Ice Cream Fore-U, New Hampshire

Update Review, August / September 2021

As I've mentioned before in my original reviews, Ice Cream Fore-U was a place I grew up going to, and loved for the ridiculously low prices and large portion sizes, but, in recent years, I grew wary of, just because their ice cream, well, wasn't that good.  I'd mostly stopped going, until last summer, when I was staying with my parents for a while, and ... well, it got better.

So, end of summer, 2021, when I went to visit home, I decided to check it out a few times, you know, for "research".

Good news: it isn't the best soft serve out there, not even close, but, it isn't bad.  I won't go out of my way, in any way, for it, but, it is off my list of "no way"!

Coconut & Blueberry (Layers). X-Small. Rainbow Sprinkles.

I was in the mood for interesting flavors, and thus opted to get flavor infusions, they though I haven't always loved those.  I knew I liked the coconut before, and went totally roque and picked blueberry as my second flavor.  I went for the X-Small, which is actually the second smallest size, one up from the baby.

My cone may have not looked great, and really, looked quite homely, but I think that is because they layer the two flavors several times, and since each was a separate infusion, I think they had to do this in several steps.  You can't see it, but the blueberry was quite blue, was fairly fruity, and was good enough.

The coconut I liked as before, nice coconut flavor.  Both were fairly creamy, not icy, just, fine.  

Overall, this was decent enough soft serve.  Not the creamiest, not the most flavorful, but nothing bad about it.  The sprinkles were standard rainbow sprinkles, but I appreciated how generously applied they were.  My Joy cone was stale however.

***+.

I also sampled two flavors of the week. The orange was too "fake medicine" tasting, but it was a brilliant orange color, and was quite fruity.  The pistachio I actually quite liked, not a fake flavor, and it did have a lot of flavor to it.  Far better than Dairy Twirl pistachio that I had the next day.

Flurry: Vanilla soft serve, cookie dough, white chocolate chips,
whipped cream, sprinkles.  $5.75.

I had my first Flurry last year on closing day, and was quite pleased with the experience, so I opted to get another one this year.  Flurries are made with your choice of soft serve (I stuck with vanilla), a candy mix-in (I went for cookie dough, as I had intended last year but got the cookie-brownie dough instead, AND white chocolate chips), and are topped with whipped cream and sprinkles (which I didn't have last year as they were out).

I was again pleased with the creation.  The whipped cream and sprinkles were exactly what you'd expect, generic but fine.  They added to the overall effect of the creation nicely.  

The ice cream was perfectly bended with my mix-ins.  I didn't taste, nor detect, any of the white chocolate chips, so I'm not certain they were actually added, but perhaps they added to the sweetness?  The cookie dough bits I had expected to remain in decent sized bits, much like the cookie-brownie dough from last time, but they were totally chopped up and integrated in, just flecks of chocolate, flecks of dough, all throughout. The result was ice cream that tasted intensely of cookie dough, infused in every bite, but didn't have any hunks to dig for.  I think I liked it this way, and it made me think of how fun it would be to do a base flavor in addition to the candy mix-in, like, coconut cookie dough?  Next time ...

Overall, this was fun to eat, the ice cream was perfectly soft and melty, the whipped cream added to make it feel like a sundae almost, and it was quite tasty.

Flurries come in this one massive size only, and although I enjoyed it, I can't imagine finishing one myself!  Luckily ... it stashes away nicely in a freezer mug.

****.

Peanut Butter & Vanilla Soft Serve, with Chocolate Dip.  Large.

Um, wow.

Yup, last day of the season, so I upgraded to a large.  I tasted the special flavor of the day, maple, and it was fine, but not quite what I wanted.  Thus, peanut butter it was, always a favorite for me.

