Ben & Jerry's NEW Coconuts for Caramel CORE

I know Ben & Jerry's.
You know Ben and/or Jerry.
We all know Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and how they've consistently found new and intriguing ways to sell us various flavored ice creams. I'm pumped to try this, as I'm sure we all are whenever we swipe a new delicious flavor out that ice cold freezer. So let's get to this, and see if this is worth you trading your hard earned, factory sweat soaked cash in for.

That's a hell of a roll call!

Caramel and Sweet Cream Coconut ice cream with fudge flakes and a caramel core. As soon as the plastic top holder thing started krinkling, I got a friend who was suddenly interested in what was in my hands.

Now with the top popped. We can see a giant glob of caramel. Remember this, this comes into play later. Jot it down in your official FatGuyFoodBlog Review Notepad™.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting, maybe I didn't fully read the pint print, but I was perplexed by the two different kinds of ice cream inside the thing.

digging under the first clump of caramel

then my eyes got wider

and then shot out of my head, killing the neighbors doing yard work next door

The Fudge flakes in this thing were flat out huge chocolate chips within a THICK coconut shaving filled ice cream. The caramel ice cream portion was smooth, and not as caramel flavored as one would expect, but they more than make up for it with that well of caramel thickness right there in the middle.  The coconut flavor and shavings were almost overwhelming if you didn't grab a scoop of caramel ice cream, and a healthy glob of caramel core. I often times sit down with a Ben & Jerry's and cap it after a good one quarter is gone, but this one, this one I legit had a hard time putting down. And I know what you're thinking "Josh, you're a hard hitting action food blogger with millions of hits a month living off the teat of google royalty checks, you're probably just saying that." All those things are true, however, I found myself scarfing this down and actually being kind of worried. In my foggy haze, blasted off of Ben & Jerry's, I found myself wondering, "is this what addiction feels like?" So I capped it after a good 3/4's before I ended up washing myself with a rag on a stick.

Hey remember that giant mass of caramel that basically filled the top of my pint like a good barista does with whipped cream on a latte? I also was trying to remember where it went, and it must have disappeared early, because part of my insane shoveling was due to me trying to find another caramel gold deposit.What was the promise of a giant, ever flowing spring of delicious caramel, ended up just being a weeping butthole of brown candy, which I was desperately digging at like I'd been locked up in prison for a decade.

Other than, what was clearly a factory mistake, Ben & Jerry's Coconuts for Caramel was fantastic and did exactly what it claimed it was going to do. Tease you with the promise of a good time, and you just go home with an under the pants handy. I'm not gonna complain, you rule, but, you know.

I give Ben & Jerry's a B. Delicious by all rights, 

but gets overshadowed by what possibly cannot be overshadowed.

Review by Josh!

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Hostess Milky Way Brownies!

Folks, I'm going to be honest with you. I don't really care about Hostess stuff. Remember a few years back when they were going out of business and everyone threw a fit? Eventually, against all odds, Hostess came back from the brink, like Rocky Balboa turning it all around in the final moments of a title fight.  People's fears of a Twinkie-less world were put to rest. Well I'm going to throw it out there, I felt no sadness at the death of the Twinkie. They aren't good! I don't think I've ever spent money on one. I've definitely eaten them when given them, and it helps remind me of why I don't ever buy them. Tastes vary from one fatguyfoodblogger to another, so I'm sure my peers will have an ear full to send my way. But that's just me. I don't really like much of what they have to offer. Those little cupcakes? 

Uhhh...what about the fruit pies?

Ho Hos? Zingers?

But I have to be honest, Ding Dongs are great (Insert penis joke here). Despite being half the size they used to be.  Chocolate Zingers are decent too. Those fruit ones? Nasty. But in the end it kind of just feels like Hostess likes to do what's comfortable and what people expect from them. The problem there is that people feel nostalgic when it's going to go away, but they rarely purchase the items because they are old hat. Things they have had a million times before, but that are nothing new. You gotta give them points for trying to put different filling in the Twinkies over the past couple years, but come on, gang, you gotta do better than that.  I have heard that their Salted Caramel Cupcakes are pretty good, but haven't run into them to try them yet. 

Perhaps someone at Hostess finally knows what's up. When I saw the new Milky Way Hostess Brownies in my local grocery store I was like...

So I bought a box! Let's check them out! 

The Hostess Milky Way Brownies come in a box of six. Makes sense. I guess a half dozen is a solid number when you're talking about brownies. Of course, I ripped the box open and just dumped them all out on the table at once. Just in case they are so good that I decide I need to eat all of them right there at that moment, like Cookie Monster...but with brownies. 

You always have to brace yourself when un-boxing a pastry item like this because it's never going to look like it does on the box. Let's be realistic. They are tumbling around inside of that box like a bunch of astronauts training in zero g. But these don't look too bad! Lots of chocolate and nougat chunks stuck in the caramel! My first thought is that they smell like Cosmic Brownies. You know, those awesome little brownies with the multi-colored candies on top that are put out by Little Debbie, aka the Queen of Pastries. Mother of snack cakes. Breaker of diets.

