The Good: Tastes great, Great ingredients
The Bad: More expensive than other Ice creams, Very fatty!
The Basics: Graeter’s Coconut Chocolate Chip Ice cream is a flavorful ice cream that is harder to recommend due to its expense and health detriments than the way it tastes.
I used to make my own ice cream (I still have the ice cream maker and now that my wife and I are eating healthy again, I just might pick that up again!) and so, I completely respect the idea of making small batches of wonderful flavors of ice cream. Small batches and intriguing flavors seems to be the mantra of Graeter’s, an ice cream company I had never even heard of until I picked up their pint container of Graeter’s Coconut Chocolate Chip ice cream I found at the local grocery store!
Graeter’s Coconut Chocolate Chip ice cream is good, but Graeter’s makes you pay for it; the pint container was more expensive than Haagen-Dazs I found near it and quite a bit more expensive than the Ben & Jerry’s. As well, because I am once again looking at such things, the Coconut Chocolate Chip ice cream is one of the fattiest and highest calorie ice creams I have reviewed of late, making it an impossible sell for anyone who is health conscious.
Basics
Graeter’s ice cream comes in a pint container. The Coconut Chocolate Chip ice cream is a smooth Ice cream with chunks of dark chocolate chips. Coconut Chocolate Chip is mostly smooth with chunks in almost every bite. This ice cream is one of the most diversely-flavored ice creams and its flavor changes as it moves over the tongue.
At (locally) $5.99 a pint, the Graeter’s ice cream is an expensive dessert. That I found it on clearance for $2.99 was the primary reason I bought the pint of Ice cream!
Ease Of Preparation
The Coconut Chocolate Chip Ice cream is a simple Ice cream with only one additive. As an ice cream, preparation is ridiculously simple: one need only open the top of the container, remove the safety seal from the top, scoop out a half cup and consume! There is no trick to preparing or eating the Coconut Chocolate Chip Ice cream!
Taste
Graeter’s Coconut Chocolate Chip ice cream has a strong coconut aroma to it. In fact, opening up the container even while it is still completely frozen, releases a scent of coconut with a hint of chocolate that is instantly reminiscent to anyone who loves such things of a Mounds bar. This has a delightful and inviting scent for anyone who finds coconut enjoyable.
On the tongue, the Coconut Chocolate Chip ice cream is creamy and has the characteristic dryness of coconut. The dry, but distinct fruit flavor quickly overcomes the milkiness and a slightly watery taste to the mid-flavor. There is a flavor burst with this ice cream that then transforms into a water crystal flavor before the chocolate flavor rushes up and overwhelms the palate. The chocolate in the Coconut Chocolate Chip is an initially waxy flavor before it kicks with a pleasant dark chocolate taste! As the flavor finishes, it blends together the strong chocolate and the subtle coconut on the tongue in a way that is intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable. The resurgence of the coconut flavor for the ultimate flavor is delightful and a nice finish for those who love coconut.
This Ice cream has a slightly bitter aftertaste (if one has a chocolate chunk in their final bite) or a watery aftertaste (for the bites of ice cream that lack chocolate chunks), neither aftertaste lasts more than two minutes after the last bite is consumed.
Nutrition
The Graeter’s Coconut Chocolate Chip Ice cream is a comparatively thick ice cream with a firm, obvious additive. The pint container represents four half-cup servings. In the half-cup serving, there are 310 calories, 180 of which are from fat. The twenty grams of fat represent 33% of the RDA of fat, with 60% of one’s RDA of saturated fat coming in the 12 grams of saturated fat in this ice cream. One serving has 50 mg of cholesterol (that’s 17% of the RDA!) and 70 mg of Sodium (3% RDA). The only other real nutrients are three grams of protein and 10% of the RDAs of Vitamin A and Calcium in the Coconut Chocolate Chip Ice cream.
Graeter’s has decent ingredients, though. Made primarily of Cream, milk and cane sugar, Coconut Chocolate Chip ice cream is all natural! There is nothing unpronounceable in the ingredients list. The Coconut Chocolate Chip Graeter’s is Kosher, but not marked as gluten free. There is an allergy warning on the package noting that it was produced on equipment that processes nuts and peanut flavors. It does, as well, contain milk and egg ingredients, so it is very much not Vegan compliant.
Storage/Clean-Up
Graeter’s Ice cream is both a frozen and a dairy product, so it is pretty obvious that it must be kept frozen in order to remain viable. Kept frozen it remains fresh for months (my pint had an expiration date of October 31, 2013, which made it incomprehensible why it would be clearanced now).
The Coconut Chocolate Chip Ice cream is a white ice cream with chocolate pieces and will stain if they come closer to room temperature. As well, when the Ice cream melts and gets onto fabrics, it will require one to wash it right out. On nonporous surfaces, the Ice cream wipes off exceptionally easily.
Overall
Despite how fatty Graeter’s Coconut Chocolate Chip ice cream is and how expensive it is, it is a quality ice cream with one of the most original and tasty flavors I have had in a while. That makes it a good “splurge when you can” dessert, or an ice cream that finishes a fancy meal exceptionally well, but a poor everyday ice cream.
For other ice creams, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Haagen-Dazs Limited Edition Blueberry Crumble
Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk
Starbucks Coffee Signature Hot Chocolate Ice Cream
5/10
For other food reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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