I was taken by surprise when the server asked if I wanted the flavor syrup, as is usually used (like any of their flavor infusions) or if I wanted her to make it with real peanut butter sauce instead, like what they use for sundaes.  Whoa, what?  I had no idea they did that!  She explained that it made the flavor far more rich and intense, and is how she liked it.  Given that I always thought the flavor infusion peanut butter was a bit weak, I went for it, even knowing that, gulp, this was NOT going to be a light offering!

The result was even richer than I imagined.  Literally, peanut butter sauce blended with vanilla soft serve, into a creamy, rich, and very, very, very peanut buttery treat.  Honestly, two spoonfuls was even too much on its own, but with the chocolate dip it cut it slightly to be like a peanut butter cup (it worked soooo well together!), and the layers of vanilla in here were very necessary to dial it down a touch.  But still, so very, very rich.

This was quite fun to try, and damn good, but I can't imagine eating it all in one sitting ... although I did quite a number on it!  I think I'd go back to getting the flavor infusion in the future, or, perhaps just getting a half-small like this ...

***+.

Update Review, Summer 2020

I'll be honest: I had sworn off Ice Cream Fore-U (which you can see in my original reviews, below).  Compared to other options in the area, like Dairy Twirl, there was just no reason at all to ever go there, when I consistently found their soft serve less creamy, really icy.  Yes, they use the same Hood base as other places, although they opt for the lower milk fat percentage (4% rather than the 6% or 10% other places use).  You can tell.  Their hard ice cream is Giffords, which is good ice cream, but, I can buy it at the grocery store for a fraction of the cost.

Yet I wound up there several times in the summer of 2020, when I was staying with my parents to get away from COVID hampered San Francisco.  It is my dad's favorite, he finds the soft serve at other places *too* creamy, *too* rich.

For the most part, I went, sampled the weekly flavors, found them icy, found the flavors seriously lacking, and half-heartedly got the smallest baby cone (smaller than x-small even!), just vanilla, in a cone, and brought my own sprinkles.  I never liked it.

But something changed near the end of the season.  It makes me wonder if they changed the base, or if the issue really is the volume they normally handle?  The ice cream was dramatically better in the last few days of the season.  Not icy.  Creamy.  So I made the most of it.

Fall 2020

Heath Bar & Brownie Cookie Dough Flurry.  $5.50.

This was my first Flurry from somewhere other than McDonald's, which I've reviewed before.  In my life.  I'm pretty sure.  I know most soft serve stands offer them, but for some reason, I just have never ordered one.  I think because I'm always so excited for a soft serve cone, in the sun, with my sprinkles (or dip).  But at the end of the season, when it was no longer "ice cream weather" in my mind, not a day to eat ice cream outside, I decided to live it up and try something new.  A Flurry.

Now, believe me, I've had my share of McFlurries - when I was in high school, I was on the field hockey team, and our away games generally featured a stop at McDonald's on the way home, and you know I always got one.  I remember really enjoying them actually, either with Heath Bar or Butterfinger, sometimes M&Ms (I swear I always had them with Heath Bar or Butterfinger, even though I know they aren't offered like that anymore.  They used to be right?)

Flurries come in one size only, your choice of topping mixed in, and usually come with whipped cream and sprinkles on top, but, on my visit, since end of season, they were out of whipped cream.  Which was perfectly ok with me, given the massive size of the creation.

I opted for Heath Bar, remembering how much I loved it, and then randomly decided to ask to throw in Cookie Dough too.  Why not?  I was told they were delivered the wrong thing, the cookie dough was more like a brownie dough, and I said that was fine too.

I was pleased with this.  It was very well blended, plenty of mix-ins, all distributed evenly throughout.  I absolutely cannot imagine eating this whole thing in one sitting, but, given that it came in a cup, and I had a cooler with ice with me (#alwaysprepared), I was able to get a lid and stash it in my cooler, since I was driving straight home.

Brownie Cookie Dough.

There is nothing revolutionary about the Flurry, just their standard vanilla soft serve with mix-ins, and the mix-ins were standard Heath Bar bits and (obviously) not house made brownie dough, but, it worked.  

