Double Rainbow Ice Cream

Double Rainbow is a brand of ice cream I've vaguely known about for a while.  I think I likely first heard of them back when JetBlue first started serving ice cream in their Mint cabin, and always featured a local ice cream from the port of departure (you can read about my thoughts on some of those scoops here).  I remember being let down that they picked Double Rainbow for SF, when we had so many other better brands.  JetBlue did away with the local brands years ago now, and switched to a generic vanilla gelato (albeit with rotating toppings).  I kinda forgot about Double Rainbow.

And then I dined at Square Pies Guys (review coming soon!) and fell in love with their warm monkey bread desserts.  They don't serve the monkey bread with ice cream, but they also sorta randomly sell Double Rainbow ice cream (by the pint only), so, I always snagged a pint to pair with my dessert, and brought home the rest.   I've since explored more of their offerings.

The brand started in the 1950s with a pair of friends selling ice cream at Coney Island, before heading to San Francisco and starting a local business in 1976.  Since then, they've been Bay Area based, but distribute nationwide

"We work hard to craft the very best ice cream with no short cuts. The old fashioned way if you will, made with quality ingredients and no sacrifices. We believe in hard work and doing things the right way, the way we have done it for over 45 years. From classic flavors, to unique culinary delights, to the very best non dairy frozen desserts, there is a place for everyone at Double Rainbow."

They currently make about a dozen flavors, including a few dairy free (soy milk based), along with a single sorbet.  The flavors are fairly classic, no real unique offerings, although they at least have a handful with mix-ins that are broad appeal.

I've found the ice cream overall to be ok, but not great.  I have no reason to seek it out going forward but mostly happily consumed my pints.

French Vanilla.

"There’s nothing plain about this classic. Winner of Best in America, Double Rainbow’s French Vanilla is a perfectly crafted blend of the highest quality milk, cream, eggs and vanilla." -- SPG

"If you are a diehard purist, then we would like to introduce you to a true classic. Our award winning French Vanilla ice cream is sure to bring a smile to your face." -- Double Rainbow

I started basic.  Vanilla, which happens to be French vanilla.

French vanilla is rarely the type of vanilla ice cream I prefer.  Vanilla bean, old fashioned vanilla, even just generic vanilla ... I prefer them.  The extra egg yolk and more custardy nature of French vanilla just isn't my style.  But, I needed some vanilla ice cream to pair with a dessert at Square Pies Guys, and this was the only one available that made any sense.

As I kinda expected, I wasn't into it.  It was very classic French vanilla ice cream though, and if that is what you want, this is a very true to that style.  A far more yellow hue to it than whiter color of other vanilla styles, due to the extra yolk.  Flavor was a bit more, well, custardy than regular vanilla, although I didn't find the vanilla aspect to be very flavorful itself.  I didn't find it as creamy as I'd like either, and it didn't melt in a compelling way either, so even as a base ice cream, it was subpar for me.  I'm glad it wasn't the first flavor I tried from Double Rainbow, as I probably would not have ever tried other products from them.

2/5, as the creamy/melty nature wasn't great, and I wasn't into the flavor (the later of which is a preference thing).  

Square "Pint" Guys.
Special.

"Double Rainbow's milk chocolate and coffee ice cream base with crushed cookie crumb “pie crust” pieces and a fudge swirl. Super rich and decadent just like the classic Mississippi Mud Pie."

Next I moved on to the most exciting sounding flavor available at Square Pies Guys, dubbed Square "Pint" Guys.  Cute.  This is a special flavor made just for SPG, a play on Double Rainbow's regular Mississippi Mud Pie flavor, but with both chocolate and coffee ice cream as the base.

It was a stunner, which was obvious the moment I opened my first pint.  Just *look* at all that fudge! Yes, it was just as rich and decadent as they proclaimed it would be.

The fudge definitely dominated this pint. They called it "a swirl", but really, it was far more than what I'd call a swirl.  It was great - thick, rich, deeply chocolatey fudge, so I wasn't mad at it, but it took some digging to get actual ice cream.

The ice cream I did get to seemed to just be chocolate.  It was good, pretty standard chocolate ice cream ... but I'm not generally a chocolate ice cream person.  I did occasionally get a bite of coffee, and that I liked considerably more.

Square "Pint" Guys: within.

