NEW! Ben & Jerry's Home Sweet Honeycomb Ice Cream (Tesco)

Ben and Jerry's have a cruel habit of releasing a batch of new flavours in quick succession. I get that this may lead to exciting times for our tastebuds, but it's not so easy on the wallet -especially at the newly inflated price of £4.20 per pint (and it's only been spotted in Tesco thus far). The launch of Home Sweet Honeycomb has swiftly followed the fairly unexciting Berry Neighbourly, and also marked the end of my self-imposed ice cream buying ban. That didn't last long.

"Have we got a sweet treat for you; creamy ice cream, chocolatey honeycomb chunks, a salted caramel honey swirl – your taste buds will feel the buzz (bees, geddit?) with this concoction. Home Sweet (Honey) Comb was created to carry an all-important, timely message: it’s time to come together for people in need of a safe place to call home. It’s time to come together for refugees."

Christ, it was soft. I mean, so soft that I couldn't scoop it properly. It had a fair amount of chocolate honeycomb nuggets though, and a faint ripple of the caramel honey swirl. I really hoped it would be less sweet and more luxurious than the Sainsbury's Honeycomb & Caramel Dairy ice cream tub.

The cream flavoured ice cream was so-so. I mean it was sweet and creamy, but offered very little in the way of excitement and melted far too quickly. To be honest, I thought that it was a fairly uninspired flavour from the brand that used to be relied upon for their ingenuity and imagination. Somehow the cream flavour worked much better in the Strawberry Swirled -perhaps because it had the fruity sauce to break it up. 

The honey caramel swirl was also a little lacklustre. I can't help but feel like the developers couldn't make up their mind either. Choose honey or salted caramel Ben & Jerry's for goodness sake! In any case, the sauce wasn't thick like the centre of their Karamel Sutra or Blondie Brownie pints, and kind of fused with the cream flavoured ice cream, resulting in a mild toffee throughout. Humf. 

On to those chocolate coated honeycomb bites. Thankfully were delicious and reminded me of the bags that ASDA used to sell. Again though, they weren't anything particularly innovative, and I can't help but think that Ben & Jerry's have been more than a little lazy with this tub. 

To be honest, this is no better than the Sainsbury's tub. In fact I'd rather save my pennies have the Sainsbury's honeycomb & caramel ice cream... 

scrap that... I'll stick to their peanut & caramel tub instead. 

6/10

NEW! Ben & Jerry's Berry Neighbourly (Tesco)

I thought I was just viewing another enviable American edition Ben & Jerry's when scrolling through my Instagram a couple of days ago and spotting the Berry Neighbourly tub. Wait, that's Chloe's page. I know Chloe has recently come back from America... but it wasn't #throwabackthursday. Was it a sneaky #flashbackfriday? No. No it wasn't! It was a new flavour, here in the U.K. Huzzah! Ben & Jerry's, you little devils! Why do you sneak these new flavours into our lives? Please shout about these things! 

Yep, it's another Tesco exclusive flavour (as Sofa So Good and Wholly Coach are). And yes, Tesco have put their price up on Ben & Jerry's again. So if you want to get your hands on this tub, you'll have to be prepared to stump up £4.20, and there's a good chance you'll have to ask a member of staff to retrieve it for you too; both of our local Tesco stores have it out the back, but haven't put it on the shelves yet. 

"Vanilla ice cream with cookie (9%) and blueberry (8%) swirls, and white chocolate flavoured chunks (6%)."

I was pleased to find that the ice cream was slightly firmer than the Sofa So Good. All of the sauce seemed to be on one side of the tub though. Also, there wasn't a huge deal of white chocolate flavoured chunks in the tub, but the ones I did find were huge! 

The vanilla ice cream was fairly good, melting easily (but not too quickly) with the indulgent creaminess that's missing from most luxury tubs (Haagen-Dazs being the other notable exception) but perhaps this is unsurprising considering that cream is the primary ingredient.

