We Tried The 3 New Summer Jeni’s Ice Cream Flavors

At the start of each new season, it’s my favorite thing to see what flavor combinations companies are able to come up with. And frankly, after Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams’ strong summer showing a couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t expecting another flavor roll-out for another couple of months. But in true Jeni’s fashion, they’re keeping us on our toes with three more unique flavors now available in pints and scoop shops nationwide.

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In both my book and Jeni’s, we’re in agreement―summertime is ice cream time. So when the new flavors launched last week, I was waiting in eager anticipation until I had the time to try them myself. Once I did, I ran to my computer to let the lovely readers of Sporked know how I felt about the new flavors.

Strawberry Pretzel Pie

The ice cream was definitely not bad, but certainly not discernible as as standout flavor. For the most part it kind of just tasted like a sweet, creamy ice cream with a hint of icy strawberry jam. The textures were a bit off in the jam, and there definitely wasn’t enough of it. As for the pretzel of it all, it was a nice pop of salt, but the texture didn’t wow me either. It was good―I finished the scoop. But of all the great flavors available at Jeni’s right now, I probably won’t order this one again.

Campfire S’mores

I was expecting this ice cream to be my favorite of the three since s’mores is my go-to summer flavor (aside from fruit). It was certainly delicious. It was balanced, had chunks of actual graham cracker, and had ribbons of bittersweet fudge sauce laced throughout the toasted sugar ice cream. And the ice cream base was delicious, too. It had a deep flavor, exceeding a plain vanilla base as so many s’mores ice creams have. I get what they were trying to do with the toasted sugar ice cream base mimicking the caramelized edges of a fire-roasted marshmallow, but, to me, it didn’t quite hit the satisfying marshmallow mark. If it had say an additional ribbon of marshmallow creme in it like the Ben & Jerry’s s’mores flavor to really drive home the marshmallow flavor, I think it’d be my new #1 ice cream. Here’s to next year!

Hibiscus Chili Punch

What to say about an ice cream that has it all? Well, I guess it’s a sorbet, but it’s perfect all the same. And, despite it being a sorbet, it still had the incredibly luscious creaminess of a dairy-based ice cream. Texture aside, this is the absolute best flavor at Jeni’s right now. You don’t have to be a lover of spice, just an appreciator of a flavor that’s so dang good. The hibiscus is far from an obnoxious floral flavor like I feared. Instead, it almost comes off as a super light berry flavor. The color is a charming pink, the flavor is fresh and balanced, and the texture is perfect. It doesn’t get better than this, folks.