And finally, the mud pie aspect, crushed cookie crumb pieces.  It took some digging to get to these, and the top portion of my pint was just ice cream and fudge (with literally more fudge than ice cream, not that I'm complaining really as I loved that!).  But once I got deeper in, I did find the chocolate cookie pieces, that I guess were crushed cookie pie crust?  Anyway, they were fine, akin to Oreo though, which is never something I care for that much.

Overall, this was a decadent, reasonably good pint, and I appreciated that all I had to do was add some fresh strawberries and whipped cream, and basically had a sundae ready to go.  Low 4/5.

Strawberry Cheesecake / Strawberry w/ Cake.

"You don’t have to travel to the Big Apple for this classic dessert. We swirl our delicious cheesecake ice cream with strawberries and cheesecake pieces. Yum!" -- Double Rainbow

"Creamy strawberry ice cream laced with luscious berries and cheesecake pieces." -- SPG

I got this pint from Square Pies Guys, where they had it on the menu as "Strawberry w/ Cake", yet the pint I was handed said "Strawberry Cheesecake" (as does Double Rainbow's own website).  I assumed it was the same ice cream, until I then read the menu description SPG provided, compared to the one on Double Rainbow's own website.  Both noted the berries and cheesecake pieces incorporated into the base ice cream, but, SPG called the base simply strawberry and Double Rainbow called it cheesecake.  That's a pretty big difference.  I was far more interested in cheesecake ice cream with extra bits of cheesecake and strawberries than I was in strawberry ice cream with the same, as I just don't generally go for strawberry ice cream.

It did indeed seem to be a strawberry ice cream base.  It had fairly generous hunks of strawberry in it, which I found myself strangely enjoying, even though they were quite icy.  Really excellent strawberry flavor, but again, strawberry flavored base ice cream is not my preference.

Strawberry Cheesecake: Finally a cheesecake!

But what about the cheesecake?

It didn't seem to be in the base itself.  Perhaps it was a bit richer than a standard strawberry ice cream, but I wouldn't call out cheesecake specifically, and I still think it was likely just strawberry.  It was nicely creamy, and I enjoyed it more than most strawberry ice cream, but, I don't think the cheesecake was in the base.

After a bit of digging, a found a small cube of cheesecake. And then another.  And another.  Ok, it was loaded up with these little cubes.  They were strangely ... chewy?  But not in a bad way.  Just in an unexpected way.  Chewy is not a word I'd normally associate with cheesecake nor ice cream. They did not have a very strong cream cheese flavor, but were nicely rich. If you are looking for something very cheesecake forward, this is not it, but it was still enjoyable.  

3/5 for me because I rarely want a strawberry ice cream, but, it was interesting and a bit different.  I wouldn't seek it out again.

It's a Goody.

"Double Rainbow's classic, award winning Vanilla Ice Cream gets even more delicious with ribbons of peanut butter and rich fudge chips." -- SPG

"We start with our classic french vanilla ice cream, then we add ribbons of peanut butter and decadent fudge chips. And yes, it most certainly is a Goody! " -- Double Rainbow

This is Double Rainbow's best selling flavor.  I mean, it seems hard to go wrong with the chocolate and peanut butter combo after all.

It was basically exactly as you'd expect: a fairly standard base vanilla ice cream, flecked with little dark (?) chocolate chips, and swirls of decadent peanut butter.   The peanut butter was smooth and creamy, strong peanut flavor. The bites with peanut butter were fairly indulgent, the bites without were fairly plain, but I don't think you'd want anything heavier.  The chocolate element was fairly minimal, but I did appreciate the texture from the flecks.  The ice cream itself was average though, not super premium, not amazing melting qualities.  3.5/5.

Mango Tangerine Sorbet.

"Perfectly sweet mangos and tangy tangerines are blended together to create an exciting sorbet flavor."

I'm definitely NOT a sorbet person, but, I tried this for completeness, as it is the final flavor that SPG carries.

I was pleasantly surprised.  Yes, it was sorbet, so it was kinda icy, but it was so bright and fruity (although very sweet).  The mango and tangerine combo is surprisingly effective.  I would never want a bowl of this on its own, but, paired with super melty creamy vanilla ice cream and/or lots of whipped cream, it works well.  

3.5/5.

Update review: I've had this several more times, and am surprised by how much I like it.  Yes, it is icy sorbet, yes, it is very sweet, but, the fruity nature is just really good, and when you add plenty of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla, it just balances out so well.  3.5/5.