The brownie dough, or brownie cookie dough, or whatever it was - it really seemed like chocolate cookie dough? - was good, huge chunks as you can see here.  It turned out to be my absolute favorite part, although didn't mix well with the Heath Bar.  The combo didn't actually seem better than just allowing one to shine.

For $5.50 it was certainly a splurge, but this could easily feed 2-3 people, and was far more fun than most of the plain soft serve flavors.

Vanilla Soft Serve / Butterscotch Dip. Small. $3.25 + $0.25.

Another day where it wasn't quite "ice cream weather", so I decided to try something different, taking advantage of the fact that Ice Cream Fore-U does have a wider variety of dips than most places, including butterscotch, which I haven't seen elsewhere.  Plus, they charge only $0.25 for dip (or sprinkles) rather than the $0.50 for regular toppings.

Like all dip there (and most places really), it was kinda waxy, kinda sweet, kinda like white chocolate, but not the high quality kind.  

It coated the ice cream well, and was sweet, but it certainly didn't taste like butterscotch.  I'd stick with chocolate dip in the future.

Closing day, October 2020

Every year, on closing day, Ice Cream Fore-U gives away all remaining ice cream for free.  I expected it was going to be a baby size only, no toppings or anything, but actually, they were just giving away anything and everything they had left.  You could get any size.  Any toppings.  Cups, cones, sundaes, Flurries, Italian Ice, etc, etc.  Anything they had left.

Since I didn't prioritize this adventure, I didn't arrive until mid-afternoon, and they were out of all hard serve ice cream, which is what I planned to get, since I hadn't generally really liked their soft serve.  They had a couple sorbets, sherbet, and low-fat yogurt hard serve, but, other than that, no hard serve.

They had all the soft serve though, so, I asked to sample the special soft serve of the week, maple.  I expected to hate it, icy and not creamy and not rich as always, and then just pick a sherbet or something. Or try a slushie?  Italian ice?  I'm so glad I asked to try though.

I liked it.  It was incredibly creamy.  Richer, smoother, then they have ever served their soft serve before.  To be honest, I don't understand - if they *can* make it this good, why don't they normally?  Did they switch to the higher % base at some point this season?  Is it normally a volume problem?  While people were swinging by for free ice cream, it really wasn't nearly as many folks as usual.  I can't explain it, it wasn't just that "zomg it is free", it completely was different.

So, my choice was easy, soft serve it was.  I was too surprised to think about being more creative, getting a sundae, or even getting toppings, but, I sure got my share of ice cream ...

Maple / Vanilla Soft Serve. Layered. Large. $3.75.

Um, yeah.  Welcome to A LOT OF ICE CREAM.

I've never gotten anything other than a baby ($2), or x-small ($3) if I'm really ambitious, at Fore-U before.  I've seen my Dad get a Small ($3.25) on occasion, but even he, a grown man, generally gets the X-Small, as does my mom.  I've never seen anyone, not even other guests, order anything bigger - a Medium or Large.  I mean, the place has two sizes smaller than "small", they know their sizes are inflated, like most, clearly.  

But it was free day, I could get anything ... so, large it was.  Not a day to mess around.  No more changes until spring to have it, after all.  And of course, I could stash some in my cooler with ice and bring it home to freeze, as I was driving straight home.

After the successful sample, I opted for the maple, but asked for it layered with vanilla, just to mix it up a bit (it was on the same machine as espresso, but I didn't want caffeine).   I sorta staggered away with my prize, not even knowing how to start eating this thing.  Massive.  Good thing I got a dish and not a cone!

