Ice Cream: Expert and User Reviews

Our AssessmentCook's Illustrated staff members sample eight best-selling chocolate ice creams. All use Dutch-processed cocoa powder to produce the chocolate flavor; therefore, differences in taste preference result from richness (which can come from the presence of egg yolks), denseness (attributed to the amount of overrun, or air, present in the product) and texture. Four chocolate ice creams are "recommended," two are "recommended with reservations," and the remaining two brands are "not recommended."

Our AssessmentThirteen vanilla and 11 chocolate ice creams are ranked according to flavor quality in this roundup by ConsumerReports.org, which relies on the opinions of a blind panel to determine which ice creams are best. A score is also offered for nutritional value, which ranges from poor to excellent.

Our AssessmentA panel of more than 20 staffers from SlashFood.com and KitchenDaily.com conduct a blind taste test of 16 different brands of chocolate ice cream as a follow-up to their blind taste test of vanilla ice cream. Panelists rate each brand on a scale of one to five for texture and chocolate flavor. Friendly's Rich & Creamy Classic Chocolate is deemed best in this test, while the worst overall is Best Yet Smooth & Creamy Chocolate Ice Cream, which one panelist describes as "like I just ate a scoop of flour."

Our AssessmentEditors take part in a blind taste test of both chocolate and vanilla light ice creams. Each ice cream receives a score between one and five, although it's not clear on what factors panelists are rating. Häagen-Dazs Lowfat Vanilla Frozen Yogurt beats three other light vanilla ice creams, with a rating of 4 out of 5, although it contains more calories, fat and cholesterol than the other brands. Among light chocolate ice cream, Dreyer's Slow Churned Rich & Creamy comes out on top, with a rating of 4 out of 5.

Our AssessmentThe New York Times conducts a blind taste test of a variety of strawberry ice cream brands. In light of the rising average cost of a pint of ice cream, editors choose more expensive brands to determine if the flavors live up to the price. Both Häagen-Dazs Strawberry and Häagen-Dazs Five Strawberry earn favorable scores from most panelists. Ciao Bella and Blue Marble are deemed worthy of their cost. No breakdown of individual scores is offered, however.

Our AssessmentA panel of tasters samples eight different light ice creams, none containing more than 110 calories or 6 grams of fat per serving. We're not sure how many tasters are on this panel or whether panelists are blind to which brands are being sampled. Breyers Smooth & Dreamy Creamy Chocolate Ice Cream emerges as the winner in the light category; tasters say it's "hard to tell that it was a light ice cream." In the no-sugar added category, Blue Bunny No Sugar Added Reduced Fat Chocolate Ice Cream is deemed the winner. In the fat-free category, Turkey Hill No Sugar Added Fat Free Chocolate Ice Cream, Breyers Smooth & Dreamy Fat Free French Chocolate and Schwan's No Sugar Added Fat Free Chocolate Ice Cream all receive equal scores.

Our AssessmentThis older review on ConsumerReports.org takes a slightly different approach to taste-testing. Instead of comparing several brands against each other to determine the best, this panel pits "light" versions against traditional versions of the same brand to determine if the reduced calories and fat impact taste. Tested brands include Ben & Jerry's Phish Food and Ben & Jerry's Light Phish Food, Häagen-Dazs Coffee and Häagen-Dazs Five Coffee (although the "Five" variety has one-third less sugar, it's not technically defined as a "light" brand), Edy's/Dreyer's Grand Mint Chocolate Chip and Edy's/Dreyer's Slow Churned Light Mint Chocolate Chip, and Breyers All Natural Butter Pecan and Breyers Smooth & Dreamy Light Butter Pecan.

Our AssessmentStaff members sample a variety of low-fat vanilla ice creams, naming Breyers Light the winner for being "closest to full-fat taste" and having a "fresh, true vanilla flavor without any strange afternotes." Runners-up are Häagen-Dazs and Edy's, while Hood and Healthy Choice are both panned.

Our AssessmentLindsay Evans recommends five all-natural, organic and soy ice creams after tasting dozens of nationally available brands with her husband. We'd rate this review higher if a panel of tasters contributed to the final verdict.

Our AssessmentJennifer Vogelsong has a panel of teens try out five national brands of chocolate ice cream. The top finishers are Dreyer's/Edy's and Blue Bunny, which still garner fair-to-lukewarm reviews (the selection didn't include popular brands like Häagen-Dazs or Ben & Jerry's).