Some people have major summer goals.
To get that big landscaping project in the backyard done, to get the porch steps painted, to finally read your copy of Pride and Prejudice or to finally fit into that swimsuit. This year, my summer goal is to try all 39 flavors of ice cream from the Twist and Shout.
It was time to try more. To stay on pace, we needed to try three flavors this week. We weren’t feeling the fruity flavors for this trip, so we decided to go with a dessert medley. It seemed weird saying that because we were already ordering ice cream. Isn’t that dessert already? I don’t think so. Ice cream is just ice cream, not necessarily dessert. So we ordered German Chocolate, Cheesecake and Apple Pie flavors. You know, dessert flavors.
It was another week and we had to take on two more flavors. We needed to stay on schedule if we want to hit them all before the season ends. Must. Eat. Ice. Cream. We have been purposely avoiding the really weird flavors like cotton candy and licorice. We’ll get to them soon enough, but I think we both were looking for something we were really going to like. I think we did pretty well this week.
Aya and I decided that to get through all 39 flavors at this summer, we needed a little help. So we decided to start inviting people to accompany us for this taste testing “job.” First to join us were our friends Dennis and Kelly Hickey of Wyandotte. You can imagine it must be really difficult to get people to try ice cream with you. I think Kelly’s response when I asked her wasn’t “yes” or “no,” but rather, “when!?”
This week, of Wyandotte joined us for our tasting. Tammy is the executive director for the Downriver Council for the Arts. She and I happen to be related, too.
The DCA has a series of throughout the month of August. Also, local artist Denise Bloom will have her work on display for the whole month of August at the DCA. Go check it out!
Tammy had been to the before, but only had the typical vanilla chocolate twist. Selecting a nonchocolate or vanilla flavor was new territory for her. I handed her the list that highlighted the available selections. I chose caramel, Aya chose lemon and Tammy decided to go for a weird flavor–cotton candy.
Oh no! I’ve been dreading that flavor, but I knew it would have to happen sooner or later. But you know what? Sometimes not everything is as it seems.
Lemon
I was looking forward to lemon because of the . Past experience predicted that it would be like lemons and cream, but I was still expecting a lemony punch. I wanted to make that sour lemon face, but I didn’t. It was smooth and mild. Good, but not great. Tammy gave it 4 spoons; Aya and I gave it 3.
Caramel
Do you pronounce it car-mel? Or care-a-mel? For me, I think it depends on the final product. In this case it’s car-mel. But when referring to a Twix, I’d probably say care-a-mel. Mmmm Twix. Anyway, this rates up there with Amaretto. It was good, really good, but I wouldn’t get it again. Tammy and I gave it 4 spoons, but Aya felt pretty strong on this–enough to give it 4.5 plastic spoons! Whoa! She’s not even a big fan of caramel. Or carmel!
Cotton Candy
First of all, I don’t like cotton candy. I never have. I think it’s a really good concept and I appreciate the idea, but when it comes down to it, it’s pretty awful. It’s like eating building insulation with sugar on it. It’s dry and way too sweet and I feel itchy after I’ve eaten it. So with that, I was not looking forward to trying this flavor. But there we were.
I was surprised when they handed us blue ice cream.Blue!? We did order cotton candy right? When I picture cotton candy, I always think pink. Alright, let’s do this. Not only was I expecting pink, but also for it to also feel furry and taste super sugary. So essentially I was expecting a pink Furby eating Nerds. But to my surprise, it was really good. Like really good! I would order this again for sure! Aya gave it a strong 4 for the unexpected factor, and Tammy and I gave it 4.5 spoons! I almost gave it a 5, but I think that was the excitement talking. After another try, I might re-evaluate.
