The ingredients list on each of the ice cream packages is short which, as we are all learning, is optimal. It also appears to be less fattening than other super premium brands, but look closely: the serving sizes are smaller. This ice cream only comes in pints and is manufactured in Las Vegas where decadence prevails.
Choctal is currently a line of five ice cream flavors; four chocolate and one vanilla flavor. You might think, "Well, how different can each chocolate flavor be?" Well, my friends, as we found out, very different.
Choctal "Pure Ghana Chocolate" Ice Cream
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Kris: No doubt this ice cream is chocolate! One whiff under the lid and my senses perked up. This is my kind of chocolate! Pure Ghana tastes like you are eating a dark chocolate bar and has a great tropical kick on the back providing "not just the average chocolate" experience. One scoop for me is good enough to satisfy. Extrodinary; a must try. |
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Fred: This ice cream is awesome! Flat-out some of the best ice cream I've EVER tasted. I could seriously eat the entire container. The chocolate had a lasting flavor without an aftertaste. I didn't get the tropical taste, but I did get the fudge taste. Overall, awesome! |
Choctal "Pure Madagascar Vanilla" Ice Cream
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Kris: A quote on the side of the carton sets high expectations, "The Best Non-Chocolate in Existence." The vanilla taste is bold, that is very true. There is no lingering aftertaste (which is my number one turn off about some vanillas). The taste is of real vanilla. Pure Madagascar is very good, very rich and creamy. Only one scoop is needed to be satisfied. I am not sure if it's my favorite vanilla. ...and why do I taste bourbon? |
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Fred: This is supposed to be "the best non-chocolate ice cream in existence" and while I have a hard time agreeing with that, it's still VERY good vanilla ice cream. This is up there with the best vanilla's around and is DEFINITELY Madagascar Vanilla. |
Choctal "Pure Kalimantan Chocolate" Ice Cream
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Kris: This dark chocolate ice cream is as creamy and dense as the other chocolates in the line, but not as dark as Ghana. This ice cream had a sticky texture; you could almost cut it. Caramel could be tasted at the back as promised however there is no caramel swirl; it's just part of the beans! It kind of makes you wonder... |
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Fred: This ice cream makes me want to visit Borneo! It's so delicious and there's no doubt about the caramel taste of the chocolate. In fact, I had to re-read the ingredient list a few times to make sure there wasn't any caramel ingredients listed. There aren't! Without the caramel taste from the chocolate, this would just be a Cone Up. Instead, it's a very well-deserved Extraordinary. |
Choctal "Pure Costa Rican Chocolate" Ice Cream
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Kris: The chocolate ice cream notes that it has coffee and caramel undertones with a hint of butterscotch on the back. This ice cream is light in color next to the Ghana and Kalimantan line. Costa Rican has the same creamy denseness with hints of coffee (picture a mild Starbucks blend). I had a hard time tasting the butterscotch let alone the caramel and when I did, I can't differentiate between the two. Still, this ice cream is very good. |
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Fred: The most surprising part of this ice cream is its color -- it's very light. Overall, this was good ice cream with a hint of coffee, but I didn't get the caramel/butterscotch flavor as much as I would have liked. It's not quite to the same level as the other Choctal ice creams, but it's still good. |
Choctal "Pure San Dominican Chocolate" Ice Cream
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Kris: This is the chocolate for those who love bite! If you are faint of tongue and lean more toward the milk chocolate, stay away from this treat. The carton reads "earthy body," "mocha, licorice wood, nutmeg and cloves." This seems like a strange combination, but believe me, it delivers. Notable tastes are mocha and nutmeg in this dense ice cream. I had trouble finding the cloves along with any earthy taste or licorice wood taste. All in all, I don't care what I did taste and didn't taste, it was darn good! |
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Fred: This ice cream was certainly not your "normal" chocolate. I had a bit of a hard time distinguishing the flavors from one another, but that may have been due to all the ice cream we had already consumed by the time we tasted this one. Still, it had a very long lasting overall flavor and was very good overall. This was just shy of being Extraordinary. |
By the fourth chocolate ice cream tasting we noticed we were talking faster, giddy, and the roof of Fred's mouth tingled. When we analyzed the feeling, well, it was comparable to an alcohol buzz! I can't say this has ever happened to us before and while admitting we liked it, it felt quite strange. Fred even had nervous foot flailing and I had become quite hyper sitting in my seat. This is legal?!
After refocusing on the task, we individually rated the ice cream flavors. This list is in the order that we would choose to eat the ice cream. The top of the list represents our favorite on down.
| Kris | Fred |
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San Dominican Ghana Costa Rican Kalimantan Vanilla |
Kalimantan Ghana San Dominican Vanilla Costa Rican |
One thing is true, not every cacao bean tastes the same. If you want to explore the differences, Choctal is the place to start. You'll spend more per pint, that's for sure. Choctal is committed to fair trade which is admirable on their part. Just a small amount satisfies, so a pint will last longer than the average super premium pint.