What are your 5 favorite "desert island" ice cream flavors?

[Jeff B]

Since summer is around the corner, I couldn't resist this one...

Assuming you like ice cream, what five general flavors would you stock up on?

I might go with:

Blue Moon
Chocolate
Chocolate Chip (not the Mint though)
Coffee
Butter Pecan

Jeff

[Mike Filigenzi]

Mint chip
Salted caramel
Roasted cinnamon
Cherry Garcia
Thai basil

[Carl Eppig]

Butter Pecan
Buttered Macadamea
Chocolate fudge
Vanilla bean vanilla
Coffee

[Jenise]

Baskin Robbins Jamocha Almond fudge on a sugar cone (if I can't have cones, then forget it)
Ben and Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough
Almost any flavor of sorbet


And that's it. Ice cream doesn't hold much appeal to me.

[Jeff B]

And that's it. Ice cream doesn't hold much appeal to me.

Wow, I find ice cream to be one of the most sensual foods there is. But I also really gravitate to texture and weight in foods that I like. Even with wine, the first thing I typically notice is how it feels in my mouth. Is it super chalky, tannic and heavy? A plus for me with red wines. Is the effervesence creamy, languid and subdued? A plus for me with champagnes.

Chocolate and kettle cooked chips (for opposing textures) are two other foods I love mostly due to their feel in the mouth.

Jeff

[Redwinger]

Graeter's Black Raspberry Crack...I mean Chip.

[Jenise]

Wow, I find ice cream to be one of the most sensual foods there is.
Jeff

Most people seem to love it, and it's as if they have a childhood connection to it as a reward. I could feel that way as it was something we didn't have much at home but sometimes walked into town for, but I don't like sweets or dairy-based foods enough to have made that connection. Even as a kid I preferred fruit-flavored sherbets or fruit itself to ice cream.

[Rahsaan]

Wow, I find ice cream to be one of the most sensual foods there is.
Jeff

Most people seem to love it, and it's as if they have a childhood connection to it as a reward..

Cream and sugar do have a way of making people feel rewarded!

[Rahsaan]

Roasted cinnamon

This is a tough one. I guess you've obviously had good versions?

The concept of the flavor sounds great, but everytime I try it it comes off way too subtle. I guess most likely because they're not using the freshest or most fragrant cinammon. And this is from otherwise high-quality places. And it's not like I need an overdose of smack-you-in-the-face flavors, but I do want to taste the flavor and more often than not when I order cinammon it doesn't deliver.

[Rahsaan]

Good topic. We had our first afternoon ice cream cones yesterday, and are looking forward to a good season. I was pissed because I swung for the fences and ordered pistachio, but it was one of those artificial flourescent green versions, even from a place that claimed it was 'homemade'. I should have known better. Pistachio is so hard to get right. But, I have the whole summer to make up for it!

In general, I go for succulent fruit flavors (melon, peach, berries, figs) and nuts (hazelnut and walnut being the tops). I like that combination of one scoop from each family.

My wife always gets vanilla and/or the coffee variant available. Or sometimes fruit.

We never get chocolate, it just doesn't seem to convey the lightness of feeling that I want from ice cream. And we love chocolate.

[Carrie L.]

I don't eat much ice cream. Sort of go through phases. Mostly like it when I'm on vacation and see an ice cream shop while strolling through town.
Here are my top fives.

Pistachio
Mint chocolate chip
Peppermint candy
Cookies and cream
Brownie fudge

[Robin Garr]

I really love ice cream but don't allow myself too much and try not to keep temptation in the house. We have a new branch of a great local ice cream parlor, Comfy Cow, in our neighborhood now, and Mary and I have a deal: We can only treat ourselves if we walk to get it. It's one mile from home, so the two-mile walk probably burns off about one-fourth of the calories consumed in a kiddie cup, no cone. Still, it makes us feel virtuous.

Before Comfy Cow, I would have answered this question as "Chocolate chip, coffee, and that's about it."

But between this ice cream palace's regular and seasonal flavors, I'm much more inclined to experiment now. Some of the great ones have included Dulce de Leche de Salté, Bourbon Ball, Java Chip and Coconut Chocolate Chip.

