flavors for you all? Yes. Did I want to spend $30+ on 3 pints of ice cream? Nope, that’s just insane to me especially when I’ve been making my own ice cream as of late. Thankfully the kind folks at Whole Foods hooked me up with the trio to try.

So let’s plunge into deep space and kick this review into hyperdrive!

We’ll start things out on the dark side with our Sith friends in the First Order.

Talenti Almond Butter & Honey Gelato #49

[By Nick, New for 2018] The new products are coming! The new products are coming!! I’ve been seeing Dubba post about all the new stuff showing up on shelves this year but haven’t had any luck finding any of them. Until recently, I first found the new Magnum Ice Cream tubs which was pretty exciting. What was more exciting was finding this guy hiding in a sea of Haagen Dazs.

Talenti Almond Butter & Honey Gelato #49

Almond Butter Gelato with a Honey Swirl

Halo Top Pancakes & Waffles Light Ice Cream

[By Nick] Welcome to 2018, everyone! Are you planning on cutting back on your ice cream intake this year? For better or (more than likely) for worse, there’s a scary amount of low calorie options on the market right now. It seems like “good for you” ice creams have become all the rage with Talenti recently jumping on board. It’s been awhile however since we’ve taken a look at the brand that pretty much started this trend.

Halo Top Pancakes & Waffles Light Ice Cream

Pancake flavored light ice cream, waffle cone crunch
and a maple syrup swirl (Educated guess)

High Road Caramel Pecan Ice Cream

[Reader Note: High Road has checked in with us and has offered to send a fresh pint to Nick so that he can verify if he got an off pint or not.]

[By Nick] Has it already been 6 months since my last review? Time really does fly. Between my son and the doughnut shop, time to formally write a review seems to slip away. That and I’m honestly pretty lazy. But hey, I’m here now and ready to try a brand that’s new to the site but not new to us. High Road has been on our radars for years. They’re a brand that touts themselves as a culinary inclined business as you can probably tell by their “made by chefs” tagline. Not to rain on anyone’s parades but most ice cream companies do rely on chefs to help curate their flavors. We haven’t been able to find them in our stores up North. Well up until recently when I stumbled upon a few of their flavors at my local Shop Rite.

High Road Caramel Pecan Ice Cream

Praline Pecans in a Rich Brown Butter Caramel Ice Cream

Haagen-Dazs Espresso Chocolate Cookie Crumble

[By Nick, New for 2017] Hey everyone! Today marks 5 years Dubba has put up with my nonsense. While I haven't been able to write as much as I'd like to recently, I still love seeing all of your comments. Looking back on when I started, I never thought I would've lasted this long. Dubba has become one of my best friends and I couldn't thank him enough for all he has done for me. I'd also like to thank you all. You've all given me a confidence that I never quite had before. Your feedback has helped me not only grow as a writer but as an individual. I've learned a lot in the past 5 years and hopefully great things will be coming in the near future. Onward to the review!

Haagen-Dazs Espresso Chocolate Cookie Crumble Ice Cream

coffee ice cream swirled with cookie crumbles
and sprinkled with chocolate espresso flakes

Ben & Jerry's Urban Bourbon Ice Cream

[By Nick, New for 2017] Seeing as Dubba has had the photos for this review for a couple of weeks now, maybe I should send him some words to go with it.

Ben & Jerry's Urban Bourbon Ice Cream

burnt caramel ice cream with almonds, fudge flakes & bourbon caramel swirls

Gelato Fiasco Chocolate Raspberry Jam Gelato

[By Nick, 2017 only] The lovely folks over at Gelato Fiasco sent both Dubba and I some free samples of their latest flavors plus a few other gems like a reformulated version of my beloved Torched Marshmallow S'mores Gelato. Out of the four new flavors being rolled out right now, this one caught my attention the most.

