Weird/Unusual Ice Cream flavors [Archive] - Straight Dope Message Board

BlackHeart

06-05-2006, 02:06 PM

Sweet Corn Flavored Ice Cream.

So.Damn.Good. :D mmmmmm...

But, everyone I try to share the goodness with thinks I am insane. And that NO WAY would a vegetable-flavored ice cream would taste good. Good. More for me!

You Dopers have weird/unusual Ice Cream flavors to share that is commercially available?

BlackHeart

06-05-2006, 02:08 PM

DUH :smack: Title of Thread should read UNUSUAL ok? uhm sowwy about that.
Or maybe a mod can help? heh

Infovore

06-05-2006, 02:10 PM

You Dopers have weird/unusual Ice Cream flavors to share that is commercially available?
Here you go--this should get you started... (http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/photospecials/graph/060528icecream/) :)

The Japanese have some weird ice cream flavors...

Push You Down

06-05-2006, 02:12 PM

Mahsti Malone's Ice Cream in LA has some great flavors. Saffran ice cream is delicious. There's also a vermicelli ice cream you can get that I've heard it good.

Violet (made from violet oil) smells and tastes like good soap.

BlackHeart

06-05-2006, 02:22 PM

Here you go--this should get you started... (http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/photospecials/graph/060528icecream/) :)

The Japanese have some weird ice cream flavors...

Oh man, hahah. I am planning to sample what you guys share but ..but but.. Damn. The faces on the pics tell it all. Gimme something that won't turn my tummy inside out. Then again, I am insane so I might just try Raw Horseflesh Ice Cream.

I've already tried Cheese Ice Cream they listed there. And that was good. Kinda like eating very cold cheesecake.

Keep it coming.

Malienation

06-05-2006, 02:31 PM

At a Chinese ice cream parlor in NYC's Chinatown, I tried Ginger ice cream and Lychee Nut ice cream.

Annie-Xmas

06-05-2006, 02:37 PM

My SIL the corn freak makes vanilla ice cream with brown sugar and adds creamed corn. It's not bad--sort of a cominbation of popcorn and vanilla milkshake.

Honey

06-05-2006, 03:11 PM

When I was a little girl my Grandmother always had Teaberry flavor ice cream in her freezer. It tasted just like teaberry gum. I haven't seen it in decades.

caveman

06-05-2006, 03:33 PM

cactus waltz

06-05-2006, 03:47 PM

I think the cookie doughflavour is crazy enough for a day. I guess I'm fairly conservative in my ideas of ice cream.

Though I wouldn't name violet as unusual.

BlackHeart

06-05-2006, 03:48 PM

As I do in all such threads, I'll mention Amy's Ice Cream and their assortment of wonderful flavors (http://www.amysicecream.com/icecream/flavors/index.asp), including Shiner Bock, Celis Raspberry, Guiness and Tuaca.

An officemate who went to Texas, not sure if it was Austin or Houston, brought back a big container of Ginger Ice Cream for us (in Toronto, Canada). Sadly, he said it had partially melted during the trip and had to refreeze it. He said it wasn't as good as it should be. :(

Hogwash

06-05-2006, 03:49 PM

If by 'commercially available' you include 'has been served at a restaurant' then try Egg and Smoked Bacon (http://www.alacuisine.org/alacuisine/2006/02/smoked_bacon_an.html) ice cream.

vix

06-05-2006, 03:50 PM

I've had chocolate garlic ice cream. It was surprisingly good. Not commercially available, though. I had it at a local garlic festival.

wevets

06-05-2006, 04:05 PM

There's a great little ice cream shop in Fairfax, CA that makes Lavender Honey Vanilla ice cream -aaararrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhh, that's good!

ASAKMOTSD

06-05-2006, 04:52 PM

Cold Stone Creamery had ginger wasabi ice cream. I was not adventurous enough to spend $5 to try it...

Tamryne

06-05-2006, 05:07 PM

Cold Stone Creamery had ginger wasabi ice cream. I was not adventurous enough to spend $5 to try it...

I worked at Coldstone when that flavor came out. I liked it, truly. Not enough that I would save a pint when it was discontinued, but a small cup was good. First ice cream that made me cry while eating it!

