I've reviewed Nestlé ice cream before, but those previous reviews were all of their US products, and, I didn't really like any. But now it is time to focus on their Canadian offerings, which, yes, are different.
Over the summer, I visited our office in Waterloo, Canada, where they had one of my favorite perks: an ice cream freezer, filled with classic ice creams from the host country. You know how much I love my ice cream, and may recall my raving about Street's ice cream from Sydney, and both Heartbrand and Mövenpick in Zurich. So even though I knew that Nestlé's US offerings are pretty mediocre, I was still excited, and managed to try nearly every selection during my short time there.
Drumsticks
I enjoyed all three varieties I tried, and would gladly eat more of these, which is more than I can say for US based Nestlé products!
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| King Size Cookie Dough Drumstick. |
"Creamy cookie dough and chocolate with a rich chocolate swirl topped with delicious cookie dough pieces all in a chocolatey lined sugar cone with a chocolatey tip!"
I think this may be only available in Canada. +1 to Canada!
I've been pretty down on Drumsticks in the past. The Canadian offerings didn't look much different from those in the US. I was ready to pass them by, and then I noticed one flavor: cookie dough.
I was drawn in. It was a crazy hot day (yes! 90 degrees! They have real summer there!) and they had an outside deck adjacent to the ice cream freezer, so it seemed like a match made in heaven.
And ... it was. This was really, truly enjoyable. This wasn't just a normal Drumstick, it was King Size, and expected that I'd eat the bits of cookie dough off the top, perhaps eat part of the "ice cream", and then move on. But, no. I kept going, and going, and going. And then it was gone. Why? Because it was really good!
On top were the bits of cookie dough. Interestingly, I think they were just cookie dough, not chocolate chip cookie dough, as we've all come to expect when we hear "cookie dough". Sweet, slightly buttery tasting, good texture. Things were looking good. Also on top was some chocolate sauce.
But the "ice cream" has always been the part of Drumsticks that has failed to impress me. This one had two flavors of ice cream (or frozen dairy product - I believe they can't call it ice cream because it doesn't meet the industry definition of ice cream?), one was milk chocolate and the other was ... tan. I think it was "cookie dough" flavored? I was intrigued, in part because I've never actually had cookie dough flavor ice cream, rather than vanilla ice cream with cookie dough bits like were on top of the cone.
Both ice creams were creamier than I've ever countered before with a Drumstick. The temperature was about 90 degrees, and it melted just perfectly. Not so fast that I had a mess on my hands, but fast enough to make it perfectly lickable. Melty, creamy, soft, sweet ... ok, wow.
I enjoyed eating the cookie dough topping off, and then I enjoyed licking my ice cream, over and over again. The King Size cones really have a lot of ice cream. Once I reached the cone layer, I intended to ditch it. I knew there wasn't that much ice cream left in the code anyway, I was pretty full (cuz uh, I also had a big slice of lemon meringue pie from the cafe literally moments before), and I never like the cones.
But this cone wasn't bad. It wasn't soggy, it stayed crispy. I still don't love sugar cones, so I wasn't that into the cone, but there was something magic going on down in it. It was chocolate lined, like always. But also, inside the center of the ice cream in the cone, was a core of chocolate sauce. It made the ice cream even better. I cracked open the cone itself, and used it to scoop all the remaining ice cream and sauce out. So delicious.
I was powerless, and devoured the rest on the spot. This was actually a winner, and I'd get another in a heartbeat.
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| King Size Sweet 'n Salty Caramel Drumstick. |
The next day, I rushed back for another Cookie Dough Drumstick. But, alas, they were all out. I settled for the Sweet 'n Salty Caramel instead.
It was ... fine. Still better than other Drumsticks I've had in the past. I'm starting to wonder if the Canadian ones are actually different, or, if the warm weather just makes them more magical, as they melt so nicely?
This one also had two types of ice cream swirled together, regular vanilla and sweet caramel. The caramel was too sweet for me. The vanilla was necessary to balance it, but, still just a touch too sweet overall. The ice cream however was creamy and again melted just perfectly.
On top was a drizzle of additional runny caramel, again, more sweet. I never tasted any of the namesake "salty". There were also some bits of candied peanuts. I didn't like the peanuts very much, I'm not sure why, as I like candied nuts and I love peanuts, but these tasted just kinda bad. Definitely not nearly as successful of a topping as the cookie dough bites.
Once I broke through the massive scoop on top (yeah King Size!), the ice cream below had additional caramel down the core. This was sweet too, but since it was the caramel sauce rather than the ice cream, it seemed to work better somehow, I wasn't quite as sweet overwhelmed.
The cone, as always, was chocolate lined. I like the chocolate, and always eat the tip of the cone that is just a big chunk of chocolate, but I never like the actual sugar cone. Still, I always want it because I love licking ice cream from a cone, so, no real complains.
This was fine, I finished it easily, but I don't want another.
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| King Size Chocolate Fudge Brownie Drumstick. |
My final day in the office, I eagerly headed to the ice cream freezer. I wanted another cookie dough Drumstick! But again, no dice. The King Size offering of the day was ... Chocolate Fudge Brownie.
I'm not a huge chocolate ice cream fan, but I still settled for it. Turns out, it wasn't really settling.
It followed the same formula as the previous two King Size Drumsticks: 2 types of ice cream swirled together (this time, vanilla and chocolate), sauce on top and in the ice cream core (chocolate sauce), and bits of a namesake goodie on top (fudge brownies). I'd seen all of these components before, except for the brownies of course.
It was about the same as the others. Creamy ice cream that melted perfectly. I loved the addition of the chocolate sauce on top and down inside the ice cream in the cone. The brownie bits on top were similar to the cookie dough in both size and texture. Not too big, not too small, slightly sweet. Tasty enough.
Overall, very enjoyable. I really do like the formula they have adopted here for two flavors of really nicely creamy ice cream, sweet sauce, and a fun topping. I'd get another, but really, I just want another cookie dough one!
Other
I also tried another Nestlé ice cream product: the Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich. The astute reader may notice that I have "Nestlé" and "Oreo" in the same sentence, and knows that Oreos are made by Nabisco, not Nestlé. This is certainly true. But, Nabisco doesn't make ice cream treats, so they license the name to several ice cream manufactures, including Breyers (for Oreo ice cream), Good Humor (for Oreo ice cream bars), and Klondike (for Oreo ice cream sandwiches) in the US, and, Nestlé in Canada, to make these ice cream sandwiches.
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| Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich. |
Unfortunately, the cookie was ... soggy. It didn't actually remind me of an Oreo, even though it certainly looked like a jumbo sized one. The soggy texture was just far too different from a real Oreo.
The ice cream inside wasn't creamy, and as you can see, it wasn't white like in the picture on the wrapper (not that I cared if it was white or not). It had lots of cookie bits throughout, but, otherwise, was unremarkable. But most significantly, it didn't taste like Oreo filling, and I desperately wanted it to.
Everyone knows the good part of an Oreo is the creme filling, and this had none of the creme flavor, which, in addition to the soggy cookies, made it a fail for me.
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