Gelato Fiasco Chocolate Raspberry Jam Gelato

Raspberry Jam swirled into Creamy Chocolate Gelato with Chocolate Bar Chunks

Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Pint Slices

[By Nick, New for early 2017, discontinued] 

After numerous failed attempts to find something new to review besides these pint slices, I guess I'm stuck with them. Let's take at my 2nd crack into this line up.

Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Pint Slices

Chocolate Ice Cream Bars with Fudge Brownies,
Covered in a Dark Chocolatey Coating

Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pint Slice

[By Nick, New for early 2017, Discontinued] Looks like Ben & Jerry's is trying to bring something new to the novelty game but the concept doesn't excite me all that much. It's not revolutionary and at least their old novelties had some creativity to them. However, people who can't control themselves around a pint now have a portioned control version of B&J's that doesn't come in a ridiculously small cup. Dubba has already covered the Peanut Butter Cup one and is planning on reviewing the Americone Dream version as well. That leaves me with Chocolate Fudge Brownie and...

Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pint Slice

Vanilla ice cream bars with the gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough
and fudge flakes, covered in a dark chocolatey coating

Hood Peanut Butter Pie Ice Cream

[By Nick, New for 2017] Time to officially kick of the 2017 ice cream season with the first brand spanking new product of the year!

Hood Peanut Butter Pie Ice Cream

Marshmallow Flavored Reduced Fat Ice Cream
with a Peanut Butter Swirl and Graham Pie Crust Pieces

Stewart's Shops Oatmeal Cranberry Cookie Ice Cream

[By Nick] It seems like oatmeal cookies are finally getting some love in the ice cream world. After Ben & Jerry's killing off Oatmeal Cookie Chunk, the market was pretty barren in the oatmeal depart. In the past couple of years, Hershey's and Talenti both put out there own respectable options. Now there's a limited time option perfect for winter time out in the ice cream world.

Stewart's Shops Oatmeal Cranberry Cookie Ice Cream

Oatmeal flavored Ice Cream with a Cranberry Swirl and Oatmeal Cookie Streusel

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

Blue Bunny S'more Please Ice Cream

[By Nick, New for Summer 2016] Oh Blue Bunny, I haven't been able to sing praise of your most recent packaging redesign. Clear containers have been relegated to the pint world for far too long. I've been waiting for a brand like yours to finally jump on the bandwagon. I mean just look at this packaging. It's easily an eye catcher when you're in the sea of the ice cream isle. It's so clean and ahhh, I love it. Yes, I'm a marketing geek but you have to admit this was a smart move by Blue Bunny. Oh wait, you're here to read about the actual ice cream, aren't you? Fine, you win.

Blue Bunny S'more Please Ice Cream

Graham Flavored Ice Cream, Chocolate Flavored Chunks,

Marshmallow Swirl and a Graham Cracker Swirl

Breyers Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato Indulgences

[By Nick, new for 2016] Seeing as Dubba didn't cover any of the new Breyers Gelato this year, I guess it's time to take one for the team.

Breyers Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato Indulgences

Chocolate Gelato with Hazelnut Flavor, 

Chocolate Hazelnut Sauce and Chocolate Curls

Turkey Hill Dark Chocolate Caramel Espresso Ice Cream

[By Nick, Limited for 2016] It's been quite some time since I've done a review. Man am I slacking. Well Dubba was no help seeing as how he's covered most of the new products already this year. That is until I found this little gem right here.

Turkey Hill Dark Chocolate Caramel Espresso Ice Cream

Espresso Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Caramel Truffles and a Sea Salt Caramel Swirl

Cold Stone Creamery Loaded Peanut Butter Batter Ice Cream

[By Nick, New for 2016] I've been hearing news about some new cookie batter flavors at Cold Stone. I wasn't too excited about it all since the two flavors I heard about weren't all that creative. However, I just so happened to find myself at Cold Stone so I was debating on trying one of them. That was until I saw a sign for this little gem that wasn't in their original promotion.

Cold Stone Creamery Loaded Peanut Butter Batter Ice Cream

Peanut Butter Cookie Batter Ice Cream

with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Fudge and Caramel