The maple flavor was good.  It was sweet, it was maple-y, not nearly as maple forward as Mac's Maple right down the street, from their actual sugar house, but that has felt often too intense for me, and I need to really, really be in the mood for it there.  Same with King Kone, that also makes it with real maple syrup, which isn't quite as strong as Mac's, but is still a very maple forward experience.  This wasn't like those at all.  It was sweet, it tasted sorta like pancake or maple syrup, and I liked it, but it wasn't in your face, obvious legit maple.  In this case, the fact that they do fake flavor infusion, rather than actual maple syrup, worked in their favor.

I was glad to have the vanilla too, just like the maple, remarkably creamy on this day.  It was a sweet standard vanilla, not very strong vanilla flavor, not like a vanilla bean, but, it was fine.

For a free day, I am certainly not complaining.

Black Raspberry / Vanilla Soft Serve. Layered. Large. $3.75.

My mom's go-to, at all times, whenever the special flavor isn't one she loves: black raspberry.  A classic New England flavor, offered nearly everywhere on regular rotation (alongside vanilla, chocolate, and usually coffee), in addition to the special flavors of the week.  I still don't understand why the rest of the country hasn't embraced black raspberry, but *this* is the flavor I grew up with.  Black raspberry, in a cone, with sprinkles (often chocolate with black raspberry).  

But somewhere along the way, I stopped liking it.  I still like it in theory, but at least every time I try it, because I always try my mom's, I just find it ... lacking.  Either too fruity, or not flavorful enough, and just not the flavor for me.

I was again impressed with how creamy and rich and thick it was, as was the vanilla it was layered with, on this day.

But the black raspberry flavor?  Eh.  It was actually a bit stronger flavor than Dairy Twirl I think, I certainly liked it more, but, still just not a flavor I get super excited by.  My mom enjoyed it, but commented that she really prefers Dairy Twirl.

And yes, ZOMG, a large.

Original Review, July 2016

Summertime, in the north east, is about ice cream.  Sometimes froyo.  When I go visit, I manage to get ice cream basically daily.  I'm a bad influence on everyone around me, but, my visits are usually scoped to two weeks or less.  And I take full advantage of that time.

Last week, you read about my absolute favorite place for soft serve ice cream, Dairy Twirl, in Lebanon, NH.  Earlier this week you read about my favorite soft serve froyo and sundaes at the Boston area chain JP Licks.  Today brings a review of the other ice cream stand near my home town: Ice Cream Fore-U.

The Setting

Like Dairy Twirl, Fore-U is open only seasonally, generally Memorial Day through Labor Day.  Like Dairy Twirl, it is just an ice cream stand, not a restaurant, although it is located adjacent to a facility with mini-golf course, driving range, and batting cages, hence the name Fore-U.

The Stand.

The stand is more attractive than Dairy Twirl, as it is a nice wooden structure with multiple spread out windows to order at.  They have plenty of picnic tables under a roofed area and even a bathroom.

They also *always* have a line.  I have been there at 11am when they open, I've been there at 9pm at night.  In the rain.  In the heat.  In the cold.  It doesn't matter.  The line is always really, really long.  And it isn't because service is slow.  The place is just that popular, serving far more people than Dairy Twirl.  I suspect this is due to the location on the main strip in West Lebanon.

The Ice Cream

Just like Dairy Twirl, they offer Gifford's hard serve ice cream, and Hood soft serve ice cream.  The menu also has shakes, malts, smoothies, and sundaes, plus a few extra items like hot dogs and chips.  And coffee. A bigger selection the Dairy Twirl for sure.

Soft serve is always what I go for.  Fore-U offers up 4 flavors at a time: chocolate, vanilla, and black raspberry, plus a flavor that changes weekly.  Contrast this with Dairy Twirl, with 6 flavors at a time, including the same vanilla/chocolate/black raspberry, plus coffee, and two more that rotate.   (Side note: is the prevalence of black raspberry a thing in other areas?  I don't really feel like I've seen as much black raspberry anywhere but NH ...)

Fore-U also offers up an additional 40 or so more flavors through an infusion system, where they inject a syrup into the ice cream.  So even if a base flavor, or the weekly special, isn't your thing, there are tons of choices here.

