When news of the creation and release of Schweddy Balls broke, uproar over the name, confusion on the timing of it all, the mystery of finding it, and the endless questions of "have you had it yet?" abounded. We read ok reviews and bad reviews from fellow food-bloggers. We were worried, excited, curious, and angry. All we wanted to do was the one thing we couldn't- taste the damn stuff.
If you've been living under a rock (or are thin), Schweddy Balls is a limited release of Ben & Jerry's ice cream named after a Saturday Night Live skit starring Alec Baldwin, that is about 13 years old now. If you haven't seen it, view it here.
Why Ben & Jerry's launched an ice cream flavor based on a 13 year-old Christmas-themed skit featuring rum balls (a Christmas-themed dish) in the middle of summer is anyone's guess. But we finally found it.
and we were very excited.
Fortunately, the frequency that I'm finding it has gone way up, so maybe now that it's nearly December, all our readers will be able to find it in the month that it should taste best. At the time, I found it at a gas station nearly an hour from my house, and I had to blast the AC to keep it cold and not ruin it. Seems crazy right? I'd later buy 2 from the same gas station, as it was the only place I'd been able to find it. The lengths fat guys will go to...
So how is it? Awesome.
The ice cream is basically vanilla with a SLIGHT, barely-there other flavor, which is apparently a "hint of rum." I wasn't excited about the malt balls at first, but grew to love their crunchiness in the overall creamy gooeyness of the ice cream. Plus, you can barely tell the difference between the malt balls and rum balls by sight, so you never know what you're going to bite into. I've never had a rum ball before, but based on this ice cream, they taste exactly like chewy eggnog. And that rules.
Malt ball on the left, rum ball on the right. Friends for life.
I would describe this ice cream as eggnog ice cream loaded with chocolate covered balls of goodness. Frozen chunky eggnog. It's great. Because my brain is trained to drink eggnog slowly and in small doses, and because of just how many balls there are in this, it's definitely an eat-slowly-and-savor kind of ice cream. There are better flavors of ice cream out there, and everyone has a favorite Ben & Jerry's that will probably be considered better than this, but Schweddy Balls is a delicious and very unique flavor. Definitely get a carton if you can find it. I'd recommend gas stations over supermarkets- I've still yet to see it at a supermarket but have seen it at probably 6 gas stations now.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Hey Ben & Jerry's, how about canning this whole "limited release" thing and launching a SEASONAL RELEASE of this stuff. Seasonal food is something few food companies seem to want to do, even though in my opinion, it's a great idea. This tastes like eggnog and was based on a Christmas skit, so why not have it come out every year around Christmas? Why not give people something to look forward to? Look at beer- every season has a completely different selection. It's time for food to follow. Sadly, because people in this country are too uptight (and I get it, as it was definitely weird telling my mom the name of this ice cream), you may have to change the name. Here, how about this 10 minute photoshop job? Think about it, Ben & Jerry, I know you're reading this blog.
not my finest work, but you get the idea
A-
-Mike
I was very surprised how much I liked this. I was much more excited about the Malted Milk Balls than the Rum balls. But it was also fun seeing which you would get because they looked the same. Hopefully this stays around, but the spineless execs at Ben & Jerrys will bury it because of the name. Just like CLUSTERFLUFF. Harmless. Cute. Funny. But some uptight old lady must have complained so let's change everything. Ugh. Anyway. GOOD ICE CREAM.
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