Sal Ammoniac

06-05-2006, 05:15 PM

I've had goat cheese, and this from a place that once, to my recollection, had fish chowder ice cream. I'm also partial to grapenut, which is traditional in New England, but probably a bit of a head-scratcher elsewhere.

JThunder

06-05-2006, 05:29 PM

Soylent green ice cream has a rather... non-descript flavor to it.

t-mobileguy

06-05-2006, 05:56 PM

Cold Stone Creamery had ginger wasabi ice cream. I was not adventurous enough to spend $5 to try it...

I came in to talk about just this…thing.

I tried some on a dare with my friends. I can’t even begin to describe the taste. It was like eating the rotting flesh from inside a dead rhinoceros, but worse. There will never be a worse atrocity against humanity than ginger wasabi ice cream

ouryL

06-05-2006, 05:59 PM

Black licorice flavored ice cream :eek:

lissener

06-05-2006, 06:17 PM

I make ginger-pistachio ice cream that's pretty good. There was a place in Chicago in the eighties that made some spectacular sweet potato ice cream. My grandfather likes black walnut ice cream, which is the only ice cream I've ever tasted that I had to spit out. He did get me liking tomato jam though.

RealityChuck

06-05-2006, 06:37 PM

I love green tea ice cream when I've had it at Japanese restaurants. Tried to make it at home, but it had too much vanilla.

ryobserver

06-05-2006, 06:45 PM

Damn. My idea of weird is peanut butter ice cream. Which is good, by the way.

Qadgop the Mercotan

06-05-2006, 07:32 PM

At Blackbird, 619 W. Randolph in Chicago, you can find:
I'm certainly not one for sweets, but the dessert menu was intrigiuing enough for me to give it a try. Our waitress recommended "coffee and cigarettes" which was a coffee meringue with a light toffee (?) layer, topped off with tobacco ice cream. Yes, you read correctly, tobacco ice cream. It was unlike anything I've tasted before. The ice cream had a vanilla flavor to it with a peppery aftertaste in the back of your throat.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/rrr/grapevine/2005/08.html

DanBlather

06-05-2006, 08:03 PM

In Boston we used to get Neapolitan ice cream which was alternating "stripes" of coffee, vanilla, and orange sherbert. It was delicious.

blondebear

06-05-2006, 09:07 PM

Anyone ever had Durian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian)-flavored ice cream?

(I haven't--my only durian experience was not all that pleasant...)

Caractacus Pott

06-06-2006, 01:08 AM

Saint Cad

06-06-2006, 02:21 AM

Black licorice flavored ice cream :eek:

I've had that before. YUM! :D

DMark

06-06-2006, 03:39 AM

I've had chocolate garlic ice cream. It was surprisingly good. Not commercially available, though. I had it at a local garlic festival.

I had the vanilla garlic ice cream version also (surprise, surprise) at a garlic festival. I agree, it wasn't bad. Don't know if I would exactly want to have it on my apple pie, but...

MrDibble

06-06-2006, 04:11 AM

Mangetout

06-06-2006, 05:13 AM

I've yet to try it, but I understand Brown Bread ice cream is really good; the bread is broken into small crumbs, mixed with sugar and toasted, then mixed in with a vanilla cream base.

singular1

06-06-2006, 06:45 AM

While on a business trip to Yakusuka, Japan a long time ago, we would stop at an ice cream store on the way home from work every day. On our last day there, I finally worked up the courage to try the soft-serve spinach ice cream. Didn't taste like spinach, didn't really taste like ice cream. Just tasted bad. But at least I tried it.............

Fromage A Trois

06-06-2006, 08:08 AM

I've yet to try it, but I understand Brown Bread ice cream is really good; the bread is broken into small crumbs, mixed with sugar and toasted, then mixed in with a vanilla cream base.
Yep, came in here to mention it. My girlfriend's college does it sometimes as part of hall dinner, and it is very nice. Not sure exactly how they make it but my guess lines up with your description.

I'm not sure how to describe it... it's sort of, well, sweet, but bread-flavoured... no, I got nothin'.

Ike Witt

06-06-2006, 10:45 AM

Soylent green ice cream has a rather... non-descript flavor to it.
Well, the taste varies from person to person.

