Oh, this taste test was so fun! But I might have gotten a *little carried away with this one. We had ELEVEN competitors in this taste test…yes, that’s ELEVEN different brands of vanilla ice cream that our judges had to taste. {Life is hard sometimes!}

And here’s what we found: Not all vanilla ice cream is created equal.

For this taste test I looked for titles like: vanilla, Homemade Vanilla, Old Fashioned Vanilla, All Natural Vanilla, Natural Vanilla, etc. (No french vanilla in this taste test. No frozen yogurt. No gelato.) And I also wanted high-end brands and generic to be fully represented, as well as everything in between.

The idea was: if you were serving vanilla ice cream as dessert to some important guests, which vanilla ice cream would you serve?

I purchased a special MINI ice cream scoop for this event…I figured 11 tiny scoops of ice cream would equal about 1 regular scoop or so…not enough to give all the judges a stomach ache! There would be no casualties after tasting ALL this ice cream!

See all those silver cups in the photo above? Those were all labeled with a number 1-11, the ice cream was given a corresponding number, and those were delivered to the judges. We also supplied water and the judging form.

Let me introduce you to all the contenders (with approximate retail prices for each):

1) Kroger Brand Generic Artisan Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. $3.49 for 1.5 qt. (48 oz)

2) Turkey Hill Homemade Vanilla. $5.49 for 1.5 qt. (48 oz.)

3) Graeter’s Vanilla. $5.49 for One pint (16 oz.)

4) Ben & Jerry’s Vanilla. $4.49 for one pint (16 oz.)

5) Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla. $6.99 for half gallon.

6) Blue Bunny All Natural Vanilla. $6.49 for 1.75 qt.

7) Baskin Robbins Vanilla. $4.99 for 1 qt.

8) Haagen-Dazs Vanilla. $4.79 for 14 oz.

9) Breyers Natural Vanilla. $5.99 for 1.5 qt.

10) Dreyers Vanilla. $5.99 for 1.5 qt.

11) Tillamook Old Fashioned Vanilla. $5.99 for 1.75 qt.

One thing I’ve found while conducting all these taste tests is that not all the judges always agree. In fact, there was some debate over which ice cream was TRULY the best. But in the end, the majority ruled and the winner was declared. So here are the top 3 choices (who’s got the drumroll?):

CROWNING THE WINNERS:

Tillamook makes a delicious cheese (one of my favorites!) but I had never tasted their ICE CREAM before, so I was quite surprised that it took first place. [Note: The only place I was able to find Tillamook was at Bashas.] Baskin Robbins has always been a favorite since I was a kid, but I NEVER choose vanilla when I go there (have you tasted their World Class Chocolate and Gold Medal Ribbon?! Wow). And Dreyers is a well-reconized brand, so that was expected, however one judge reported that it tastes like “store-bought syrup.” Other judges reported that it was “creamy and had a great ‘real’ flavor.”

THE LEAST FAVORITES:

The lowest rated ice cream brands were:

Turkey Hill got zero votes. Zero. The judges found it was “too bland,” “tasteless,” and “boring.” Another surprise was Blue Bell rated one of the lowest! One judge said “Yuck!” But I’ve always thought Blue Bell was one of the best around. They do also carry a Vanilla Bean flavor…so maybe that one is much better than their homemade vanilla? (Can someone report on this?) The Generic brand was rated on the low end as well, but to be fair, one judge loved it for it’s creamy consistency.

DEDICATED – BONUS REPORT

After our taste test, I decided I’d better try some of my highly rated brands again. Yes, I know what you’re thinking: “that girl is dedicated to her craft.” And it’s true. In the interest of reporting accurate and true results to you, dear reader, I opted to taste a few again and try them against each other. I did this bracket style: the winner of the first competed against the winner of the second, and so on. And I kept coming up with the SAME WINNERS time after time. So I thought I’d better give to you the Editor’s Top Picks:

My winner each time was Haagen-Dazs. And before this taste test I DID NOT think I even cared for that brand. They must have changed something, or perhaps my taste buds are getting more refined with age?! I also really enjoyed Graeter’s (Linda’s top pick) and Ben and Jerry’s. But let’s be honest here: who chooses VANILLA Ben & Jerry’s when they have all those other tempting and interesting flavors? Not me. I’ve never even tasted their vanilla plain before.

