Post by thesolution on Jan 6, 2017 11:08:55 GMT -5
Salt & Straw Happy Birthday Elvis!
Salt & Straw Happy Birthday Elvis! is labeled as "lightly spiced banana custard ice cream that’s ‘all shook up’ with chunks of peanut butter bacon cookie dough & Then we swirl in a ribbon of marionberry jam". Very interesting description on how they chose to set up this elvis pint. What really intrigues me is how well the banana base is because we know how premium Salt & Straw is. Peanut butter bacon cookie dough is nothing something you see, and this is why we know S&S will whip up something unique. Throw in a marionberry jam which I have never heard of, and I am in for a treat (at least I hope so!).
First off the spiced banana custard ice cream is very subtle. The amount of banana flavor is next to nothing. Judging by the flavor you would think this would pack more banana flavor, but it seemed like a glorified banana with a slight banana aftertaste. I was kind of let down after a few spoonfuls on the surface of just the base. Not only is the banana flavor weak, it really tasted like the regular vanilla with just a minor hint of banana. This left me a bit confused as S&S is usually very good with their bases, but maybe we will find the best part of the pint with the mix-ins.
As you can see the marionberry swirl is flowing to the top of the pint and breaching the surface. I really enjoyed this aspect of the pint because this swirl is as deadly as the Rocky Road & Sweet Potato Casserole. Globs, not just swirls, i mean globs of marionberry stretch from the top to the bottom of the pint. The swirl even amplifies in size the further you dig until the very bottom was a pool of berry swirl. The flavor is a mix of a dense raspberry with a bold aftertaste. While I have never had a marionberry this was pretty close to a very good raspberry. I really enjoyed this because it paired with the base well which lacked the banana flavor. Last but not least were the chunks of peanut butter bacon cookie dough. While the bacon flavor was faint in applewood smoked bacon flavor in these mix-ins the size of them was not. These chunks were identical to one inch balls of cookie dough. You do not get a lot of them, but when you hit them you do not miss them. It will fill your entire spoon and the chewiness and doughiness of the balls are on point. Salt & Straw's quality with their mix-ins and swirls continues to shine. The peanut butter is stronger then the bacon which is great for those who love PB and cookie dough.
The good was the berry swirl which hands down overpowered this entire pint from start to finish. When you strike the cookie dough peanut butter balls you get a slight pb and bacon aftertaste but a very strong cookie dough flavor. Not only are they extremely chewy and delicious. At first I thought the banana base would come stronger and the bacon would be more pronounced, but that was not the case. For this elvis combination the cookie dough is the leading flavor behind the swirl. Then the bacon and banana are more foreshadows in the end. While an elvis sandwich has PB and Banana as additions that makes sense why they were not super strong in this flavor. Overall the Cookie Dough > Swirl > Bacon > Banana > PB for the flavoring and what overpowered each other.
Grade: B -
Found: SaltandStraw.com
Salt & Straw Happy Birthday Elvis! is labeled as "lightly spiced banana custard ice cream that’s ‘all shook up’ with chunks of peanut butter bacon cookie dough & Then we swirl in a ribbon of marionberry jam". Very interesting description on how they chose to set up this elvis pint. What really intrigues me is how well the banana base is because we know how premium Salt & Straw is. Peanut butter bacon cookie dough is nothing something you see, and this is why we know S&S will whip up something unique. Throw in a marionberry jam which I have never heard of, and I am in for a treat (at least I hope so!).
First off the spiced banana custard ice cream is very subtle. The amount of banana flavor is next to nothing. Judging by the flavor you would think this would pack more banana flavor, but it seemed like a glorified banana with a slight banana aftertaste. I was kind of let down after a few spoonfuls on the surface of just the base. Not only is the banana flavor weak, it really tasted like the regular vanilla with just a minor hint of banana. This left me a bit confused as S&S is usually very good with their bases, but maybe we will find the best part of the pint with the mix-ins.
As you can see the marionberry swirl is flowing to the top of the pint and breaching the surface. I really enjoyed this aspect of the pint because this swirl is as deadly as the Rocky Road & Sweet Potato Casserole. Globs, not just swirls, i mean globs of marionberry stretch from the top to the bottom of the pint. The swirl even amplifies in size the further you dig until the very bottom was a pool of berry swirl. The flavor is a mix of a dense raspberry with a bold aftertaste. While I have never had a marionberry this was pretty close to a very good raspberry. I really enjoyed this because it paired with the base well which lacked the banana flavor. Last but not least were the chunks of peanut butter bacon cookie dough. While the bacon flavor was faint in applewood smoked bacon flavor in these mix-ins the size of them was not. These chunks were identical to one inch balls of cookie dough. You do not get a lot of them, but when you hit them you do not miss them. It will fill your entire spoon and the chewiness and doughiness of the balls are on point. Salt & Straw's quality with their mix-ins and swirls continues to shine. The peanut butter is stronger then the bacon which is great for those who love PB and cookie dough.
The good was the berry swirl which hands down overpowered this entire pint from start to finish. When you strike the cookie dough peanut butter balls you get a slight pb and bacon aftertaste but a very strong cookie dough flavor. Not only are they extremely chewy and delicious. At first I thought the banana base would come stronger and the bacon would be more pronounced, but that was not the case. For this elvis combination the cookie dough is the leading flavor behind the swirl. Then the bacon and banana are more foreshadows in the end. While an elvis sandwich has PB and Banana as additions that makes sense why they were not super strong in this flavor. Overall the Cookie Dough > Swirl > Bacon > Banana > PB for the flavoring and what overpowered each other.
Grade: B -
Found: SaltandStraw.com