The jammy swirls were delicious though, offering a strong and authentic sweet blueberry flavour with a hint of zing. This successfully cut through the vanilla well, but there just wasn't enough of it! As for the cookie swirl, it too was scrummy, but there was next to none in my portion - although Bert seemed to  fare better than me last night on this front. This was a huge shame, as the single mouthful of cookie was delightful, giving the ice cream a real cheesecake vibe. With this in mind, I've heard people compare this tub to the Ben & Jerry's blueberry cheesecake Froyo, but as I never tried it, I can't comment on that.

As you might have gathered, Ben & Jerry's have veered away from their usual ampersand format with the white chocolate in this tub. Instead they've opted for brick shaped chunks, which made them much more obvious than the chocolate in the Topped tubs. Again though, the chunks were missing in my tubs (what is it with me and fillings), and my portion only contained two. What the badger? However,I'm pleased to see than Ben & Jerry's are honouring the white chocolate lovers amongst us again-although I'm still morning the loss of Baked Alaska. Boo. 

As someone who doesn't normally buy vanilla based ice creams (caramel and peanut butter are much more up my street) I was surprised to enjoy this new tub as much as I did. To be honest, it's nowhere near the top of my favourite Ben & Jerry's flavours, but it's a nice fruity addition to the pack.

My tub: 6/10

If it had more swirl & more chocolate: 8/10

NEW! Half & Half: Cookie Dough And Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream (Tesco)

I can't believe that I succumbed to the final new Tesco ice cream. If you remember, there were four new 'luxury' tubs released in March: Red Velvet, Jammy Ring, Jaffa Cake and this Half & Half. I almost gave up on the new ice creams after the disappointment of the Red Velvet and Jammy Ring flavours, but then I took a punt on the Jaffa Cake and was pleasantly surprised. The half & half didn't sound all that interesting, and I thought to myself: why buy Tesco when Ben & Jerry's core tubs are bound to be so much better? Last week Tesco had 20% off all of their new tubs though and at £1.60 it was worth a go. 

"Chocolate and vanilla ice creams swirled with a chocolate sauce, chocolate brownie pieces and chocolate chip cookie dough chunks."

As with all of Tesco's tubs, the ice cream was very soft and easy to scoop straight from the tub (there's no Haagen-Dazs luxury here I'm afraid). As promised the pint was split between vanilla and chocolate ice creams, which continued through the tub.

What I wasn't expecting however was the sheer abundance of massive cookie dough chunks and brownie pieces. Halle-flipping-lujah! After the Jammy Ring tub this was a sight for sore eyes.

As I'd imagined, the quality of the ice cream wasn't great. It's pretty bog-standard supermarket stuff, and doesn't come anywhere near the likes of B&Js or H-D. It's palatable though, just don't dig in anticipating it to blow your mind. I can't say the chocolate sauce was particularly special either, but it was pleasant enough.

The brownie was soft and fluffy with a respectable chocolate flavour. In fact I would say that it was almost as good as the cake pieces in Ben & Jerry's. Wait. Say what? I bet you weren't expecting that. 

Lets not stop there though, because get this: the cookie dough was better than chunk-gods B&J's. It's almost blasphemous. Yes, they're squidgier and big enough to taste by themselves. Yum yum yum. 

Argh! I'll say it again. Tesco please improve the base of your ice cream. They could really be something rather special if you followed these fabulous ideas through. I'd definitely suggest buying a tub of this Half & Half if you buy Ben & Jerry's for the extra additions -especially if you spot it on special offer.

8/10

NEW! Ben & Jerry's Topped: Salted Caramel Brownie, Chocolate Caramel Cookie Dough & Strawberry Swirled (ASDA)

The news hit two days before I went away: Ben & Jerry's were treating us (once again) with three brand spanking new flavours, and in a different style too. The new Topped tubs have a chocolatey layer above the ice cream and all three flavours sounded insanely good. As always, ice cream princess Ms One Treat was straight off the mark and I eagerly awaited her reviews from the other side of the world. Whilst she praised the new flavours she wasn't blown away, but I'm afraid to admit that it didn't hinder my excitement to try them for myself. Frustratingly Ocado has been the only place to purchase them from until this week, and seeing as the online supermarkets refuses to deliver to us country bumpkins, I had to wait it out. Monday was the day! Instagram filled with pictures of the Topped tubs in ASDA, and so I made a beeline on the way home.

