Hey, look at you. You’ve almost made it through another year—we say a sweet, creamy treat is in order. Here at Sporked, we tasted and ranked a lot of ice cream in 2022. We dug our spoons into tubs of chocolate ice cream, devoured pints of cookies and cream ice cream, and wrapped our mitts around some tasty ice cream sandwiches. But the best ice cream we had this year isn’t a tried-and-true childhood staple—in fact, it isn’t even an ice cream. And the winner is …
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Yep, the best ice cream we tried all year was a coconut-based frozen dessert. Please, ice cream purists, don’t throw your phone across the room just yet. Sporked editorial assistant Naajia Shukri, who reviewed TJ’s Black Tea & Boba Frozen Dessert when it had just hit the frozen aisle back in May, described it as “unforgettably creamy,” with none of the chalky weirdness that accompanies some non-dairy ice creams. The flavor is outrageous too—I’m not sure how they packed so much genuine, floral sweet black tea flavor into this little pint, but it’s a real feat. The best part? The boba, naturally. They’re bouncy (somehow they don’t freeze!), bursting with honey flavor, and there’s a lot of them in the mix. “The pearls are perfectly distributed throughout the pint, making it easy to get one in almost every bite without having to dig,” Naajia wrote. “After tasting this, I believe all ice cream should contain boba.”
This was one of six new Van Leeuwen ice creams Sporked editor-in-chief Justine Sterling tried when they were released this fall, but it was the only one that made her utter the words “oh, mama” aloud. This ice cream is outrageously good and totally unique. In addition to being super creamy as all get out—Van Leeuwen rarely disappoints on that front—this pint of Honeycomb is sweet and has bits of honeycomb scattered throughout. Justine had no notes. And she’s an editor!
Gwynedd Stuart, Sporked’s managing editor, is an L.A.-based writer and editor who spends way, way too much time at the grocery store. She’s never met an Old El Paso taco or mozzarella stick she didn’t like.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!