Never tried making a poll before, fingers crossed.
This week my usual grocery store had a sale on two pints of Ben & Jerry ice cream I wanted to take advantage of. I stood in front of that freezer for a stupid length of time, reading flavor names, and descriptions of what was inside. On and on. An amazing range of flavors, many of them four or more items mixed together.
And then I saw a pint of Vanilla. Just vanilla. Basic plain vanilla ice cream with nothing else at all added to/sprinkled on/mixed into it. And I got to wondering, does anyone actually buy Vanilla B&J ice cream? Hagen Daaz (or however that’s supposed to be spelled) sure, their ‘thing’ is claiming to be the best of some essential flavor. But B&J Vanilla???
(I bet anyone who buys that also gets to hear the “Single scooper, single scooper, this guy is a party pooper” song of shame at ice cream specialty shops.)
Anyway, here comes the survey:
Have you ever bought Ben & Jerry’s vanilla ice cream?
Yes.
No.
I never buy any flavor of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
I don’t buy ice cream.
0voters
And that’s it. Feel free to talk about your favorite flavor or brand or why you despise ice cream or whatever.
As far as I know I have never bought B&J, but for no reason other than what I buy is the cheapest stuff available, and I doubt that they have ever been it.
I voted “no” as a point of fact, not that I have anything against B&J, just have never bought it.
But I will say that vanilla ice cream is my favourite flavour, and nothing beats Häagen-Dazs. I also frequently buy chocolate-covered ice cream bars made with Häagen-Dazs vanilla.
Since college (late 1980s), my usual Ben & Jerry’s purchase is a pint of New York Super Fudge Chunk. (In college, the freezer in my dorm refrigerator was too small to fit a B&J pint, so I had to consume the entire pint. Now, of course, I can’t do that and have a freezer that can fit the pints so I try to make one last at least a few days.)
Yup, when picking up a bunch of other cartons with more interesting flavors, we’ve grabbed a B&J vanilla to put on pie or brownies. Not my go to, but enough people like it that I’ve gotten it many times.
I rarely, rarely buy premium ice cream (H-D, B&J and the like), but if I am, it’s going to be something I cannot easily get otherwise or make myself. If it’s a simple chocolate, vanilla or the like, I’ll make it myself, or more likely buy a decent but unamazing national brand like Dreyers or Breyers.
Plus, I don’t normally eat plain vanilla ice cream on its own: I’m in the a la mode faction, where it goes on a baked good. Although I will say, a good vanilla with a drizzle of a black cherry balsamic vinegar is a shockingly amazing combination of flavor, sweetness, and the slight sourness brings it together.
When I was a kid, one standard dessert was Pepperidge Farm Apple Turnovers. After baking them, we’d open them, stuff in a scoop of plain vanilla ice cream and then close them up again. The ice cream would melt, the hot apple pie filling would cool and the whole thing became a glorious mess.
O.k. I just – literally – salivated reading that. I love sour cherries.
I buy good ice cream. It’s not worth the calories to eat the cheap stuff, but I don’t buy a lot of B&J’s because they have so many add-ins. It’s almost like eating something with ice cream instead of ice cream itself. I hate having to dodge big chunks of cake or brownies or (ugh) cookie dough to get to the ice cream.
I’ve never bought B&J vanilla because I, too, only buy New York Super Fudge Chunk. And only if I’m really having a craving for some chocolate. I’ve never tried any of the other combos.
I’ve tried it. It wasn’t really anything special. I think I wound up trying all the brands at one point, to be able to tell the difference.
I still tend to buy vanilla ice cream about half the time, with the other half being the more “complicated flavors” @Mighty_Mouse mentions. Sometimes I want something more simple.
Not a Ben and Jerrys kind of person. I like the more complex ice creams well enough, but when it comes right down to it I’m a vanilla and chocolate kind of guy. The most fancy I get is mint (with or without chocolate bits) or huckleberry. Midgrade ice cream will do nicely thank you. For the huckleberry, for some reason the only brand around here I’ve ever seen for that flavor is Great Value, a less expensive “house” type brand
I have very simple food tastes. I know what I like, mostly what I have always grown up with, and rarely veer away from that. My ice cream preferences are very basic.
Also I haven’t checked, but I’m not even sure they sell Ben and Jerry’s in Australia.
Although I will say, a good vanilla with a drizzle of a black cherry balsamic vinegar is a shockingly amazing combination of flavor, sweetness, and the slight sourness brings it together.