£4.80 a tub. Ouch. Fortunately for me, Ben & Jerry's kindly invited me to a launch event a few months ago, and when I told them that I couldn't make it they sent me a couple of vouchers for free tubs and I've saved them for new tubs that aren't on promotion.

So which to choose? I'm embarrassed to admit that I dawdled for a good few minutes, pondering between the three before phoning a friend (I.e calling Bert) and asking his opinion. He chose the chocolate and strawberry tubs, but then I remembered that One Treat recommended the cookie dough as the best of the bunch and once again I was baffled. It was like choosing between my children.

Then I was struck by a brainwave! I remembered it was the 13th of February, and I could have bet your bottom dollar that Bert hadn't bought me a valentine present. All three made their way to the till, thanks Bert!

Salted Caramel Brownie

"Vanilla ice cream with a salted caramel swirl (11%), chocolate brownie pieces (3%), chocolatey chunks (3%) and chocolatey topping (9%)

The thick layer on top had a ganache-like density and shine to it, with plenty of dark coloured chocolate ampersands dotted about. Digging into it was fairly easy though, and I found the ice cream beneath to be one of Ben & Jerry's softer styles (much like the Sofa So Good). There was noticeably less chunks in it than I've become accustomed too of late, and the sauce was almost infused within the ice cream.

The taste was good though, and whilst I'd ordinarily never buy Ben & Jerry's for their vanilla flavours, it was yummy and allowed the caramel sauce to shine through. The brownies that I found, although far and few between (there's just 3% brownie in this compared to 7% in Sofa So Good) were up to scratch -moist and chewy as they reliably always are in B&J's tubs. The topping was the star of the show though, for it is in fact a chocolate and hazelnut paste and tastes rather like a nutella inspired ganache. It's thick and silken and complements the ice cream wonderfully. I only wish there were layers of it as opposed to just a topping! 

8/10

Chocolate Caramel Cookie Dough
Despite being a blatant chocoholic, I'm very fussy when it comes to chocolate ice creams. It's a fine line on when they become just too sickly and I didn't particularly enjoy my last pint of Ben & Jerry's Blondie Brownie. That said I'm utterly addicted to their Chocolate Fudge Brownie Wich's and couldn't be more pleased to see that they've made a come back in multi-pack form this year.

"Chocolate ice cream with a caramel swirl (10%), chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough (3%), chocolatey chunks (3%) and chocolatey topping (9%)."

The uppermost layer used in this tub is the same as used in the Salted Caramel Brownie Topped, a thick chocolate hazelnut paste with chocolate ampersands -which all stuck themselves to one side of my tub.

(Yep I was greedy and had both the Chocolate Caramel cookie Dough & Salted Caramel Brownie at the same time. The brownie is on the left and the cookie dough on the right).

The chocolate ice cream didn't disappoint, and I loved the addition of the caramel swirl. I recently tried Baskin Robbins' chocolate peanut butter ice cream (one of the best ice creams I've ever had!) and this reminded me of it. It's almost like a Rolo in ice cream form. Even better was the cookie dough pieces which broke up the texture and added a gritty biscuit flavour, nom nom nom. Again the amount of 'extras' was lower than usual, but I didn't seem to mind so much thanks to my state of chocoholic bliss. 

9/10

Strawberry Swirl

Why we can't get Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake in pint size tubs I'll never know. It's the only reason I buy the multi-packs of 100ml tubs (and only when they're on offer for £2.50 in Tesco). Ben & Jerry's seem to forget that a fruity ice cream is delicious when done right, although they seem to be rectifying this having brought back One Sweet World, and now this Strawberry Swirl, hurrah. 

"Cream ice cream with strawberry (13%) and marshmallow (7%) swirls, shortbread chunks (3%), with a white chocolate flavour topping (9%) and white chocolatey chunks (1.5%)."