Like Dairy Twirl, I've tried a ton of flavors of ice cream at Fore-U, and, none of the flavors are ever as intense as Dairy Twirl.  You would think that since the base is Hood in both locations, that it would be nearly the same.  But ... it just isn't.  I believe Hood only makes vanilla and chocolate, so, all flavors are done by the shops themselves with a mix-in.  The core flavors are certainly more flavorful than the infusion systems, but, still, Dairy Twirl is overall more flavorful.  Hood also makes their base in several different milk fat percentages (5%, 10%), and I'm not sure what either place uses.  I'm guessing 10%, as they are both quite creamy.

The one area that Fore-U really does win however is the price.  When I started taking notes a couple years ago, the size cone I got was $1.  $1!!!  

And speaking of those sizes.  Sizes range from baby, to x-small, small, medium, large, then pint or quart.  Yes, they have not one, but two sizes smaller than a small.  And, um, they are very, very generous sizes.  I've accidentally ordered the x-small a few times, forgetting that baby is actually the smallest, and it really is too much for me.  A baby size of hard ice cream is two full scoops.  An x-small is three.  And so on.  You can pick any two flavors to have in a cone, layers, or, if they are on the same machine, swirled.  They only do a single layer, not multiple like Dairy Twirl.

Prices are the same for both hard and soft serve, unlike Dairy Twirl that gives a discount for soft serve.  If you choose a flavor infusion, it is more expensive, I think $0.50 more, as they have to individually prepare the flavor for you.

Anyway, based on value alone, I pick Fore-U.  Prices have gone up slightly, but, just several years ago, I could get a cone, larger than I wanted even, for $1.  It now is $1.50 (plus 10 cents for my sprinkles/dip), so, still better than Dairy Twirl's $1.75 + $0.50, but, the flavors really are better at Dairy Twirl, so, it is where I generally head.  I won't say no to swinging by Fore-U when I'm in the area though!

Vanilla with Rainbow Sprinkles, Baby. $1.50 + $0.10.

As basic as it gets: vanilla with rainbow sprinkles, always a classic choice, and one I order often when I don't feel inspiration for a particular flavor.

The vanilla at Fore-U tends to be nicely creamy, with a decent vanilla flavor.  My numerous tasting notes say things like, "Creamy, nice flavor, pretty good", or "Nice creamy decent flavor", or "Creamy, subtle vanilla" and so on.  I regularly note how creamy it is.

Sprinkles are available in rainbow or chocolate, and are always well applied.

This is always a solid choice at Fore-U, particularly given that I get disappointed by the flavors.

Here you can also see the baby cone size.  This is a decent size ice cream, nothing really "baby about it.

Black Raspberry with Chocolate Sprinkles, Baby, $1.50 + $0.10.

Black Raspberry is the only flavor, besides vanilla and chocolate, that is always offered.

It is decently creamy, just like the vanilla, but, the black raspberry flavor is very subtle.  It doesn't necessarily taste like raspberry, just, some subtle fruitiness.

I have ordered this flavor more times than I can count, because I always want to like it, but, alas, it never has enough flavor for me.  Dairy Twirl has a much, much better black raspberry.

I always pair my black raspberry with chocolate sprinkles.

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Other Weekly Flavors

I've tired the weekly special nearly every time I have visited, but I rarely pick them, as the flavors just fail to impress.  All are nicely creamy though.  Some tasting notes:

• Banana: creamy, banana-y, but uh, meh.
• Chocolate: creamy, but I don’t like this chocolate flavor [ I just don’t like chocolate ice cream ]
• Coconut: creamy, nice coconut flavor
• Espresso: Creamy, but not much flavor at all [ Creamy, decent coffee flavor ]
• Orange: Fake, sweet, meh. [ Creamy, good flavor, would have liked swirled with vanilla ]

Flavor Infusions

As I mentioned, you can get basically any flavor you want, via the Wadden Systems infusions.  Fore-U has multiple extra flavor cards, literally, at least 40 more options.  These are made by injecting the syrup into a vanilla base.

