Wrap Up

We had a tour debriefing lunch today at Cafe Luna. First, I must note that we did not see any gelato at Cafe Luna so we're wondering if it's gone for the season. We'll have to go back sometime and ask.

Anyway, we agreed that we liked the flavor varieties at Toscanini's and Christina's and somewhat preferred Christina's because the prices are more reasonable and the ice cream base is not as rich, meaning we can eat more without getting stomachaches. For most consistent we chose J.P. Licks. We had a great experiences both times we were there and although their ice cream isn't as "high-end" as Toscanini's or Christina's, the seasonal flavors are quite interesting and will keep us coming back. We also liked Berryline's original tart yogurt flavor and hope to test more yogurt places in the future. Until next year!

Stop 14: J.P. Licks - Oct. 2, 2009

Because J.P. Licks had just released their October seasonal flavors, we decided to make a return trip in lieu of Cafe Luna. Andrea and I both sampled Sam Adams Cream Stout and agreed that initially there was a strong beer flavor, but that the aftertaste was milder and sweeter. For my main course I got half pumpkin ice cream and half peanut butter cookie dough chip. Allison got half pumpkin and half chocolate sorbet and Andrea had just peanut butter cookie dough chip. All the flavors were great. Pumpkin tasted just like pumpkin pie and the peanut butter chip had a good amount of chips and cookie dough and the right amount of peanut flavor - not too strong or too weak. Allison's chocolate sorbet had a deep, dark chocolate color and a rich, chocolate flavor. A successful J.P. Licks trip - 9/10 overall.

Stop 13: Damons - Sept. 25, 2009

The flavors of the day were dolce de leche, cappuccino, chocolate and strawberry. I got a little dolce de leche and a little cappuccino topped with oreo, m&ms, a few cherries, strawberries and hot fudge. You just can't beat the hot fudge or the price - all that for just $2.50, which is cheaper than any other place we've been on our tour.

Andrea was disappointed because they had neither coconut or mini chocolate chips set out as toppings. Hopefully they'll bring them back and aren't scaling back topping due to the economy. The strawberry juice at the bottom of my dish tasted a little weird - it might have been starting to ferment, but otherwise there were no complaints.

Stop 12: Berryline - Sept. 17, 2009

Even though it was cool and gray out, we were quite pleased with Berryline. They had the traditional tart yogurt, oreo yogurt, or papaya yogurt. They man working at the store was excited when he found out we had never been there before and let us sample all the yogurts. The oreo was good, but I didn't think the papaya had much flavor.

We all chose plain, tart yogurt for a base then then added toppings. I chose mango, raspberries and graham crackers. Allison had chocolate cookie topping, graham crackers and granola and Andrea had strawberries, which she suplimented with chocoalate syrup from the table nearby. We all thoroughly enjoyed our yogurt and toppings. There were so many choices that we'll have to go back to try another combination.

There were various specials and three toppings ended up costing the same as two, so I paid $4.50 for a small (5 oz.). The dry toppings were cheaper so Allison paid a little less than me (around $4.30). Tart yogurt stores are becoming the rage in Boston so we'll have to try some others soon.

Stop 11: Damons - Sept. 10, 2009

Our usual Damons frozen yogurt excursion was spiced up a bit this time by new frozen yogurt flavors. There was chocolate, cheesecake, orange creamsicle, and something pink...I forget the flavor...it might have been raspberry.

I tried a little of each flavor and everything was quite good. We were also excited that there was just yogurt and not a mix of yogurt and ice cream, as had been introduced over the summer. Hopefully there are more "exotic" flavors to come.

Stop 10: J.P. Licks - Sept. 3, 2009

We had all previously been to J.P. Licks and they deliver consistently good ice cream so we were excited about this stop. September's new flavors had just come out so we began by sampling sun-dried tomato basil ice cream. It was really strong - like eating dip or pizza. Andrea and Allison discarded their sample spoons after 1 lick, but I ate the whole thing. While the initial taste was strong, it mellowed out in your mouth as the creaminess came through. I still wouldn't eat an entire cup of this, but it was worth a taste.

Allison and Andrea ordered their favorite frozen yogurts - oatmeal cookie and mint chocolate chip. I was feeling adventurous and tried two new flavors - carrot sorbet and avocado ice cream. The carrot sorbet tasted just like carrot. I was worried it would be overly sweet, but it wasn't. It was a little icy, but had great flavor - overall 6/10. The avocado ice cream was very creamy, but only had a mild flavor. After the first few bites it was difficult to detect, so it also gets rated as 6/10. A small, which is about a cup of ice cream, is $3.75 - pricey, but worth it for the amount and quality of ice cream.

Stop 9: Herrell's - August 28, 2009

We tried Herrell's in Harvard Square for the first stop on the second half of the ice cream tour. I got Elvis' favorite, which was banana ice cream with peanut butter swirl. The banana flavor was not fake, which I liked, but you could also barely taste it, which I didn't like. The peanut butter was good (of course), but there was a huge ball of it in the middle of the ice cream. I like peanut butter, but I ordered ice cream, not peanut butter. The ice cream that surrounded the peanut butter was nice and creamy. Overall I'd rate it as 5/10.

Andrea ordered mint cookies n' cream, which had a strong mint flavor. She was pleased with it, but it was a little too strong for my liking. Allison sampled malted vanilla yogurt, which she reported was disgusting because it had no flavor. The cookies n' cream yogurt I ordered over the winter was also quite icy and not very flavorful so I guess in the future we should stay away from Herrell's frozen yogurt. Allison ended up ordering almond cream. It had a very strong almond flavor, which she was pleased with. It's also often hard to find almond flavored ice cream.

My biggest gripe was the price and serving sizes. I ordered a small and Andrea and Allison ordered kiddie sizes, however we all got the same amount of ice cream. The small cost $3.60 and the kiddie only $2.50. I think Herrell's is the most expensive ice cream store I've ever been to when you consider both cost and serving size. Advice for the future: order the kiddie and avoid the frozen yogurt.