Oooh, the white chocolate topping looked extremely inviting, and once dug into revealed a pale creamy coloured ice cream beneath. The topping was firmer than the hazelnut based one, shattering into shards upon impact. A pretty pink swirl pervaded throughout the ice cream, although the marshmallow was less obvious.

Mmmm. Delicious! I'm a huge fan of white chocolate and raspberry and/or strawberry in any form, so using it in Ben & Jerry's luxuriously creamy ice cream was always going to be a winner for me. The white chocolate was just as creamy and sweet as I'd hoped and melted in the mouth easily. Perhaps there could have been more strawberry sauce, or indeed it could have done with being a strawberry ice cream to bring the flavours into a better harmony, but I still absolutely loved this tub. The shortbread chunks were buttery and crumbly, and should make any Scot proud. 

I really really miss the Baked Alaska tubs, but Strawberry Swirled is a very good compromise!

9/10

Ben & Jerry's One Love (Sainsbury's)

As I was sat munching on my dessert last night, I realised that I'd broken the promise that I'd made to review Ben & Jerry's One Love, so this Sunday I decided to rectify that. Now for those of you who're clued up with all things Ben & Jerry's, you'll already know that is in fact a re-brand of the old 'Satisfy My Bowl' -which came out in 2014 but ended up in the graveyard along with my beloved PB&J core and Baked Alaska, boo. Still, not all of you will have had it the first time around, and some of you may have not had the latest edition either, so I'll give you my thoughts anyhow. 

"Banana ice cream with caramel (9%) and cookie (6%) swirls and chocolatey peace signs (4%)."

The ice cream was a quick melter (much like the coffee flavoured 'One Sweet World' released at the same time). I could immediately spot the biscuity swirls rolling through the ice cream, as well as a few dark chocolate coloured peace signs dotted about once I dug in. 

I scooped some into a waffle cone and soon realised just how sweet the banana flavour was. It wasn't as artificial as Nesquik banana milkshake, nor was it a natural banana flavour either, but it did fit the bill and was pretty tasty. The trouble was, the cookie swirls added an extra sugariness to the already sweet ice cream, pushing it into the realms of being slightly too sickly. Fortunately the peace signs offered a slight bitterness thanks to their darker nature -I do wish that Ben & Jerry's would use real chocolate though instead of a composite made from fat reduced cocoa powder.

As far as I'm aware, Ben & Jerry's are the only mass manufacturer of banana ice cream (please feel free to correct me in the comments box) so I'll keep buying it for that reason alone. One Love doesn't unfortunately come close to my top three favours though, I need more chunks nowadays B&J!

7/10

Ben & Jerry's One Sweet World (ASDA)

Hurrah! At long last One Sweet World & One Love are available in most supermarkets, and on offer in two (ASDA £2.47 & Sainsbury's £2.50). As it turns out, I stocked up on my favourite ice cream brand the day before the Marmitegate Tesco-Unilever scandal hit last week. Thank goodness that's now been resolved eh?

I've been itching to buy both of these 'new' flavours, but knew that waiting a couple of weeks would mean that I could get them at a far more respectable price than the £4.00 Tesco were charging. I appreciate too that One Love is just a rebrand, but I may review it anyway as its been so long since I last tasted it, and I've all but forgotten how it compares given the plethora of Ben & Jerry's flavours that have come and gone since. What do you think?

In any case, it was One Sweet World that was the first to get delved into. Coffee is one flavour that I'm surprised that Ben & Jerry's UK haven't dabbled in before. It's certainly a more adult offering, and one that I welcomed with open arms. Or should I say mouth?

"We’re making a bit of a buzz with our latest sweet treat, featuring Fairtrade coffee & caramel ice creams, marshmallow & caramel swirls, and chunky chocolate ampersands, all lovingly churned together to tantalise those taste buds. And you know what makes this all the sweeter? Partnering with HOPE not hate, this flavour will help fund various projects run by the organisation, which contribute to more inclusive communities. We think that (just like ice cream!) communities come in all kinds of flavours &, together, we can make One Sweet World."

