Homemade Brand Cherry Cordial Ice Cream Review

[by Nick] Hey there On Second Scoopers! (I need to come up with a better name for you guys) I got you all a Valentine’s gift. Wait, what do you mean Valentine’s Day already happened? Are you sure it’s in  February every year? Well then, this is awkward. It’s the thought that counts right? I know the title gave it away but my gift to you is actually a gift from Homemade Brand seeing as they sent me this with all of the other products I’ve reviewed of theirs. Did I just admit to re-gifting something to you for Valentine’s Day? No wonder why I’m single… Forget what I said and let’s just move onto the ice cream.

According to Homemade Brand’s website, Cherry Cordial is their signature flavor. We all know I love cherries but when I think of cherry cordials, I think of those cheap chocolate covered cherries that taste as if a cherry drowned in sugar and was buried in “chocolate”.

Homemade’s take on cherry cordial is a bit different than what I’m accustomed to. Their flavor is composed of Amaretto ice cream with half maraschino cherries and Homemade dark chocolate chips mixed in. If you’re like me, you have absolutely no clue what amaretto is. After a quick google search, amaretto is a sweet, almond flavored, Italian liqueur. Well that makes sense as to why I wouldn’t know that seeing as I’m straight edge and all. Looking over the ingredients, there isn’t any mention of actual amaretto, or even almonds for that matter. I’m just going to guess that it falls under the whole “natural and artificial flavors” listing. Technicalities aside, I’m interested in how this will taste because I do love almonds and they do mix well with cherries. I’m also excited to try their homemade chocolate chips. They seem to make a big deal of them in the descriptions of their other products. Hopefully they’re able to live up to the hype.

I’m use to cherry flavors being more red than pink so I was still a little taken aback removing the lid. This one is a bit icier than the other flavors I’ve tried from Homemade Brand. I’ll just blame that on the fruit component.

Just like all of their offerings, the ice cream looks exactly like it does on the container. The flavor of this one is dominated by the maraschino cherries. Not knowing what amaretto tastes like, I can’t really say I tasted it or not. There was a hint of almond flavor every now and again but it was quickly quieted by the cherries. Adding to the cherry flavor of the base is the half maraschino cherries spread throughout the pint. I was expecting them to be icy but instead they were reminiscent of a cherry on a sundae.

Now I much prefer black cherries to maraschino cherries but they work nicely in this flavor especially with the dark chocolate chips. Calling them chips might be a stretch but what they lack in size they make up for in flavor and texture. There’s no mistaking that they’re dark chocolate but they’re not super bitter. They work well to temper the sweet cherries. I think I might like the texture they bring more than their flavor though. It reminds me of the hard shell topping you can buy and then break up into little pieces. They’re crunchiness is just addictive. I can see why they’re hyped so much.

I’ll be honest; I was a bit hesitant trying this one. The amaretto just made me a bit uneasy. I’m happy I tried this one with an open mind because it was pretty tasty. All in all this is a unique flavor and now I understand why it’s Homemade Brand’s signature flavor.

Oh wait; I just ate your Valentine’s gift…my bad. I’ll make up for it next year, I promise.

And for those wondering: Yes, I like this flavor more than Cherry Garcia ;]

Verdict?  Read Above
Buy Again?  Yeah

Dubba's Note: Since amaretto is almond flavor, I asked Nick to ask HMB brand if this is a nut-free product. Their response was "from the supplier of the Amaretto Flavor: This is a Natural and Artificial Flavor and contains No Allergens. No Tree Nuts ever came close to it."