The Emperor of Ice Cream
SnackPackers weighed in on top ice cream flavors the other day. So, tell me, was it Ben or was it Jerry who slept with each and every one of you to secure such egregious results? Here’s the real deal, one scoop at a time.
1. Baskin Robbins Mint Chocolate Chip. It’s a classic. Kids like it. Adults like it. The chips aren’t too honkin’ (see Breyer’s version), nor too small. The mint not too minty. A perfect summer afternoon is mint chocolate chip on a sugar cone, the cone tip bitten off so it’s a race against the drips. (Full disclosure: I worked at BR in high school and I still feel it’s every child’s inalienable right to a new scoop when Scoop One has seen pavement.)
2. Starbucks Java Chip. I would have said the roundhouse punchiness of the espresso flavor, but they stopped making it. My guess is that consumers complained about the black flecks that frequently caused dental disgrace.
3. Cherry Garcia. Where is Cherry Garcia, you B&J-loving Packers? Only their No. 1 selling flavor, for a good reason.
4. Ciao Bella Blood Orange Sorbet. Alright, not technically an ice cream, but it’s about as sophisticated a dessert as there is. Garnish with impudent little cookie.
5. Blue Bell Peppermint, the kind with the pale pink color and the little zaps of crunchy candy. Ends a meal on a fresh-breath note, like Scope only less bracing. 
6. Dairy Queen vanilla soft serve, with the hard, waxy chocolate carapace.
7. Haagen Dazs Toasted Coconut Sesame Brittle. It's outrageous. Anyone else enjoying the new line of super-premium-if-you-have-to-ask-you-can't-afford-it Haagen Dazs? This one is very coconutty, with a salty/nutty sesame seed swirl that adds textural interest.
8. Carvel vanilla and chocolate blend, especially when fashioned into Fudgie the Whale, which, at Christmastime, can be turned around to become a Santa cake.
9. Let's hear one for the home team. Maggie Moo's Chocolate Better Batter, with goofy chocolate mix-ins if you must (Reese's cups will do). It's rich, it's chocolatey, guaranteed to cause lower g.i. tract distress if eaten in reckless abundance.
10. I'd like to include San Francisco's Mitchells on this list (their peach), but maybe that's too regional. Instead I'll opt for Double Rainbow (also California, but wider purchase) Green Tea. Very soothing, very peace-love-dove.
"He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise." 
What about Haagen Daz coffee flavor, even better than the Java Chip from Starbucks?
Posted by: Shannon CVS | August 21, 2007 at 10:36 AM
Blog Battle!!!!
Ben and Jerry saved my dad's life that night he dressed up as Santa and got stuck in the chimney. Otherwise he would have died and Gremlins would have taken over my town.
But anyway, you broke the rules! This was a top 10 of currently available, grocery-store ice cream! I count only four on your list that meet those criteria, five if the California one isn't a scoop shop. (Also where can you get Ciao Bella around here? That blood orange sorbet sounds amazing.) Plus, who likes ice cream cake for the "ice cream" and not for the delicious chocolate crunchies layer?
Coming soon: My rant about why Cherry Garcia is the most overrated ice cream of all time.
Posted by: Josh Korr | August 21, 2007 at 11:42 AM
You and your rules, SnackPack Sha-Korr. I never signed on the dotted line. Ciao Bella is available at Fresh Market, Wild Oats, Whole Foods and other expensive but discerning retail establishments. So, fine, only five are grocery store buys. Sue me.
Posted by: The Mouth | August 21, 2007 at 11:50 AM
yes on mitchell's of SF, but MANGO, not peach!!
Posted by: annette | August 21, 2007 at 12:32 PM
Annette, I stand corrected. I've seen limos idling in front of Mitchells while the occupants stand in line for a cone. Serious ice cream lust.
Posted by: The Mouth | August 21, 2007 at 01:12 PM
The best Ben & Jerry's flavor is Chocolate Fudge Brownie, and I was totally addicted to Haagen Dazs Mayan Chocolate. Did they just repackage that into the more expensive Amazonian Chocolate?? I haven't tried that yet. Chunky Monkey is third, because it would be perfect without the nuts....
Posted by: erin | August 21, 2007 at 01:33 PM
No love for Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby? Peanut butter and chocolate swirls with pretzels bits--the perfect combo of salty and sweet. It made my hubby chubby.
Posted by: Billy the Kid | August 21, 2007 at 04:50 PM