I opened it at the same time as a tub of S'Wich Up  (my other half detests coffee) so it was easy to compare the texture and 'extras' between both. One Sweet World was much softer straight from the freezer -which made it easier to scoop- but also meant that it melted all too quickly. As for the chunks? Well If you've treated yourself to a tub of S'Wich Up (and you should've done by now unless you've the bad luck to suffer from intolerances) you'll appreciate that the ice cream is the epitome of added yummies. The sheer amount of biscuit and cookie dough pieces in it make it difficult to scoop, but oh so delicious! One Sweet World was in total contrast; the marshmallow, salted caramel or ampersands were subtle additions. It did smell good though.

Ben & Jerry's is renowned for its creaminess, and I was pleased to find that this was the case with this new flavour too. The sweet coffee caramel flavour reminded me of my sister's favourite Starbucks drink: a single shot caramel macchiato. The marshmallow flavour was sadly a bit lost, and the salted caramel wasn't as prominent as I'd have liked either. It's certainly not on par with the incredible core in Karamel Sutra anyway.

The chocolate &s added a delicious grownup richness, imparting some much needed balance to the otherwise sickly ice cream. I couldn't help but think some Belgian speculoos (Biscoff style) biscuits would have been a thoughtful addition, but then it wouldn't be gluten free (and there's not many Ben & Jerry's that are). Maybe I'll crumble some into on my next portion of One Sweet World.

Overall, I'm pleased to see a coffee flavour join the Ben & Jerry's family, and although It's not my favourite tub out there, I'll be sure to buy another tub whilst it sticks around.

8/10

NEW! Ben & Jerry's Sofa So Good (Tesco)

Happy Bank Holiday Monday! I do hope you're not stuck working and are outside enjoying the sunshine like me. If you are unfortunate enough to be earning some pennies today, then please feel free to hate all of us sunbathers! 

It seemed that ice cream had to be the most suitable topic up for review today, and who better to invite along than two of my favourite men: Ben & Jerry? I'm not the first blogger to give opinions on this new flavour*, but once again my stingy ways meant that I refused to spend the extortionate £4 on a single tub of ice cream -especially as all of the other lines were on offer for £2.50. For those of you who don't know, this flavour is apparently exclusive to Tesco, so it's no use eagle-eyeing www.mysupermarket.co.uk unfortunately

Anyway, after a week or so of turning green every time I opened up Instagram, I caved and sent my other half on a mission to buy me a tub -he's definitely a keeper. Disaster struck however, when he phoned me from the supermarket and let me know the bad news: Hereford hadn't got any. And yes, he said, he had checked the ends and everything. Wondering whether he was 'man looking' I returned to the store the very next day, and lo-and behold, he had searched properly. No Sofa So Good, no ticket, no shelf space, nada. Unperturbed, and geared up by my successful advisor pestering a couple of days previously in pursuit of the new mint Oreos, I tracked down a nice looking Tesco lady and asked her to check the stockroom for me. I don't think she was particularly impressed with my request, but she said she would check the computer system for me -which happened to not be working- so out into the freezer she foraged. I don't think she was expecting the big hug I gave her in return for finding me the long-deliberated-over tub of Ben & Jerry's though. 

Caramel Ice Cream with a Salted Caramel Swirl (9%), Chocolate Brownies (7%) and Chocolate Cookies (4%)

This better be good Mr B&J! I was a little shocked to discover that the ice cream was noticably soft straight from the freezer. Having had the Blondie Brownie Core the night before (my consolation tub for not having Sofa so Good), I could really tell the difference. It was almost mousse like, which made it extremely messy to cone up -and I am far from an elegant scooper at the best of times! I couldn't even blame the time of day for it's melty-ness as I ate it late evening, and It became evident that this was going to be a race to finish -so please forgive the awful pictures! 