Black licorice flavored ice cream :eek:
I remember as a kid trying Tiger Strip ice cream which was a mix of black licorice and orange flavoured ice creams.

The Blue-Sighted Shadow

06-06-2006, 11:32 AM

Black sesame seed ice cream. Creamy, not too sweet, served with black sesame seed sticks and orange slices. I've only had it at O'Mei (http://www.omeifood.com/) in Santa Cruz, CA. Now I want some pipa tofu with lichees to go with it. Mmmm.

lissener

06-06-2006, 11:33 AM

For Mother's Day we discovered Rosewater Gelato. Not something in the dairy case at Kroger, which is why I tried it. Excellent but I couldn't figure out the rosewater part. It didn't taste like perfume at all!
Oh yeah, there's an Afghani restaurant in Seattle that has a Rosewater-Pistachio ice cream that's really nice.

RickG

06-06-2006, 12:01 PM

Seattle Sorbets (http://www.morethanicecream.com/SeattleSorbets.htm) are delicious and different, at least the two flavors I've tried: Blackberry Cabernet and Blueberry Zinfandel.

Here in beautiful Boulder, we have a local ice cream maker, Glacier Ice Cream (http://www.glacierhomemadeicecream.com/), that has some really great flavors. I'd rate most of them as not-that-unusual, but extremely high quality. At one time they had Port-Wine-Chocolate-Chip and Honey-Mead flavors that were devastatingly good, but no longer (they may have run afoul of liquor laws on those). In their store that is located right next the University of Colorado campus, they have some flavors that I haven't seen in their other locations, the two most interesting of which are Red Bull and Twinkie. I'm pretty sure those are for college students with the "munchies," a demographic of which I am most certainly no longer a part.

Boulder Ice Cream (another local outfit) makes Mexican Chocolate (chocolate with cinnamon) that is pretty darn good and not that common.

Rick

tremorviolet

06-06-2006, 12:01 PM

I love green tea ice cream when I've had it at Japanese restaurants. Tried to make it at home, but it had too much vanilla.

I really like the red bean ice cream you can get at sushi places. Unusual to me, not an unusual flavoring for the Japanese. I keep hoping some company will make a commercial red bean ice cream flavor but I haven't' found one yet. Maybe at the Asian markets.

Lissla Lissar

06-06-2006, 12:25 PM

Scribble

06-06-2006, 12:28 PM

Jeni's Ice Cream (http://www.jenisicecreams.com/) has some unusual flavors. I've tried many of them. They've all been wonderful.

There's also a place in town called Darlene's ice cream. They have flavors like Chai Tea (an ice cream with your standard chai masala), chocolate guiness (which is suprisingly good), Hot Chocolate (a chocolate with mint and hot pepper--my favorite Darlene's ice cream so far), and lots of others.

I like adding Chinese 5 Spice to a rich vanilla ice cream and mixing it all together. That sounds weird, but it's great. Vanilla ice cream with pomegranate syrup (pomegranate juice reduced slowly with sugar and maybe a little honey towards the end) is also delicious.

BlackHeart

06-06-2006, 12:33 PM

There's a place here in Toronto that has blueberry lavender, rosewater vanilla, and chocolate-cayenne-cinnamon. They're all awesome. Another really good place is famous for their roasted marshmallow ice cream, and they sometimes have beer flavoured ice cream, too.

OOhh where? Where? I'm in Toronto.

I had beer flavored but only cuz I poured beer into my vanilla ice cream.

I 've had Purple Yam Ice cream, which was actually called "Ube" in the packaging and can be found in Filipino stores. Not thrilling, but not too bad either. I was supposed to put custard on top, sez the sales lady, so I did. :) That makes it so much better.

Lama Pacos

06-06-2006, 12:55 PM

The other day I tried White Asparagus ice cream. It was...uh...very true to its identity.

cmkeller

06-06-2006, 01:06 PM

A store near me, Max and Mina's in Kew Gardens Hills (Queens), New York, has very odd flavors, including lox and herring. And garlic, which seems to be less unusual now that I read this thread. They advertise that they'll create new flavors to order.

I've never had the inclination to try any of the odd flavors.

