Review: Avalon Dairy Certified Organic "Mocha Fudge" Ice Cream

Those readers who are in BC know that things are tense right now between BC public school teachers and the provincial government. Without getting political, we at Two Girls, One Scoop would just like to say that we love teachers. And so we would like to dedicate this review to the teachers in our lives (and there are a LOT).

But which flavour to choose to reflect the educators we know? Sure, we could go traditional and do something apple-related, but when was the last time any kid put an apple on a teacher's desk? Finally, we realized that most teachers would not be able to get through all their lessons, prep, marking, and extra-curriculars without coffee. And so we present to you, teachers and non-teachers alike, this review of Avalon Dairy's Certified Organic Mocha Fudge ice cream!

For British Columbians, especially those in the south, Avalon Dairy has been a mainstay for over 100 years. They take a very traditional approach and still package and deliver their milk in glass bottles. While they take dairy products seriously, milk is their big seller and their ice cream is distinctly hard to find. I was lucky enough to find a very small selection of their ice creams at the local Fairway Market, and snagged the last Mocha Fudge.

After reading through the ingredients, I can confirm that everything in this ice cream is indeed certified organic, so for those of you that take organics seriously, this may be an option to pursue (particularly since a lot of the organic frozen desserts around here tend to be non-dairy). This product also calls itself "premium ice cream" and carries a price tag to match: a whopping $9.99!! Will it live up to the quality implied by both the label and price?

The flavour of the ice cream itself is a well-balanced coffee flavour that is neither too strong nor too sweet, and tastes natural. I was expecting the ice cream to have both coffee and chocolate flavours, as mocha would normally have, but it seems they are kept separate in this case. The fudge swirl is also a good level of sweetness, but it has that sort of flat, syrupy taste that you often find in chocolate soy frozen desserts. It's not bad, but it's not that great either. Kind of meh. I feel like the coffee would have stood up well on its own.

While the flavour is fine, the texture of this particular pint was not pleasant. Again, like a non-dairy dessert or a low-fat ice cream, this has a very crystallized consistency. Now, there could be several reasons for this, and I tend to believe that, because of the price tag and lack of a big brand name, this container may have sat around in the grocery store freezer for a LONG time, probably near the door, which is continually getting opened, thus messing with the consistency of the temperature. This may have led to the crystallization of water within the ice cream. However, you would think that a "premium" ice cream such as this would have a high enough fat content that this could be avoided for a most part. Overall, the texture made this experience a bit of a disappointment.

Recommend to a friend? If the texture was improved, and if you are a die-hard organic food purchaser, this might be something to consider?

Repurchase? No - the price tag was too rich, and the product not rich enough.