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Vanilla Ice Cream Test

Posted 28 June, 2008 at 8:51pm by Michael Chu
(Filed under: Food)

Tina set up the vanilla ice cream test right after I set up the Choctal test. We tried the three vanillas in our freezer - Strauss Family Creamery Vanilla, Choctal Madagascar Vanilla, and Trader Joe's Vanilla Ice Cream. I also tried to guess which was which and was COMPLETELY wrong. I guessed that the flavors were Choctal, Strauss, and mystery brand (I forgot the third brand in the freezer). It turned out they were Strauss, Trader Joe's, and Choctal.

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Here's how Trevor and I thought (Tina disqualified herself because knowing the brands really screwed with her perceptions):

Strauss: Both commented it was more like a homemade ice cream - a little gritty and loose (not dense). I found it to start off very sweet and felt the sugar flavor was dominating and the vanilla was background.

Trader Joe's: Ultra-creamy, strong vanilla with a well balanced sweetness. Both Trevor and I chose this as our favorite.

Choctal: Vanilla flavor was present, but not enough sugar. A little more sweetness would have brought out some more flavor.

2 comments to Vanilla Ice Cream Test

Jen, June 29th, 2008 at 11:55 am:

  • Up here in Canada, we have a brand called President's Choice that is associated with one of the grocery conglomerates. They've long had a vanilla ice cream, but several months ago, they introduced another specifically labelled vanilla bean. I love it and it's the only vanilla ice cream I've ever gotten excited about.

Marc S. Boatwright, October 30th, 2008 at 5:56 am:

  • Marc here… I am the founder of Choctál, thank you for trying product next to the others, just love it … Wanted you to know that we purposely put less sugar in our product so the actual vanilla taste of real vanilla comes through. Most consumers are not aware that around 95% of of products with vanilla in them do not use the REAL DEAL, look on the back of the containers…. most say natural vanilla flavor… we have know idea what that is?? That is why we use only DOUBLE FOLD vanilla extract…The FDA definition of natural vanilla is very lax…. Check out the web site….. rainforestvanilla.org great information…. Also if you are not aware we make four other vanilla profiles, Mexican, Indonesian, Papua New Guinea, and a Costa Rican Vanilla/Chocolate swirl…. Costa Rican Vanilla is the only vanilla in the world certified by Rain Forest Alliance…..

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