Roadfood Digest

Founded in 1881, UConn is a land-grant college, distinguished from many other large universities by the sustained presence of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The on-campus creamery has been in operation since the beginning of the 20th Century and continues to dish out scoops of its super-creamy to droves of university students and community residents alike. Who says dining hall food can't be delicious?

Please visit http://www.RoadfoodDigest.com/IceCream for a complete listing of reviews in the New England Ice Cream series.

Our recommendation - We would travel across several towns to experience the UConn Dairy Bar.

Trip Report Card
Overall Experience
Jonathan Supreme Ice Cream – Named after the Huskies' mascot, this vanilla ice cream contains thick ribbons of peanut butter and an abundance of chocolate-covered peanuts. The thick peanut butter swirl was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
Toasted Almond Amaretto Ice Cream – Bold amaretto flavor with non-uniform almond pieces scattered throughout.
Mint Chip Ice Cream – Pale green ice cream with ample rectangular chips, but too subtle of a mint taste.
Vanilla Ice Cream – Creamy and flavorful, this vanilla provides a perfect base for toppings.
Hot Fudge Sauce – The taste was rather generic and the consistency thick and caramel-like.
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Boasting a higher butterfat content than most others in the state, Dr. Mike’s is the Rolls Royce of Connecticut ice creams. A longtime Roadfood favorite, this small shop (just a few blocks from the renowned Sycamore Drive-In) has been churning out very small batches of a handful of flavors for over 30 years. Note that this is über-premium ice cream and may be considered for special occasions, since one’s tastebuds would be completely vanquished by daily doses of Dr. Mike’s.

Please visit http://www.RoadfoodDigest.com/IceCream for a complete listing of reviews in the New England Ice Cream series.

Our recommendation - We would travel across State lines to experience the ice cream at Dr. Mike’s.

Trip Report Card
Overall Experience
Chocolate Lace Ice Cream – One of Dr. Mike’s signature flavors, Chocolate Lace is a sweet-cream base with broken pieces of a chocolate lace candy made locally by Hauser Chocolatier. The candy itself, basically spun sugar enrobed in dark chocolate, is wildly luscious on its own, but coupled with the sweet cream it approaches the highest taste level attainable by frozen confections.
Rich Chocolate Ice Cream – Michael Stern once described it as a melted Hershey Bar, yet this flavor goes well beyond any chocolate commercially available: it is at once an elemental and luxurious taste, lingering on the tongue long after cup or cone is consumed. Also, care should be taken to avoid melted drips on clothing, which become dark and permanent stains almost immediately.
Butter Pecan Ice Cream – Delightfully creamy and sweet with crunchy pecans, this perennial favorite is overwhelmingly eclipsed by Dr. Mike’s chocolate selections.
Vanilla Ice Cream – A creamy favorite with an ideal base for any topping, though it can easily stand on its own as a wonderfully rich flavor.
Hot Fudge Sauce – Homemade in the shop, this sauce is very thick, very grainy, and intensely fudgy, so much that it smothers everything under its influence. The chocolate taste is powerfully decadent and should only be eaten frequently by the most daring sweet-tooths.
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Located nearby the Steamship Wharf on Nantucket, the Juice Bar is the only scoop shop on the island to serve homemade ice cream and waffle cones.  On any summer evening, the line flowing out the door and the aroma of homemade waffle cones baking are dessert beacons for vacationers.  In addition to terrific ice cream, they also sell select baked goods, a variety of smoothies, and other healthy beverages.

Please visit http://www.RoadfoodDigest.com/IceCream for a complete listing of reviews in the New England Ice Cream series.

Our recommendation - We would travel across several towns to experience the ice cream at the Juice Bar.

Trip Report Card
Overall Experience
Coffee Ice Cream – Smooth and soft texture with enough caffeine to reinvigorate your day.
Black Raspberry Ice Cream – Soft and elastic texture with the perfect amount of raspberry flavor.
Vanilla Ice Cream – Smooth and somewhat icy texture that could have excelled with more vanilla bean.
Hot Fudge Sauce – Thin, buttery and slightly salty, and absolutely wonderful when covering strawberry or coffee ice cream.
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As the sign out front advertises, The Collins Creamery is "on the quiet side of town," where you can enjoy ice cream amidst the mooing of Holsteins rather than the rumble of automobile engines. Adjacent to the Collins homestead, this farm stand has been dishing out over 20 flavors of "freshmade" ice cream since 1997. If you are the kind of ice cream consumer who has trouble committing to just one flavor, you will undoubtedly appreciate the savvy sampler boat, which allows you to try 4 scoops for less than $5.

