Enlightened Cookie Dough Bites and Sugar-free Cones

Last week, Enlightened announced their new sugar-free cones. They come in at just 30 calories a pop because of sugar replacement. Now, you know that sugar replacement is not my thing, so I called in my buddy Eric to see if he would be interested in trying these out for us.

Why yes, that is Enlightened light ice cream in that Enlightened cone. You see, they didn't just send him the new cones, they also sent...

Pretty cool right? He got cones, 2 pints, and these Keto cookie dough bites that were announced back in September. The bites were his favorite part and also come in chocolate chip, fudge brownie, peanut butter, and birthday cake flavors.

They kind of look like the Ben & Jerry's ones don't they? Our friends with allergies need to be careful though as almonds are the main ingredient in this treat.

If you are curious, Eric greatly preferred the "ooey, gooey, savory and salty" Caramel Fudge Pretzel pint over the artificial tasting Cookies & Cream pint.

That about wraps up this new treat announcement. Thanks to Enlightened for the free samples and thanks to Eric for trying these! [Time to see what else I can get sent his way]

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.

High Protein, Low Sugar... Lowering Demand?

Look, I've never been a fan of the high protein, low sugar game. A lot of it comes from disdain for sugar substitutes. It's fine if you are cool with them, whether they are fake or all natural like stevia, but I've been against them since I was a kid (you think I joke, but I do not, I've always been distrustful of non-sugar sugary things). Anyway, I saw this at Stop & Shop:

"s w e l l" (formerly known as ProYo) has closed up shop. 

I'll be honest (aka a jerk) and admin that part of me gets annoyed when people would call Halo Top or one of the others "ice cream" when it clearly is not. I was even more annoyed when Halo Top cherry picked some marketing data to say they were the best selling pint in the country (this 2017 stat is still quoted in articles today).

Well, you know what happened? Everybody rushed in to the party (just see my proof here). Thing is, not everybody brought their A game. Well, some did, but everybody brought something so it was just a matter of time before companies started to fail.

First to go? The poorly named "s w e l l". I think Proyo would have been better off staying as Proyo. The uninspired pint design that doesn't catch your eye and the name that feels dumb to say were signs of future doom to me. I'm not saying that I'm happy they are gone, it's never cool when a business fails or somebody loses a job. I'm just saying that the healthy ice cream segments turns over every few years and this is a sign of that.

Who do you think will be the next to go? Breyers hasn't exactly put much in to Delights recently (2019 note: stop & shop also clearancing Breyers delights)

Foot note: I want to say that I saw these guys online before, but talk about being late to the party. "Be Light" light ice cream just hit the market a month ago. There's 6 flavors and 30g of protein per pint, which if you do the math, is 7.5g per half cup serving. They rely on Erythritol for much of their sweetness like many other brands. They also use Stevia.

Foot note #2: I should have mentioned that Yuengling's also jumped on this bandwagon this year. Ugggg. They should have spent time coming up with new flavors instead. (FYI Aureus bought Yuengling's this past summer)

Foot Note #3: ....and Trader Joe's just jumped on the bandwagon too... do these companies not watch the freezer aisle?

Foot Note #4: Just realized that "Sweet Habit" both debuted and disappeared in 2018. Guess their big gimmick of being in a quart instead of a pint didn't help. 4 flavors came and went.

Arctic Zero Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert

[New for 2018] Remember how I got an email from Arctic Zero's PR firm asking if I wanted to try their new (ultra) light ice cream lineup? I had only seen two of their new seven flavors so I said send the rest of the line up over! The package arrived that Friday. I opened it and discovered...

Arctic Zero Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert

Slim Twin Ice Cream

*** Please Note, Three Twins has gone out of business ***

[By CT, 2018-2019] Over Labor Day weekend, my 9-year-old son made the observation that I had put on some weight. A quick stop on the scale and a look back and records of my weight revealed that in the last two years, I had put on about 25 pounds. It was an eye-opening moment and caused me to quickly adjust my food intake over the past couple weeks.

With a reinvigorated desire to shed pounds and eat better, what's a guy to do if he wants some ice cream? Well, along comes Dubba and says, "Hey, wanna try some Slim Twin Ice Cream?"

Arctic Zero Light Ice Cream

Alrighty, time for a round up of all but one of the new Arctic Zero light ice cream. No I'm not skipping the Cookies & Cream flavor I already tried, I'm actually skipping the peanut butter flavor. See, Arctic Zero's PR firm offered to ship over free samples of their entire line up. Considering that I'm am a little curious about the flavors I can't find, I said yes!

