Imagine a flower: A climbing orchid, to be exact; the one of some twenty thousand varieties that produces something edible. Now imagine that its blooms must be pollinated either by hand or a small variety of Mexican bee, and that each bloom only opens for one day a year. Now imagine the fruit of this orchid, a pod, being picked and cured, sitting in the sun all day, sweating under blankets all night for months until, shrunken and shriveled, it develops a heady, exotic perfume and flavor. Now imagine that this fruit’s name is synonymous with dull, boring, and ordinary. How vanilla got this bad rap I for one will never know.
We can only get B&J’s single flavors at a scoop shop. I think the nearest one is in Germany. My husband always gets vanilla, because a good vanilla is hard to find. He grew up with Breyers, but has heard it’s not as good.
We used to get vanilla ice cream at a Cuban restaurant in Zurich. That was definitely drool worthy. Unfortuantely they closed approximately 5 years ago.
We currently have B&J’s Netflix & Chill’d, Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Vegan Peanut Butter Cup ice cream in the freezer. In a few weeks the bakery will start selling their small batch ice cream, and then we will buy that. Can’t beat ice cream with short ingredient lists.
I’m a traditionalist. Some of the “flavors” I see make me want to gag just looking at the names. My favorite is good 'ole vanilla, followed by chocolate and Butter Pecan. That’s pretty much it. I only have the urge for a cone every once in a while, so I go with high quality. My favorite is Oberweis, and that’s even above Haagen Dazs. “One scoop of vanilla on a regular cone, please.” That’s it. LOL
I haven’t tried B&J. My favorite ice cream is Kroger’s Vividly Vanilla. From ice cream shops, I like vanilla cones dipped in chocolate.
Back in the 1960s, we used to buy ice milk. Haven’t seen it in years but it had a very light taste and I preferred it to ice cream.
I think I’ve bought B&J in the past, but I can’t be certain. I’m pretty sure I never bought vanilla, tho. I almost never buy vanilla ice cream - occasionally for cobbler a la mode, I think.
If I can I’ll get Cherry Garcia which is vanilla with cherries in it. Or Pralines and Cream. But I end up with plain vanilla because I can never find the other two at my supermarket.
I don’t buy ice cream. It’s not a hard and fast rule - I’ll buy a tub if I’m ordered to; and I remember eating some salt caramel ice cream a few years back. But that’s about it.
It’s not that I dislike ice cream. It’s just that I don’t like it enough to justify eating it. The dietary impact is so adverse - for something I’m not mad keen on - I just couldn’t enjoy the experience.
I like vanilla.
No, that’s putting it too mildly – I LOVE vanilla. Ben and Jerry’s vanilla is very good.
Haagen Dazs vanilla is very good, but it’s not the best.
The Best Vanilla was Breyer’s vanilla, up until about a decade ago when the bastards running the company decided that using the simple ingredients for all their ice creams wasn’t sufficient, and started adding gums and other additives. It tastes and feels totally different now. It’s very hard to find essentially simple vanilla ice cream now. About the only one I’ve found that’s generally available is Turkey Hill Natural Vanilla Bean.
But I wouldn’t turn down Ben and Jerry’s Vanilla, despite the guar gum and carrageenan
Note: Standard “homemade” Vanilla from Breyers contains Carob Gum, Tara Gum, and Guar Gum. I just looked, and evidently Breyer’s is now releasing a gum-free “natural” vanilla bean ice cream. I haven’t seen it in stores, though.
I voted no, but it’s not a declaration that I’ll never do so in the future. My personal favorite flavors are cherry and pecan, but vanilla is decent enough for me. If there ever were to be some crazy clearance sale on Ben & Jerry’s vanilla ice cream in the future, I can see myself picking up a couple of tubs.
I voted yes because way back in the day my co-workers and I would occasionally split a Vermonster (think giant sharable sundae) at the local Ben and Jerry’s parlor and I am pretty sure a scoop of vanilla would sneak in there once in a while.
Otherwise no, if I am in the mood/market for vanilla is would be Edy’s/Dreyer’s or Breyer’s vanilla bean.
Sure, I’ve bought it back when I lived where it was sold. I like good-quality ice cream, and I like it to be ice cream, not five-different-other-things-with-a-little-ice-cream-mixed-in, so most of the other B&Js flavors seem kind of overstuffed. However, the “fancy” flavors are all my local Kroger ever carries, so nowadays I mostly buy Haagen-Dasz.
Yeah, I’ve bought it and enjoyed it. I tend to order smooth ice creams when I indulge; I don’t like lots of chunks of stuff (exception made for butter pecan and maple walnut).
Vanilla is essential topping for fresh blueberry pie. I only eat blueberry pie when I visit Maine (a church near my summer rental has a huge homemade pie fundraising sale every Wednesday) so I usually buy Hancock County Vanilla. Really old company and they make exceptional ice cream. Ice cream always tastes better in New England anyway.