Please visit http://www.RoadfoodDigest.com/IceCream for a complete listing of reviews in the New England Ice Cream series.

Our recommendation - We would travel across several towns to experience ice cream at the Collins Creamery.

Trip Report Card
Overall Experience
Mocha Chip Ice Cream - The dark roast flavor of this Mocha Chip is tailored to the tastebuds of coffeehouse junkies.
Cake and Ice Cream - Just like an ice cream cake - a batter-like flavor with scattered rainbow sprinkles mixed in.
Blueberry Ice Cream - Deep purplish-blue color with chunks of fruit in every spoonful.
Orange Pineapple Ice Cream - With a light orange taste punctuated by pineapple chunks, this version was not neon orange like some varieties.
Vanilla Ice Cream - Creamy texture, with a light taste reminiscent of Vanilla soft serve.
Hot Fudge Sauce - Hershey's Syrup-esque in both flavor and consistency.
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Housed in a nearly signless building, SoCo Creamery ladles out the best hot fudge in Western Massachusetts. Choose from over a dozen standard ice cream varieties or, if you have a taste for the extraordinary, be sure to order one of the daily flavors. The specialty board advertises more offbeat creations, such as Chocolate Malted Stout (a robust Guinness-flavored ice cream with chocolate chunks) and Zuppa Inglese (a divinely buttery butterscotch flavor).

Please visit http://www.RoadfoodDigest.com/IceCream for a complete listing of reviews in the New England Ice Cream series.

Our recommendation - We would travel across state lines to experience ice cream at the Soco Creamery.

Trip Report Card
Overall Experience
Dirty Chocolate Ice Cream - Dark in color, but not necessarily in taste, this ice cream has ground-up truffles in the mix, giving it a very subtle truffle flavor with a perfect, creamy texture.
Mint Chip Ice Cream - This pale white ice cream had a light mint flavor and a scant scattering of big chocolate chips.
Vanilla Ice Cream - Very smooth consistency and a solid taste that could stand alone without toppings.
Hot Fudge Sauce - This hot fudge tasted straight out of a chocolate shop, with the flavor of a fine fudge without the overwhelming density of the candy treat.
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Attached to the Chelsea Royal Diner, customers to this colorful shack (in a way that only Vermonters can successfully pull off!) are divided between their soft serve and homemade Royal Madness ice cream. Although there are well over a dozen flavors of hard-serve ice cream to be tried, the options are built upon a small handful of base flavors with different combinations of mix-ins. In line with the eco-consciousness of the Green Mountain State, the Creamie Stand offers environmentally friendly plastic spoons made from plants.

Please visit http://www.RoadfoodDigest.com/IceCream for a complete listing of reviews in the New England Ice Cream series.

Our recommendation - We would travel across several towns to experience ice cream at the Chelsea Royal Diner.

Trip Report Card
Overall Experience
Brownie Walnut Fudge Swirl Ice Cream - Lots of chocolatey brownie chunks give this sweet cream base lots of texture, but it is sadly skimpy on the walnuts.
Andes Candies ’n’ Cream Ice Cream - Those expecting a mint chip-esque flavor will be somewhat disappointed by the plain sweet cream base; however, the small chunks of Andes mints give it a delightfully different mint flavor.
Vanilla Ice Cream - Peppered with vanilla bean flecks, this flavor is best left to soften for awhile in order to achieve a creamy consistency.
Hot Fudge Sauce - This was likely from a can, though it wasn't as goopy as other commercially produced fudge sauces.
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Shady Glen may be best known for their unique cheeseburger (four slices of cheese that are fried on the griddle and arranged like huge flower petals over the patty), but it is, in fact, a dairy store where John & Bernice Rieg produce some of the finest ice cream in Connecticut. Malts, sundaes, banana splits, and cones abound, all containing rich ice cream that’s high in both butterfat and taste. The New England favorites Grape-nut and Frozen Pudding are divine, but multiple visits are required for seasonal favorites like Pumpkin and Licorice Chip.