The Hostess Milky Way Brownies themselves do kind of taste like Cosmic Brownies, but not as moist. The caramel on top is more like caramel flavored frosting. I was hoping it would be as gooey as the caramel on the box and the caramel you find inside a Milky Way Bar. But...this is okay too. 

The Milky Way pieces on top are kind of disappointing. It's really sort of just dry pieces of chocolate and nougat with the occasional melty piece. It really all just combines in your mouth into a strange sweet paste. Not bad, but also it doesn't really get me too excited. Also it really doesn't taste that much like a Milky Way.  I think they missed the boat with the nougat. Imagine the brownie having a gooey nougat center? Perhaps with caramel frosting and chocolate pieces on top? Seems like they took the lazy way out. 

When a world famous snack cake company teams up with one of the greatest candy bars of all time, you expect to see sparks flying. You want to bite into it and see a fireworks display like they have at Disney World every night. But the Hostess Milky Way Brownies are more like a sparkler.  Hissing away in your hand for a moment. It's cool, and it's better than not having fireworks. But is it the sky lighting up and filling your brain with wonder? Nope. Same here. I think Hostess needs to hire someone to mix things up. Baseball themed cupcakes? That's what you're doing? Really? In 2016? Really? Sigh. If you're curious and want to try these out, go for it, but be prepared for mediocrity.  Are they better than not having a brownie at all? Sure. But if you need me, I'll be eating this here Cosmic Brownie. My allegiance lies with my Queen.

I give Hostess Milky Way Brownies a C. Such potential, but in the end, just an average sweet pastry snack that won't get you that excited at all. 

Review by Rich Brunelle, who can be found walking all around Seattle to find items to review on this very website.

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Ben and Jerry's Limited Batch: New Belgium Salted Caramel Brown-ie Ale ice cream!

It's been a while since we've been able to get our hands on a limited batch Ben & Jerry's. So long, in fact that when I saw this one in the freezer section I plucked it out so fast that I hadn't even really registered what it was. "SALTED CARAMEL BROWNIE....Wait...BROWN-IE...ALE?" Yep. This is the latest from those insane flavor wizards in Vermont and this just might be THE weirdest flavor they have ever done. But is it good weird, or bad weird? Let's find out. Ladies and Gents, I give you, The Ben and Jerry's New Belgium Salted Caramel Brown-ie Ale ice cream! 

There's a lot going on with this label. Soak it all in. BEER ICE CREAM. 

The idea of beer flavored ice cream is not one that excited me at first. I just couldn't imagine a way that it could be good. I've never taken a sip of a beer and said to myself, "Damn, imagine if there was ice cream flavored like this?" It's just unnatural. But I guess that's what makes ol' Ben and Jerry special because they know how to think outside the box. So they teamed up with Colorado based New Belgium Brewing and created one of the weirdest ice creams ever. This has New Belgium Brown Ale ice cream with fudge brownies and salted caramel swirls. There's a lot going on here and I have to tell you...it's pretty damn good. 

Irwin was unsure about it, but in the end he wanted to taste that caramel swirl. 

 When you first taste the ice cream you really don't taste much of the beer flavor. But a few moments later it hits you as a pleasant aftertaste. Seriously, it's great. Just tasting the ice cream part, it's basically what I would imagine a beer ice cream float would be like. I know people do this, but I have not had a chance to try it so this is a foreign concept to me. Right off the bat I was sold on at least the ice cream itself. Like sweet beer you eat with a spoon! I think this was a great way to do this ice cream because I think beer lovers will enjoy the flavor, but I don't think it's so strong that if you don't enjoy the flavor of beer, you might still REALLY like it.

 The Brownie chunks are nothing special. They are those weird, fake, tiny brownie rectangles that you can find in other Ben and Jerry's ice creams.  More like little chewy blobs. But the real star of this show is the Salted Caramel Swirls. Notice that it's "Swirls", plural. Because this ice cream is LOADED with gooey liquid caramel with that noticeable salty tang. Some parts had such massive deposits of it that I had to put some back otherwise entire spoonfuls would have been just that.  Yup, this isn't one of those ice creams that hold back on the ingredients, there's a bounty of brownie chunks and salted caramel to be found in here!

FYI: That caramel goes alllll the way down. 

I gotta say, every time I doubt Ben & Jerry's, they somehow blow my mind. I would have liked to have other pictures to go along with this review, but to be honest, I was so into it that the second time I sat down with this pint I finished it off and never looked back. It's that's good! That's why I'm giving it an A! I was weirdest out at the thought of it, but it ends up being a very complex, multi flavored medley that works on every level. I bow to the greater wisdom of the Ben and Jerry's flavor wizards.

Now for those of you who ARE into beer, don't forget the flip side of this! New Belgium actually made the beer version!

This team up between the two companies was to help raise awareness of climate change among the snow sports community through an organization called Protect Our Winters. Sounds like a worthy cause and just shows how awesome both of these companies are. Trying to make the world a better place while taking our taste buds on one hell of a ride. You can bet that the second I spot New Belgium Salted Caramel Brownie Brown Ale, I'll be picking up a six pack. How could I not?

To keep an eye on what Ben & Jerry have going on, check out their: website: http://www.benjerry.com/
And for you beer fans, don't forget to visit New Belgium online: http://www.newbelgium.com/

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REVIEW BY RICH!