Arctic Zero Light Ice Cream

ProYo becomes swell

For a moment today, I thought I found a new product line. I've seen high protein low fat ice cream ProYo pints before on occasion, but today the spot was taken by new light turqoise containers. They almost look delicate. Ok, maybe I'm forcing that word in there. See, ProYo has ditched their "manly" protein supplement looking pints and gone with a new name and new packaging to be more attractive and less confusing. If you think I'm being harsh, I'm actually just paraphrasing their press release. The pints do stand out on the shelf, but it's also kind of boring. What do you think?

swell low fat ice cream

high protein - lower sugar - by ProYo - click for larger image

Chilly Cow Light Ice Cream

At this point, it feels like just about every wants in on the ultra light / sugar replacement trend right? Maybe in today's world it's just easier to jump on a bandwagon than it was in the past? My point is, have you noticed that Blue Bunny didn't jump on it? Oh wait.... they did! Chilly Cow is made by Wells Enterprises, the folks behind Blue Bunny Ice Cream. I first spied it way back at the beginning of March. It was $5.49 for a two pack (equivalent of a pint) at Price Chopper.

Chilly Cow Light Ice Cream

Kemps JoyFULL Scoops Frozen Yogurt

[New for 2018] It's been a tough week and a long day, so let's do a quick post. Kemps, the midwest folks who seem to put out a new froyo every six months, have merged their froyo love with the current annoying trend of replacement sugar in products to bring down the calorie count. Sorry, you know the sugar replacement trend bugs me more than it should.

JoyFULL Scoops sounds like Lovin Scoopful and Sweet Scoops decided to team up.

I thought the packaging was fairly catchy which is a good thing because I was not expecting to find Kemp's at my local Price Chopper. There were four flavors in all. Mint Chocolate Chip, Sea Salt Caramel, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. I was just about to grab that last when I decided to read the ingredients...

Yup, Erythritol and Monk Fruit Extract. No thanks. Nevermind. Look, if you prefer these two over splenda or calories, that's fine by me, that's why I'm pointing these out incase they grab your attention. The poor Yo2 lineup didn't last very long (reviews here and here) so we'll see if this line has better luck. If you wind up trying these, please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Good night! More new stuff tomorrow!

Arctic Zero Light Ice Cream Review

[New for 2018] So, are you surprised at how many companies have jumped on the (ultra) light ice cream bandwagon? I don't know if I am or not, but what did surprise me was when Arctic Zero decided to jump on this bandwagon with 7 new light ice creams. While most companies are reducing down to light ice cream,  the people behind a frozen dessert actually went up the ice cream food chain. Let's see if it's going to work out for them.

Arctic Zero Cookies & Cream Light Ice Cream

"creamy vanilla flavor with chocolate sandwich cookies"

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)

Talenti adding low calorie flavors in 2018

[New for 2018] Well well well, color me (not really) surprised. Unilever has jumped on the low cal (via sugar replacement) bandwagon. It's kind of funny because I feel like Unilever tries to pretend that they don't meddle with Talenti, but then something like this comes out. For all of our friends who prefer low cal stuff, I present to you....

Talenti's 120 calories per serving Gelato

Are you afraid of 2018?

Geez, could I make that headline sound any more like clickbait? Thing is, I do have something to discuss. I usually do a preliminary check on what the top ten new reviews of the year will be sometime in early December. Things don't change much at the end of the year so it gives me a sense of where we have been and where we are going. For the past 9 years, the top ten has effectively been "what has Ben & Jerry's been up to?"

Well, not this year. The #1 post of the year is my end of 2016 review of enlightened ice cream with a healthy 30% margin over it's nearest competitor, my mid summer post about Breyers going after Halo Top. That post has a 60% margin over what will be my number one new review of 2017. In other words, "healthy" ice cream is the most popular topic on a blog that has spent almost a decade enjoying premium and super premium ice cream. It also means that the most popular topic is something I can't eat because it doesn't make me feel well. This is not good.

Am I saying I'm giving up? No, that's not it. The blog still had a respectable half a million pageviews so that's reason enough to press on, but I have been using this downtime to think about how to handle 2018. Well, that and a boatload of work to do in the real world that will keep me busy for at least another month. In 2018 I want to try harder to adapt to our modern world but I don't want to be here just to add noise in the background, I want to continue to be a reliable (and relevant) place to get freezer aisle ice cream info to you, my fellow ice cream enthusiast.

Alright, time for some reading and then off to bed. Top ten will be up next week.

Revelé Whipped Gelato

[seems to be discontinued, website & social media offline - 12/2020]

About two months ago, I came across a fascinating product. Fascinating because it was a new low calorie frozen treat that wasn't relying on Erythritol or any other sugar replacement. Instead, it was whipping in more air to reach that magical double digit calorie mark. I thought "great! I need to try this stuff" before quickly realizing that they are based in Orange County, CA. As luck would have it, they contacted me through instagram and offered to send free samples. How could I say no?

Revelé Whipped Gelato

Three Twins joins the Halo Top bandwagon

Look, this isn't the first trend we've seen ripple through the freezer aisle, but for whatever reason is does seem quicker than say the greek froyo trend. The latest to join the high protein, low cal, low fat frozen dessert trend are the folks behind Three Twins ice cream. Not too long ago, they were announcing a mainstream version of their organic ice cream and now we have...