Please visit http://www.RoadfoodDigest.com/IceCream for a complete listing of reviews in the New England Ice Cream series.

Our recommendation - We would travel across state lines to experience Shady Glen ice cream.

Trip Report Card
Overall Experience
Frozen Pudding Ice Cream - Pillowy soft ice cream with a subtle rum flavor that is dominated by dried fruit (there was even a whole cherry in one spoonful!) What you wish that a fruitcake could be.
Grapenut Ice Cream - Chock-a-block with cereal in a sweet cream mantle - perhaps the greatest Grape-nut in New England.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream - Rich cocoa flavor with small sheets of peanut butter folded in, which stay solid while the ice cream softens. This version of the standard flavor differentiates itself from others with its peanut butter ribbon, which is chewy upon first contact with your mouth, but quickly melts into a smooth sauce.
Vanilla Ice Cream - A very soft, full-flavored vanilla (leaning toward French Vanilla) that just yearns for toppings.
Hot Fudge Sauce - Not homemade, but very satisfying on vanilla.
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A Roadfood favorite, the Big Dipper Ice Cream Factory is only a figurative factory, in that it boasts 30 different flavors with a few rotating specials. Wind your way between the old-timey milk cans and place your order: regardless of the size of container, Big Dipper weighs each order and charges accordingly. This method is perfect for little kids who must have their own ice cream—and for bigger kids who want to try several flavors at once.

Please visit http://www.RoadfoodDigest.com/IceCream for a complete listing of reviews in the New England Ice Cream series.

Our recommendation - We would experience the Big Dipper Ice Cream Factory if were traveling through the town.

Trip Report Card
Overall Experience
Toasted Almond Ice Cream - The shop’s claim to fame, this venerable flavor tastes even better than the Good Humor bar that shares its name.
Black Raspberry Ice Cream - Moderate raspberry flavor, very smooth with a unified consistency.
Vanilla Ice Cream - This vanilla was too plain to stand on its own.
Hot Fudge Sauce - Thick and can-syrupy sweet, skip the fudge and stick with the ice cream in its simplicity.
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Located on a real farm and absolutely packed on the weekends (so much that they have a parking attendant directing traffic), Rich Farm is a three-generation dairy farm that has received much press since they began churning ice cream in 1994. In addition to freshly baked pies and raw milk, seasonal hay rides and pumpkins are also available on the premises. Michael Stern himself was holding our place in line while we parked, and there were at least 20 people in line at each of the four serving windows!

Please visit http://www.RoadfoodDigest.com/IceCream for a complete listing of reviews in the New England Ice Cream series.

Our recommendation - We would experience Rich Farm if were traveling through the town.

Trip Report Card
Overall Experience
Peaches & Cream Ice Cream - The base had a creamy enough texture but was lacking the fresh fruitiness advertised in the name.
Cookie Monster - A kids’ favorite, the taste of this blue-colored vanilla was hard to distinguish from the bites of crumbly cookies.
Vanilla Ice Cream - This is for those who love the sensation of eating ice cream without much flavor.
Hot Fudge Sauce - Completely unremarkable and exchangeable with other canned fudge sauces around the state.
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Located on a not-so-exciting stretch of Fairfield Avenue, Timothy’s still gets significant traffic of the walk-up variety from ice cream seekers and families strolling down the block. The shop features sweet cream ice cream with mix-ins, Cold Stone style, and fresh waffle cones and bowls. Among the popular flavors are locally referenced Black Rock (French vanilla with chocolate-covered almonds) and any flavor with Oreos.

Please visit http://www.RoadfoodDigest.com/IceCream for a complete listing of reviews in the New England Ice Cream series.

Our recommendation - We would travel across several towns to experience Timothy’s Ice Cream.

Trip Report Card
Overall Experience
Pistachio Ice Cream - Gooey, sweet vanilla base with real whole pistachios.
Strawberry Ice Cream - Mild, natural tasting strawberry ice cream with berry particles.
Vanilla Ice Cream - One of the few vanillas in Connecticut that could stand on its own without any toppings or mix-ins.
Hot Fudge Sauce – This fudge hijacked the taste of whatever ice cream it touched.
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