Graeter’s Mint Chocolate Chip Small Batch French Pot Ice Cream Review

I’ve (perhaps) over-sampled numerous versions of mint chocolate chip ice cream through the years.  But this   Graeter’s Mint Chocolate Chip Small Batch French Pot Ice Cream   ranks among the best of them all in terms of texture, flavor,  absence of artificial colors, high density, and price.  This ice cream looks like vanilla chocolate chip (generally cream-white in color).  Some mint ice creams use a green coloring to visually emphasize the mint in them.  But not Graeter’s, though the packaging has lots of green.

Here are my thoughts on this deliciously minty sweet dessert, that could easily become a main course if one is overly lured in  by its  chocolaty mint combination taste.

 

Benefits, Pros, Advantages, And Features

  • This ice cream smells just as it tastes; minty, chocolaty, and quite sweet.  Like the flavor, the aroma does not overly dominate but is prominent enough to recognize instantly.  The smell is rather subtle and truthful about the taste sensations to come.
  • Lots of large and small dark chocolate clumps herein that compliments the peppermint oil flavoring quite well.
  • The  green, brown, and white colors on the package do not mislead about how delightfully minty and chocolaty this treat is.
  • They hit a high quality balance between the mint, sugar, and chocolate in this all natural mint chocolate chip ice cream.
  • It’s definitely not excessively sugary, but still sweet enough to have kept me going back for more, at least, until I had finished up the entire pint container.
  • This is a very substantial ice cream (heavy).  It’s quite rich.  So you won’t get the feeling that you’re eating low-fat or diet ice creams when indulging here.
  • Also, this is a slow-melting ice cream, and even in melted form, it’s still notably thick and creamy.
  • No corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup here.  Most of the sweetness comes from cane sugar.
  • This ice cream definitely rivals Haagen-Dazs Mint Chip All Natural Ice Cream (reviewed here).  They each have the strong points.  While Haagen-Dazs  mint chip has more fat, this Graeter’s mint chocolate chip ice cream has more sugar.  But the tastes of the two brand are roughly equivalent.  So buy the cheaper product when there’s a price difference, and rest assured that the taste you get will not be cheaper.
  • The label says that Graeter’s makes this ice cream in small, 2-gallon batches.  This suggests to me that this dessert is less mass-produced than other, less premium brands, and closer in process to home-made ice cream. It sure tastes like it.

 

Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, and Concerns

  • It’s costly.  I paid roughly $5 for a pint.  That’s kind of pricy and probably not the cheapest available.  But it was convenient, as I purchased this at a local Sheetz convenience store near my office.  Plus, this is definitely a premium ice cream.  So I’d expect to pay extra for it.  Besides, I’d avoid buying more than a pint at a stretch anyway, because I’d be too tempted to eat it all.  I’m already bad enough for eating a whole pint in a single sitting.   I would have preferred paying $3 instead of $5.
  • While I miss the green food coloring that many mint treats incorporate, I’m glad it was not included here.  If it had been, it would have softened the otherwise true, all-natural claim made by Grater’s.
  • At 10 grams of saturated fat per serving (and there are four servings in the 1-pint container), I get more than my entire day’s allotment of this bad fat in just this one container.  It’d be great if they’d fashion this to taste as good as it does, but without so much saturated fat.  However, to be fair, saturated fat and great-tasting ice cream always seem to go together.  Thus it’d be quite difficult to manufacture a good-tasting ice cream without that all naturally occurring saturated fat.
  • Each serving has 30 grams of sugar, and roughly 120 grams for the whole container of 4 servings.  It could definitely be lower.
  • This ice cream is very hard when first taken from the freezer.  It’s quite difficult to spoon out.  But I’d prefer that Graeter’s not change anything, if softening it up would at all degrade the flavor.  I just let it warm up for a few minutes before digging in.

 

Ingredients

Contains: cream, milk, cane sugar, semi-sweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate liquor processed with alkali, cocoa butter, milk fat, soy lecithin, and natural flavors), skim milk, eggs, soy oil, peppermint oil, carob bean gum, and guar gum.

 

Nutrition Facts

  • Serving size: 1/2 cup or 114 grams.  Servings per container: 4.
  • Calories: 300.  Calories from fat: 160.
  • Total fat: 18 grams, 30% DV.
  • Saturated fat: 10 grams, 50% DV.
  • Trans fat: 0 grams.
  • Cholesterol: 60 grams, 20% DV.
  • Sodium: 50 milligrams, 2% DV.
  • Total carbohydrate: 31 grams, 10% DV.
  • Dietary fiber: 0 grams, 0% DV.
  • Sugars: 30 grams.
  • Protein: 3 grams.
  • Vitamin A: 10% DV.
  • Calcium: 10% DV.
  • Vitamin C: 0% DV.
  • Iron: 0% DV.

 

Our Rating

Though significantly fatty, I found this mint chocolate chip all natural ice cream to be truly exceptional, and would therefore highly suggest it to anyone seeking a rich, full-bodied consistency in their dairy desserts.  It satisfies with just about the right amount of everything (except for perhaps the saturated fat content), without going overboard on much.  So check it out the next time you get a hankering for some all-natural ice cream, and I think you’ll probably enjoy this classic mint chocolate chip ice cream.  I’d rate this product at 94 out of 100.

 

Where To Buy Graeter’s Mint Chocolate Chip Small Batch French Pot Ice Cream

I bought mine at a local Sheetz convenience store.  But it’s available in many larger grocery stores also.

Look for it in the green, red, and striped light brown and round canister.

 

References

 

Revision History

  • : Moved this post to the   Tom’s Diet Quest   blog, added whitespace, adjusted ad placement, and extended content.
  • 2012-07-12: Originally published.