Ben & Jerry's are renowned for being generous with their extras, and Sofa So Good certainly lived up to expectations. The ice cream was jam packed full of deliciously chocolatey mini cookie disks and whopping great big moist brownie wedges. Perhaps the caramel ice cream and sauce meant that the ice cream was slightly on the sickly side, but that was good for portion control and meant that 1/4 of a pint satisfied me nicely. 

If it wasn't for the rapid melting, this new flavour would happily sit in my top three Ben & Jerry flavours, but Peanut Butter Clutter, Karamel Sutra and Blondie Brownie still reign. 

8/10

**Pop along and view One Treat At A Time's review here and A Review A Day's here 

NEW! Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie 'Wich (Tesco Express)

I was outraged at the extortionate price of Ben & Jerry's single packs at the beginning of April when when I reviewed the Cookie Dough 'Wichs. But then I got hooked to the idea of ice cream sandwiches and tried ALDI's own version before returning to B&J's with their mini Sons of a 'Wich. During those latter two reviews I mentioned about my hunt for the elusive Chocolate Fudge Brownie 'Wichs which don't seem to be available anywhere in my little city. Fortunately I stayed with my sister in Cardiff this weekend and finally found them in the little Tesco express down the bay. It was with great resistance that I parted with £3.98 for two mass-produced ice creams - I don't think I've ever stumped up that much before. Still, it was cheaper than eating out, and the perfect post-pizza pud to watch the finals of BGT with. 

"We’ve recently been wondering if we could make Chocolate Fudge Brownie even more chocolatey but, with so many chunks & Fairtrade ingredients in there, we’re strapped for space! So we thought outside the tub & realised the best way to top it was to bottom it too...with cookies! Presenting our hand-finished ‘Wich: legendary Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream, sandwiched between double chocolate chip cookies."

A chocoholic's dream come true; the outer cookies looked rich and indulgent, whilst the fudge brownie ice cream appeared as inviting as ever -I couldn't wait to get stuck in. 

I'm not sure if I can put into words just how much I enjoyed the Chocolate Fudge Brownie 'Wich. The cookies weren't as firm or as chewy as the Cookie Dough versions, but they were gloriously squidgy and more like a thin chocolate brownie. The flavour was bold, thankfully satisfying my cravings once and for all. The combination of chocolate 'cookies' and chocolate ice cream had the potential to become overly saccharine, but somehow Ben & Jerry's reined it in, and I was left with a big grin on my face -utterly delicious. 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I would pay out the astonishingly high RRP again just to get another fix... But I'm writing that with my fingers crossed, hoping that the big-wigs at Ben & Jerry's hear my prayers for them to be released as a multipack.  

10/10

NEW! Ben & Jerry's Son of a 'Wich

Today's review is going to be shorter than normal as I hadn't really intending on writing anything about the new B&J's Son of a 'Wich ice creams. I just assumed that they would be smaller versions of the cookie dough 'wichs (that I am now obsessed with). In fact, the only reason I even bought the minis is because ASDA had run out of the full-size 'Wichs, but they are in fact different from their bigger brothers, and I'll tell you for why:

"Vanilla chocolatey chip ice cream sandwiched between two soft-baked chocolate chip cookies. We know this is something you may want to keep to yourself, but we've got your back if your friend asks for a bite. Four words: Son of a 'Wich! You'll find eight bite-sized ice cream sandwiches to enjoy & (maybe) share in here. Cookies & ice cream... good together, any 'Wich way!"

That's it. That's the difference. Did you spot it? Instead of the cookie dough ice cream, it's a chocolate chip ice cream that sits in the middle of the sandwich. The chocolate chip ice cream is admittedly less special than the cookie dough, but it's still luxuriously velvety and I think I might've actually preffered the crunchier nature of the chocolate chips. The outer cookies are exactly the same as their full size counterparts, a concoction of chewy, sweet yumminess that I could eat endlessly. 

I love love love the new Ben & Jerry's 'Wich range, and I think I'll squeal with joy when I eventually find the chocolate brownie version... I'm keeping the faith that it will eventually find its way to our little landlocked City -and keeping my fingers crossed in the meantime.

10/10