Post by thesolution on Aug 5, 2014 8:40:00 GMT -5
Ben & Jerry's Gilly's Catastrophic Crunch
The last of my 4 pints I got from my scoop shop pick up when I ventured into Pittsburgh is Gilly's Catastrophic Crunch which is the 2nd of the two SNL Exclusives that were released (Lazy Sunday the other). After having Salted Caramel Blondie , and Coconut 7 Layer I am eager to see where this one falls. I am still kicking myself after reading reviews on the Turtle Cheesecake, but that will be my next pickup, and hopefully another candy bar pie pint!
Gilly's Catastrophic Crunch is labeled as "Chocolate & sweet cream ice creams with caramel clusters, fudge-covered almonds & a marshmallow swirl" When i saw the description in the scoop shop I raised my eyebrow not only at the mix-in selection, but also how all of this would compliment each other. With that being said the Sweet Cream ice Cream has been picking up recently in their base selection which is a bonus, and their chocolate is mediocre at best. The Caramel Clusters, Fudge covered almonds (New York Super Fudge Chunk), and Marshmallow Swirl (Phish Food) sounded too good to be true, so lets see if it is.
Upon opening the pint that is freshly hand packed from a scoop shop I noticed a lot of chocolate and little to no sweet cream base. I also did not notice much of the mix-ins as labeled on the pint as far as caramel clusters, almonds, or a marshmallow swirl was concerned, but as we know usually it gets better as the pint goes on. The Chocolate is pretty straight forward, nothing to rave over and far from a Jeni's Dark chocolate, hopefully there is more sweet cream and mix-ins in a few bites as I venture forward.
Overall as you wind down the pint The sweet cream is basically hardly seen. The sweet cream has a very nice rich and creamy taste to it which I wish was more of a 50/50 blend to really make this pint improve. I would say the pint is more 80/20 when it comes to a Chocolate/Sweet Cream base which was a letdown because the Sweet Cream featured in Salted Caramel Blondie and the Salted Caramel Core are great. The caramel clusters are very hit or miss as are the fudge covered almonds. The mix-ins are very lacking in this pint, but when you do strike gold (as you see in the last picture) they are very good. The crunch of the almonds is perfect to really set this pint apart just like you would experience in a Everything But The, or NY Super Fudge Chunk. The Marshmallow Swirl just like the caramel clusters is very hit or miss as well which left this pint lacking. If there was an increase in the Sweet Cream base, more of a marshmallow swirl that is present in Phish Food, and larger caramel clusters this would be much better compared to the lack of mix-ins and dominant chocolate base which this did provide.
Based off the 4 Pints I got during my visit @ the scoop shop in pittsburgh:
1. Lazy Sunday
2. Coconut 7 Layer
3. Salted caramel Blondie
4. Gilly's Catastrophic Crunch
Grade: B-
Found: Pittsburgh, PA
Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop
The last of my 4 pints I got from my scoop shop pick up when I ventured into Pittsburgh is Gilly's Catastrophic Crunch which is the 2nd of the two SNL Exclusives that were released (Lazy Sunday the other). After having Salted Caramel Blondie , and Coconut 7 Layer I am eager to see where this one falls. I am still kicking myself after reading reviews on the Turtle Cheesecake, but that will be my next pickup, and hopefully another candy bar pie pint!
Gilly's Catastrophic Crunch is labeled as "Chocolate & sweet cream ice creams with caramel clusters, fudge-covered almonds & a marshmallow swirl" When i saw the description in the scoop shop I raised my eyebrow not only at the mix-in selection, but also how all of this would compliment each other. With that being said the Sweet Cream ice Cream has been picking up recently in their base selection which is a bonus, and their chocolate is mediocre at best. The Caramel Clusters, Fudge covered almonds (New York Super Fudge Chunk), and Marshmallow Swirl (Phish Food) sounded too good to be true, so lets see if it is.
Upon opening the pint that is freshly hand packed from a scoop shop I noticed a lot of chocolate and little to no sweet cream base. I also did not notice much of the mix-ins as labeled on the pint as far as caramel clusters, almonds, or a marshmallow swirl was concerned, but as we know usually it gets better as the pint goes on. The Chocolate is pretty straight forward, nothing to rave over and far from a Jeni's Dark chocolate, hopefully there is more sweet cream and mix-ins in a few bites as I venture forward.
Overall as you wind down the pint The sweet cream is basically hardly seen. The sweet cream has a very nice rich and creamy taste to it which I wish was more of a 50/50 blend to really make this pint improve. I would say the pint is more 80/20 when it comes to a Chocolate/Sweet Cream base which was a letdown because the Sweet Cream featured in Salted Caramel Blondie and the Salted Caramel Core are great. The caramel clusters are very hit or miss as are the fudge covered almonds. The mix-ins are very lacking in this pint, but when you do strike gold (as you see in the last picture) they are very good. The crunch of the almonds is perfect to really set this pint apart just like you would experience in a Everything But The, or NY Super Fudge Chunk. The Marshmallow Swirl just like the caramel clusters is very hit or miss as well which left this pint lacking. If there was an increase in the Sweet Cream base, more of a marshmallow swirl that is present in Phish Food, and larger caramel clusters this would be much better compared to the lack of mix-ins and dominant chocolate base which this did provide.
Based off the 4 Pints I got during my visit @ the scoop shop in pittsburgh:
1. Lazy Sunday
2. Coconut 7 Layer
3. Salted caramel Blondie
4. Gilly's Catastrophic Crunch
Grade: B-
Found: Pittsburgh, PA
Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop