As an Arizona native, if you were to ask me what my favorite ice cream parlor was, I’d have to say Cold Stone Creamery, but after living in Ohio for two years, Graeter’s Ice Cream has persuaded me otherwise.
So far, 2013 has been a big year for this Cincinnati-based company with the addition of its first new flavor after three years, according to an article from Buzzfeed.com, and the introduction of its new 2013 limited edition flavors.
What better way to bring in the new year and Ohio’s freezing weather by sampling Graeter’s newest flavors. Its newest flavor, Black Cherry Chocolate Chip, is only available through its website. I was completely disheartened when I heard the news, because that meant less ice cream for me to taste. However, its limited edition flavors, Mint Cookies ‘n Cream and Cherry Chip, were in stores and ready for me to devour.
I started with Mint Cookies ‘n Cream and in just one bite, I was in love. The mint ice cream was extremely minty, but it left your taste buds feeling fresh and satisfyingly chilly. Then there were the cookie pieces. Graeter’s blends its cookies into the ice cream as opposed to adding it in large chunks, diminishing the crunchy aspect. I’m not the biggest fan of biting into my ice cream because I’m highly susceptible to brain freezes, so I enjoyed that I could still taste the Oreo cookie while letting it melt in my mouth.
Overall, I give Graeter’s February-March Limited Edition Mint Cookies ‘n Cream flavor an A for overall satisfaction and freshness.
Next, I tried the Cherry Chip, which was a concoction of cherry-flavored ice cream with maraschino cherries and Graeter’s infamous large dark chocolate chip chunks. Each bite I took had the perfect ratio of cherries and chocolate, and the blend of its naturally made cherry ice cream made it that much more perfect.
For those of you who aren’t fans of dark chocolate, you would never have any idea it’s in the ice cream. The sweet cherry flavor cancels out the bitter taste the dark chocolate has, and an extra bite into a maraschino cherry can make you forget about the bitterness altogether.
Overall, I give the January-February Limited Edition Cherry Chip flavor a B+. I’m personally not fond of maraschino cherry chunks, unless they’re on top of my milkshake.
But I was still very upset that I couldn’t try their newest flavor, Black Cherry Chocolate Chip, so I did some math. Graeter’s has a Cherry Chip flavor and a Black Cherry flavor, which equals Black Cherry Chocolate Chip. I went back up to the counter and ordered my third round of ice cream.
Black Cherry had the same natural cherry-flavored ice cream as the Cherry Chip but with dark cherries instead of maraschino and no chocolate. Cherry lovers beware, because it is a nonstop rush of cherry flavor that my taste buds weren’t ready to handle. I’m also giving this ice cream a B+ because I liked the dark cherries more than the maraschino, but missed the sweet, chocolate flavor from the Cherry Chip.
If I had to predict what the Black Cherry Chocolate Chip tasted like, it would be nothing shy of amazing. Graeter’s new ice cream takes the dark chocolate chips, dark cherries and cherry ice cream to create a dairy masterpiece.
Graeter’s Ice Cream’s nearest campus parlor is located at 1534 W. Lane Ave.