Slim Twin by Three Twins Ice Cream

There will be seven flavors to start: vanilla, chocolate, coffee, mint chip, cookies & cream, lemon cookie, and cardamom. Each pint packs 24 grams of protein. They seemed inspired by the regular three twins lineup and that should be a good thing.

The slim twin webpage doesn't have nutrition info posted yet, but the PR person told me that it's "cane sugar, monk fruit, and small amounts of erythritol". I had hoped for something without erythritol but I guess I am out of luck.

At the moment it looks like it's going to start off as a west coast thing, but I felt it was important for everyone to see just how quickly things can change. To put that in question form: who do you think will jump on the bandwagon next? could we see weight watchers or healthy choice take the plunge? Haagen-Daz? Turkey Hill? Take a guess and leave it in the comments.

Parting thoughts: 1) I'm trying to get Nick to actually review a pint of Breyers Delights.
2) I apologize that my posting is still inconsistent since I was sick. I guess I'm using the slowness of the freezer aisle as an excuse to take better care of myself. In the past, I would force myself to post no matter what but recently I'm letting my self slide with a movie or early bedtime. Gotta recharge before ice cream 2018 starts. New review will be up on Monday.


UPDATE: I forgot to go back and check ingredients. So much for "small amounts of erythritol".

Slim Twin Vanilla = organic nonfat milk, organic egg yolk, organic milk protein concentrate, organic erythritol, organic soluble tapioca fiber, organic cream, organic vanilla extract, organic cane sugar, organic locust bean gum, organic monk fruit extract.

Granted I don't know the flavor to quantity ratio, but that order of ingredients does not match how it was described. That really annoys me since they were annoyed when I pointed out the erythritol... yet here we are and what's the fourth ingredient? erythritol.

Breyers Delights goes after Halo Top

[New for 2017] I've already seen a couple of our instagram buddies posting similar photos, but now it's my turn to unveil the new Breyers Delights line up that should be hitting your local freezer soon (Probably at $4.99 a pint). Unfortunately I won't be reviewing any of them because, like Halo Top and Enlightened, they are made with erythritol (and technically a little bit of Stevia).

Breyers Delights Low Fat Ice Cream

Enlightened Ice Cream

Originally my plan was to go one by one through the six free sample pints that Enlightened kindly sent over for review. See, while my area does have Enlightened bars available, I have yet to see the pints that they released at some point. The pint containers were originally clear but in the last few weeks Enlightened has let the world know that they have new colorful pint designs to get your attention. Basically they look more like Halo Top and less like Talenti now.

Six of the seven available Enlightened Ice Cream pints available

(peanut butter chocolate chip not shown)

Brio Frozen Dairy Dessert

Alrighty folks, I've got something for the wellness crowd today. That's not something I usually say, but it's a pretty important disclaimer on a review like this. I am Dubba and I love old fashion ice cream, I rarely dabble in Arctic Zero, Halo Top, or anything like that. However, Brio is a young company that has recently reformulated their product and they asked if I would be interested in trying some free samples. These samples will showcase a switch to organic milk, the addition of probiotics, and a new vanilla flavor in the lineup. That said, Brio still features a bunch of vitamins and protein in a product that is lower in fat and calories than your average ice cream.

Brio! Frozen Dairy Dessert
Tropical Mango, Cafe Latte, Vanilla Caramel
Very Strawberry, Dark Chocolate, Madagascar Vanilla

Arctic Zero Buttery Pecan Fit Frozen Dessert

[By Nick] Ahhh, it's been awhile since Arctic Zero has been on the site. Heck, I haven't tried a pint of this stuff since well before I wrote for On Second Scoop. They recently came out with a new line of five "chunky" pints. First off, I just love the irony in the name. Secondly though, I had no intentions of trying any of the flavors. Fool me once shame on you, fool me like 5 times, shame on me and my curiosity. That said, when I saw a pint of Buttery Pecan stocked at the Niskayuna Co-op, my curiosity took over once again. I have a problem and that problem is wanting to try every product on the market. Add the fact that it's butter pecan and there's no way I couldn't pick this one up. Wish me luck.

Arctic Zero CHUNKY ‎Buttery Pecan Fit Frozen Dessert

Maple Frozen Dessert with Bits of Pecans

Blue Bunny Sweet Freedom Butter Pecan A Light Ice Cream Review

[By Nick] Seeing as I had a good experience with Turkey Hill's No Sugar Added Butter Pecan light ice cream, I thought I might want to check out some other companies as well. Enter Blue Bunny's Sweet Freedom line.

Blue Bunny Sweet Freedom Butter Pecan 

Butter Pecan Light Ice Cream with Pecans (sweetened with Splenda)