I received an e-mail recently, asking me if I wanted to sample some gourmet ice cream from the Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream company. They agreed to my terms, but after we got to talking, I found myself invited to go out to the ice cream facility and was given a tour. These are things that typical consumers don't get to see first hand.

While at their facility (which I'll talk about in a later post), I was given several pints of their product, including their Danish Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. It's this flavor that I wanted to talk about. As I had Breyer's Vanilla recently, I thought comparing the two would be a great way to see which brand was better.

I like Breyer's Vanilla. It's important I state that for the record. If I have limited ice cream choices at the supermarket, it's the brand I reach for. So comparing Snoqualmie's vanilla version against this work horse of a brand would possibly be very enlightening.

Look: With flecks of brown vanilla within the white granulated ice cream, Breyer's looks almost as it does on the cover of the box. The Snoqualmie has no such flecks, but looks more dense than Breyers.

Nose: Yes, smelling ice cream is as weird as it sounds. Aside from the chill of the ice cream, each brand brought forth a bit of a vanilla aroma. No huge difference between the two.

Taste: Here is where Snoqualmie beats Breyer's. First the texture: Breyer's was good, but a little grainy when compared against Snoqualmie. Snoqualmie's ice cream was very velvety and had a better mouthfeel.
Taste-wise, it comes down to the length of the flavor in the mouth. While Breyer's was fairly nice and vanilla, it as pretty straightforward and simple. The flavor faded as quick as the ice cream melter.

Snoqualmie's vanilla taste was sharp and complex and lasted quite longer than Breyers.

Overall: Snoqualmie is the better tasting ice cream. Period. It's more flavorful, creamier and softer on the palate than what Breyer's offers. If you're ever in the Seattle/Portland corridor, look up this brand (it's not available beyond here...yet).

Technorati Tags: Food, taste test, Ice Cream, Gourmet