I like my ice cream simple: Vanilla in a sugar cone, with some chocolate chips or rainbow sprinkles if I’m feeling crazy. I wish that Ben and Jerry’s business practices were simple enough to like too. They claim to promote practices that respect the earth and the environment such as using recycled paper in their cartons and Bovine Growth Hormone-free milk. But when it comes to the goods, for me, B & J is just too chunky. You practically need a knife and fork to get through the gobs of dough and tangles of fudge swirled throughout each pint. They do make a mean Vanilla, but from Phish Food to Half Baked, there are very few flavors that I would go out of my way to eat. With net sales of $237,043,000 in 1999, I am clearly the protest vote.
Ice cream is usually accompanied by something, be it a banana, hot fudge, a cone or a simple cherry. Ben and Jerry’s is the total package. Jami Siegel (CAS ‘08) explained the ice cream’s appeal.
“It has the perfect ice cream to topping ratio,” she said. “Usually, you have to mix the toppings into your ice cream and there is either too much or too little. But Ben and Jerry do all the work for you.”
This is an ice cream with a following. When Ben and Jerry’s released Oatmeal Cookie Chunk, one of several limited seasonal flavors, fans bombarded the company with pleas to keep the beloved sweet cinnamon ice cream studded with chunks of soft oatmeal cookie and fudge chips. Other favorites, though, have been lost forever. The Flavor Graveyard lists hundreds of dearly departed treats, from Dastardly Mash (heady hash of chocolate ice cream with almonds, pecans, chocolate drops and raisins) to the simple Vanilla with Kit Kat.
This summer, when the company staged its “Raise a Flavor” contest, thousands of customers voted on which treats are most missed. Some flavors died out for a reason. Cantaloupe is good in a fruitbowl, but it should stay out of my scoop shop. And while I like all three ingredients on their own, the white fudge covered popcorn, caramel peanuts and malt ice cream of Peanuts and Popcorn was an odd combo. Not even Ben and Jerry knew what they were doing when they churned out Lemon Peppermint Carob Chip.
Kaberry Kaboom did surprisingly well. The strawberry and blueberry ice cream with white fudge covered crackling candies tasted like the circus on crack. It hurt your mouth to eat and the sour candies lost their fizz in all that cream. Some more favorable flavors were White Russian and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough.
Winning with an overwhelming 17,364 votes however was the original Phish Food: Wavy Gravy. This caramel cashew Brazil nut ice cream with chocolate hazelnut fudge swirls and roasted almonds is everything that Ben and Jerry’s stands for. Named for Hugh “Wavy Gravy” Romney, the original host of Woodstock and the founder of a free-loving Northern California music festival, as well as the Winnarainbow circus and performing arts camp, this clown has heart and his “living flavor” is phabulous. The swirls taste like Nutella and blend into the creamy, nutty ice cream. It’s back in scoop shops for a limited time, so hurry. No cone or sprinkles necessary.