ShibbOleth

06-06-2006, 01:12 PM

Anyone ever had Durian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian)-flavored ice cream?

(I haven't--my only durian experience was not all that pleasant...)

Yeah, it was okay. Not nearly as bad as the fruit (I was led to believe).

OTOH, I ~loved~ Baskin Robbins' Black Licorice ice cream when I was a kid. So what do I know?

MrDibble

06-06-2006, 01:57 PM

... pomegranate syrup (pomegranate juice reduced slowly with sugar and maybe a little honey towards the end)

Or you could just buy an authentic grenadine...

BlackHeart

06-06-2006, 04:46 PM

I just tried Avocado and Coconut Milk with jujubes (?) - those fruit jelly thingies - today. Sadly, disappointed. The ice cream itself had an ok though slightly confused flavor but it left a strange bitter aftertaste.

I've also located a place where to get Black Licorice, Green Tea and Jackfruit.

Jombi

06-08-2006, 09:27 AM

Anyone ever had Durian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian)-flavored ice cream?

(I haven't--my only durian experience was not all that pleasant...)

I had it at a Thai place. Saw it on the menu and just had to order it. Being familiar with the nasty taste of durian, I had to know what the ice cream was like. The waiter thought I was crazy for ordering it. I guess it was there just for the occasional Thai native who just came in from the airport.

It's nasty. But surprisingly, it didn't taste to me like the fresh durian. It tasted exactly like the mosquito-killing pesticide that they sprayed in a fog from a pickup truck driving slowly through our neighborhood when I was a kid.

I did not finish the bowl.

CookingWithGas

06-08-2006, 09:37 AM

When I was in college in Ann Arbor, the local ice cream shop, which I think was part of a small regional chain, would have pickle ice cream once a year in connectiion with a pickle festival. It was "commerically" available but not nationally. I don't know if they still do it. I can't remember the name of the place, and don't kow if it's still there.

I have not had violet ice cream, mentioned above, but I've had violet candies, which are not too difficult to find and are pretty good.

Rosewater ice cream was mentioned a couple of times. Rosewater is used frequently in Middle Eastern pastries, and once I had rosewater ice cream at a Persian restaurant. It's good. I don't know where you'd go to buy a quart, though.

Driver8

06-08-2006, 09:52 AM

Let's see, unuual:
I've had lavender, and green tea, and rooibos (I'm not sure what this would be in US -"red bush tea"?), and aloe flavours.

Aloe is very bitter.

Oh, and chili-chocolate flavour - it was exactly like a party in my mouth...

Were these flavors you could buy in a Cape Town store? I never came across a place with hugely unusual ice cream flavors. Maybe I wasn't adventurous enough.

Nava

06-08-2006, 10:17 AM

I'll never get over how difficult it is to get lemon ice cream in the USA. It's the most popular flavor both in Italy and Spain (haven't had a chance to poll the French).

Lissla Lissar

06-08-2006, 10:30 AM

[b]BlackHeart[/i], Greg's has roasted marshmallow, and it's in the Jewish Cultural Centre at Spadina and Bloor. It's really good. They also have different types of beer ice cream, but it's all handmade and the menu rotates.

The blueberry lavender et al are from Kensington Organic Ice Crema, a tiny little place in Kensington Market. It's on... bother, it's right next to a cheese shop, on the west side of... Augusta? No, the street one east of Augusta that has all the vintage clothing stores. They sell through Whole Foods, too. Their ice cream is amazing.

Ed's Real Scoop, in my area, is also awesome. So is La Paloma Gelateria at St. Clair and Landsdowne.

I'll stop now.

Lissla Lissar

06-08-2006, 10:35 AM

Plynck

06-08-2006, 02:57 PM

A local brew house used to offer a brewery dinner, with a stout flavored ice cream as a palate cleanser. Pretty darn good, but I'd usually had three beers by then.

Emeril has a recipe (http://www.emerils.com/recipes/by_name/mr'_lou's_sorbet_trio:_lemon_mint,_tangerine_basil,_and_pineapple_raspberry.html) for tangerine-basil ice cream that sounds terrific. I have a Lello Gelato Pro ice cream maker, and I may try to make it this year.