EDITOR’S LOW PICKS:

To give you the complete picture: other low picks from me and a few other judges were Breyer’s (I know, I thought that was a favorite! But when pitted against these other competitors, it tasted artificial and “off.”) and Blue Bunny (also artificial). I shed a little tear over this one because Blue Bunny has one of my current favorite flavors: Bunny Tracks!! Have you had it? Oh, so delicious.

Please share YOUR favorite Vanilla Ice Cream…or go out and try our winner(s) and let me know what you think.

So there’s the report on Vanilla Ice Cream. It was a pleasure to bring this report to you (really!) and I am open to suggestions for future taste tests. Just comment below.

Stay in touch to hear about our next taste test upcoming: ROOT BEER! It was meant to be: what could be better to create with the REMAINING vanilla ice cream than root beer floats? See you next time.

Attention, anyone who loves to bake!! What kind of vanilla do you like to use in your baking? I have been using Mexican vanilla for years, and I love it! However, one day my husband brought me home a bottle of Watkins vanilla and I knew it would turn into a taste test challenge for sure.

I first asked all my friends who liked to bake what kind of vanilla they liked to use. My great Aunt used to own her own bakery and pastry shop, and she likes Trader Joe’s vanilla. So I had to add Trader Joe’s vanilla to the challenge as well. Unfortunately, when I went to Trader Joe’s to get “their vanilla,” there were 2 kinds to choose from. So what did I do? I bought them BOTH.

So let me introduce you to the contenders:

A) Watkins Vanilla

B) Trader Joe’s Bourbon Vanilla

C) Trader Joe’s Alcohol Free Vanilla

D) Mexican Vanilla (yes, that’s the biggest bottle of them all! What can I say, I love to bake and I use it all the time!)

E) McCormick’s Vanilla (used only in the caramels)

In order to be completely fair to all the vanilla contenders, I made 3 types of vanilla items to taste: vanilla caramels, vanilla mini cakes, and vanilla pudding sauce. We had the most volunteer judges in the history of our taste tests….maybe because this sounded like a DELICIOUS opportunity?!

This was a blind taste test and each item was given a letter. The judges were instructed to rank each vanilla into first, second, third, and fourth place.

I held two separate taste testing sessions, in order to get all the judges in! And as the sessions progressed, I soon realized that the judges were voting for DIFFERENT vanillas for the caramels, pudding sauce and mini cakes! In fact, ALL the judges had different votes except for one judge who voted for the same vanilla in first place each time.

It was apparent to me that there was not going to be a CLEAR winner in this taste test. So I had to pull in a professional analyst: my husband. He quickly drew up a spreadsheet to tally the points for each contender. Here’s how the judges voted:

For the Caramels

In first place, was Watkins Vanilla, with 11 of the 15 votes

In second place, was Mexican Vanilla, with 8 of the 15 votes

For the Pudding Sauce

In first place, Watkins Vanilla

In second place, Mexican Vanilla

For the Mini Vanilla Cakes

In first place, Mexican Vanilla

In second place, Trader Joe’s Alcohol Free

**I was surprised by the votes. I expected my favorite (Mexican Vanilla) to take first place. But overwhelmingly, Watkins Vanilla placed first by a wide margin in 2 out of the 3 tests. The interesting thing was, the judges agreed that this taste test was DIFFICULT, because there really wasn’t a bad one of the bunch. In fact, most judges agreed that each item was delicious, however, a couple judges had a slight NEGATIVE reaction to either the Bourbon Vanilla or the Mexican Vanilla.

After much analyzing and deliberation, we have declared the winner to be WATKINS VANILLA!

I am sure I will continue using Mexican Vanilla, but to switch things up a bit I am now adding Watkins to my vanilla repertoire. I should also mention that we used the Double Strength Watkins Vanilla, which contains more vanilla bean and less alcohol.

(NOTE: Many people have asked me where you can get Watkins vanilla, and so I am including a link HERE to a Watkins representative for your reference. Please note that I do not receive compensation for any vanilla purchases. However, I have been told by Jennifer that if you CALL her rather than place an order online, she may be able to SAVE you on shipping costs. 🙂 I love to save money for my readers!)

So, what do you think? Do YOU agree with our results? Do you have a vanilla that you swear by? Let me know in the comments below.

Thank you, judges! Stay tuned for our next Taste Test Tuesday: VANILLA ICE CREAM. (Do we have a vanilla theme going on here?) I’m looking forward to it!