Choices are basically every fruity flavor you could imagine (apricot, banana, blueberry, black cherry, blackberry, lemon, orange, peach, pina colada, raspberry, strawberry, etc), plus boozy options (amaretto, rum), or sweet (caramel, butter pecan, maple nut, cheesecake), and more.  I've tried a bunch over the years, but, since you can't taste test these before you order (since they mix them up individually, you have to commit without trying, something I'm always hesitant to do).

I'm glad they offer so many options, but, the flavors just aren't nearly as intense as I'd like.

Maple Nut (bottom) Peanut Butter (top) with Rainbow Sprinkles, Extra Small.  $2.50 + $0.25.

On one visit, I didn't like the weekly flavor, and I was sick of regular vanilla, and grumpy at the flavorless black raspberry, so, I opted to go for flavor infusions, not just one, but, two.  Hedge my bets.

I accidentally ordered an Extra Small, as the person in front of me (my mom) ordered an Extra Small, and I accidentally repeated what she said.  Plus, um, doesn't that sound like it should be the smallest one?  What I meant to order was a Baby cone of course, the option *smaller* than the extra small.  Doh.  It might not be obvious in this photo, but, they actually use a bigger cone for the x-small than the baby.

It really was more ice cream than I wanted at the time.  I love ice cream, but, I just wasn't in the mood for this quantity.  It was night time, not very warm, and I'd just had a big dinner.  I just wanted a final sweet treat, not a massive commitment.  My bad.   (Side note: I really can't imagine getting an actual small.  Or medium.  Or large.  Or extra-large.  I mean, REALLY?!)

The ice cream was fine, fairly creamy, but not remarkable.

The peanut butter flavor infusion didn't have much peanut butter flavor to it at all.  It was very, very subtle if anything.  Honestly, it tasted like vanilla.  This matches my notes from all the other times I tried it, where I note that the peanut butter flavor is good, but, too hard to detect in the ice cream, particularly if you add sprinkles.

The Maple Nut was a bit better, as I could actually taste something besides vanilla.  It had a nice sweetness to it.

Overall, this was all just fine.  It wasn't icy, it was creamy, but it wasn't anything special.

The sprinkles were ... too generously applied.  I know that sounds ridiculous, but, I actually ended up scraping some off, because in this quantity, it was just way too many sprinkles.

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More Infusions.

• Butter Pecan: very sweet, enjoyable, but I wouldn’t get again.
• Creme de Menthe: Minty but kinda fake tasting, not very good.
• Coconut: a bit coconuty but not remarkable.
• White Chocolate: did not like.  Way too sweet, not good flavor.

Toppings

Fore-U is better at pricing than Dairy Twirl for toppings.  At Dairy Twirl, all toppings are $0.50, no matter if you get the smallest cone or the largest, and no matter if that topping is sprinkles or if it is peanut butter cups.   At Fore-U, sprinkles and dips are only $0.10 for baby cones, $0.25 for everything else, and other toppings are $0.25/$0.50 accordingly.  This makes so much more sense, and, I always do get a bit grumpy spending an extra $0.50 to add some cheap sprinkles on my cone at Dairy Twirl (of course, JP Licks wins this one, always offering sprinkles for free).

The topping selection is pretty classic and decently extensive, with all sorts of candy and sauce toppings, but, I always go for sprinkles or dip.  Sprinkles are available in rainbow or chocolate, dip in cherry, chocolate, or butterscotch.

Sprinkles are always applied generously, sometimes almost too generously.  I've only ever had the chocolate dip, but, I've never cared for it.  It never seemed to harden as much as the dip at Dairy Twirl, not creating the same kind of shell, and, it had no flavor at all.