BlackHeart

06-08-2006, 03:18 PM

[b]BlackHeart[/i], Greg's has roasted marshmallow, and it's in the Jewish Cultural Centre at Spadina and Bloor...

Bless you :D
I will be going to Kensington Market this weekend hopefully. Joy! Joy!

I'll never get over how difficult it is to get lemon ice cream in the USA.

I had the same thought. Especially since in North America we have lemon everything even furniture polish.

John DiFool

06-08-2006, 03:21 PM

Green mouse ice cream was the worst. I didn't like that at all.

BlackHeart

06-08-2006, 03:23 PM

Green mouse ice cream was the worst. I didn't like that at all.

:eek:

Surely, you jest.

Or maybe misspelled the word "mousse"?

Lissla Lissar

06-08-2006, 05:27 PM

If you're going to Kensington, maybe you can swing by Greg's as well. Two fabulous ice cream places in one day!

I highly, highly recommend getting to La Paloma sometime. Their lemon, English trile, chocolate ferrero rocher, and... oh, hell, all their gelato is damn fine.

BobLibDem

06-08-2006, 05:34 PM

I can't find a cite, but on History Channel's Presidents series I distinctly recall them stating that Dolly Madison's favorite flavor of ice cream was oyster.

John DiFool

06-08-2006, 07:49 PM

:eek:

Surely, you jest.

Or maybe misspelled the word "mousse"?

Sandman reference. :cool:

Corporate Hippie

06-08-2006, 08:25 PM

A local mexican ice cream shop near where I used to work had some unusual ice cream flavors, many of which have been mentioned. They had corn and avacado, which I never got to try, but the cool thing I noticed is that they had a shaker of chili powder on the counter for people to spice up their ice cream if they wanted. They also made popsicles with chili powder in them, and I ate a lot of those. Mango con chili and tamarind con chili were delicious. It's a really weird sensation for something to taste sweet and cold when you first lick it and then for it to turn hot and spicy. :eek: :D

jsgoddess

06-09-2006, 10:23 AM

I saw a Ben & Jerry's pint the other day that had some sort of stout flavorint in it, but I was afraid to try it. I think it was called Black & Tan, but I can't get to their website from here.

CalMeacham

06-09-2006, 03:20 PM

I know Japanese ice cream has been noted already, but has anyone given this page?:

http://www.quirkyjapan.or.tv/food.html

fluiddruid

06-09-2006, 05:58 PM

Here you go--this should get you started... (http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/photospecials/graph/060528icecream/) :)

The Japanese have some weird ice cream flavors...Natto ice cream (http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/photospecials/graph/040701ice/14.html)?! Urgh! My nightmares will now have a new, horrible manifestation of evil...

usar_jag

06-09-2006, 06:26 PM

In Minnneapolis, there are two places that I'd recommend. The first is Sebastian Joe's (http://twincities.citysearch.com/profile/5580923), which has a flavor called "Chocolate Coyote" which is chocolate ice cream and jalapenos. It is suprisingly delicious.

The other place I'd recommend is a place called Crema (http://twincities.citysearch.com/review/5584783), which serves a strawberry, balsamic, basil ice cream and sorbet. It is the most heavenly treat on a hot summer's night.

jsgoddess

06-18-2006, 07:29 PM

I saw a Ben & Jerry's pint the other day that had some sort of stout flavorint in it, but I was afraid to try it. I think it was called Black & Tan, but I can't get to their website from here.

I got to try this today, and my god. It's really good. Stout ice cream swirled with chocolate ice cream. I tried it out of curiosity, though I don't like stout.

RickG

06-22-2006, 10:28 AM

Boulder has a new ice cream place with flavors I've never seen before. It's called Hatton Creamery (http://hattoncreamery.com). Here are a few of the flavors:

Lemongrass-Ginger (tried it--WOW!)
Blackberry-Basil
Rosemary-lemon
Chinese 5-spice with Chocolate-covered candied ginger (tasted it--very good)
Oatmeal-raisin Stout (with chocolate covered raisins--fantastic)
Grapefruit & muscat sorbet
plus a bunch of others I can't remember (many with flower flavors like hibiscus, rose, and lavendar).

All organic, for those who care about that.