And of course, all of this doesn't even open the door to the gelato closet ...

[Mark Lipton]

Cantaloupe
Peach
Raspberry
Mango
Coconut

All of these came from the same place, so here's a shout-out to the greatest ice cream parlor in the world.

(It doesn't hurt if you're there in heat of summer, when a melon gelato goes down quite easily)

Mark Lipton

[Mike Filigenzi]

Roasted cinnamon

This is a tough one. I guess you've obviously had good versions?

The concept of the flavor sounds great, but everytime I try it it comes off way too subtle. I guess most likely because they're not using the freshest or most fragrant cinammon. And this is from otherwise high-quality places. And it's not like I need an overdose of smack-you-in-the-face flavors, but I do want to taste the flavor and more often than not when I order cinammon it doesn't deliver.

It's one that I make myself from a recipe in "Ices", by Liddel and Weir. I use Penzey's Vietnamese along with some of their stick cinnamon to get a nice, deep cinnamon flavor.

[Mike Filigenzi]

Most people seem to love it, and it's as if they have a childhood connection to it as a reward. I could feel that way as it was something we didn't have much at home but sometimes walked into town for, but I don't like sweets or dairy-based foods enough to have made that connection. Even as a kid I preferred fruit-flavored sherbets or fruit itself to ice cream.

It's funny, but I wasn't a big ice cream fan when I was a kid. I liked it but I preferred cakes and such if I had a choice for dessert. It wasn't until I was through college that I started to really like ice cream. Now, I love the stuff.

[Jeff B]

Most people seem to love it, and it's as if they have a childhood connection to it as a reward. I could feel that way as it was something we didn't have much at home but sometimes walked into town for, but I don't like sweets or dairy-based foods enough to have made that connection. Even as a kid I preferred fruit-flavored sherbets or fruit itself to ice cream.

It's funny, but I wasn't a big ice cream fan when I was a kid. I liked it but I preferred cakes and such if I had a choice for dessert. It wasn't until I was through college that I started to really like ice cream. Now, I love the stuff.

I'm somewhat the same way Mike. I've always liked ice cream but I didn't have it too frequently as a kid. Oddly, it is now that I appreciate it's variety and sensual qualities.

I have a similar history with dark chocolate - I never had it as a kid (it was always milk chocolate or candy bars) but as an adult I now appreciate the artisan qualities of it. Such combos as sea salt and dark chocolate is something I couldn't have imagined when I was younger. Of course, chocolate is enjoying a "bull market" of sorts so there's a lot more options out there today.

Jeff

[Karen/NoCA]

Pistachio Spumoni
Home made vanilla bean
Home made fresh peach with cinnamon
Schwan's Maple Nut
Cherry Garcia
All are subject to change and any given moment or mood!

[Rahsaan]

I make myself from a recipe in "Ices", by Liddel and Weir. I use Penzey's Vietnamese along with some of their stick cinnamon to get a nice, deep cinnamon flavor.

Not bad!

[Jeff Grossman/NYC]

I make Mike's recipe, too. It's better than 'not bad'.

[Carrie L.]

Blue Moon
Jeff

Jeff, what flavor is that?

[Lee Short]

Ginger
Cardamom and Black Pepper
Amarula Cream
Calamansi
Black Sesame

edit: and Maple!

[Jeff B]

Blue Moon
Jeff

Jeff, what flavor is that?

Blue Moon is a one-tone ice cream that is a pastel blue/powder blue. It reminds me of the taste of bubblegum a little bit. I've always loved it.

Wikipedia has an interesting page on it. It appears to be found mostly in the upper Midwest here. It is also one of the flavors found in "Superman" ice cream.

Jeff

[Matilda L]

I adore good ice cream and it's pretty hard to narrow it down to just five flavours but here's what occurs to me right now.

Chocolate
Ginger
Raspberry ripple
Mango
Coffee

Ask me again tomorrow and the list might look different... although I think it would always start with chocolate.

[Matilda L]

On the subject of "Blue Moon", that used to be one of the milkshake flavours you could order at the deli when I was a kid. It was a subtle musky flavour and not over-sweet. I was seriously fond of it. I haven't seen it for years.