Tuesday, May 12, 2020

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

Ahhh nothing says a trend is already played out than when Walmart jumps on the train. This isn't the first mainstream company to dip into the animal kingdom. Expectations aren’t high but don’t judge an ice cream by its maker or something like that. Also, the branding is cute. Just look at that adorable hippo!

At first look, nothing impressive. 

Scooping down into it reveals the same thing. Where are those thicc (Dubba, you better not fix my spelling. The kids spell it like that!) [Dubba: Lies!] vibrant pink icing swirls? I can kinda see it but it’s definitely not as colorful as I expected. Being a sweet cream ice cream with animal crackers that also don’t have much color, kinda disappointed visually.

But looks don’t matter, right? It the deep down flavor that counts! Was I always this corny?! Ugh. Back to business. For a sweet cream base, this is super sweet. Almost frosting like in taste. I’d even go out on a limb and say it has a sugar cookie vibe going on. It’s quite tasty on its own which is a plus. The texture is as expected, airy with a little bit of gummy bite to it. Not the worst I’ve had by far.

The frosting swirl is as lackluster in taste as it is in appearance. I really can’t differentiate it from the base. Even trying it on its own, it’s adds a little bit of change in texture being relatively thick as a frosting swirl should be. Outside of that, it’s just forgettable compared to the base. Kinda striking out but there’s animal crackers in here still! Well kinda... these things are itty bitty. I forgot about the penny test but just know, they’re way tinnier than a dime. Also they’re animal crackers. They don’t have much flavor on their own. This might be shocking but they’re on the same level as the swirl. Adds texture with crunchiness (thankfully not soggy) but add nothing to the overall flavor.

Overall, very lackluster from a store brand that actually has a lot of winners in their line up. Better luck next time, Great Value!

On Second Scoop: Yeah I thought maybe a second scooping would help things out. Go in with an open mind and lower expectations. Swirl doesn’t get any better, cookies don’t get any bigger. Exactly as I expect.

Verdict?  Hopefully this is a short lived trend
Buy Again?  Nope!


10 comments:

  1. Hey Nick, just curious, have you tried the brand of ice cream called Nick's? I'd probably try any ice cream that donned my name, just to try as a novelty, so I was curious. Though I guess Blue Bunny comes close...

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  2. Hi Nick! Great to see you back.

    When I saw the ice cream named Nick I was hopeful you had started your own line.

    Doesn't look to be you but wondering what you think of the brand?

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  3. Hi Nick and welcome back! Please stick around, always enjoyed reading your reviews.

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  4. I don't get the hype over frosted animal cookies for me these are too sweet.

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  5. Completely unrelated to this Circus Cookie ice cream, but just today, I saw some pint art for a new Ben & Jerry's Netflix collab, a flavor called Boots on the Mooo'n. I haven't seen any other info on it, so just thought I'd ask an ice cream insider if you know any other details?

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  6. note: Nick has been trying to reply to your comments but apparently his web browser hates him :)

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  7. Rabbit Girl/Anon #1, I have seen the N!CK brand in stores. Definitely caught my attention having my name, but sadly not my line and I've yet to try it. Honestly, a bit too healthy to be something I'd put my name on!

    Anon #2, Thank you for the kind words! I'll be here and there during this chaos more than likely. Let me know what Dubba hasn't covered these past few years you need to know about!

    Alek, to each their own. Definitely a trend that'll be short lived in my opinion.

    May, I haven't heard anything about it, sadly. I'm pretty in the loop with launches so I'll do some digging. My educated opinion, I think it will be like their Marshmallow Moon limited edition from a few years back. It was only available online so makes sense to make it nationwide.

    Dubba, just like old times!

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  8. Dubba, is it possible Nick relay his replies to you and you post them in his stead?

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  9. Oooh, it seems more interesting than Marshmallow Moon, based on the art (which I found on Target's website, but which is now also gone-- so I think it was accidentally leaked)... from what I remember, this is a Netflix "Space Force" collab, so it has a sugar cookie core orbited by chocolate cows and toffee clusters. Definitely sounds entertaining! Maybe it'll "launch" when the show premiers!

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  10. Hey, it's great to see a guest review from Nick! :D

    Hope everything is going well for you! You too dubba! you both take care, now! :D

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