Gwynedd Stuart
The best mochi ice cream is an incredible innovation. If you’re not familiar with the creamy confection, it essentially consists of balls of ice cream wrapped in sweet, stretchy rice dough, and while it wasn’t a thing until the 1980s, it was preceded by Japanese filled mochi treats like daifuku and manju. Humans may ultimately be responsible for the collapse of all of Earth’s ecosystems, but, hey, we devised a way you can eat ice cream with your hands without getting it all over your fingers, and that’s pretty cool.
Over the course of three separate taste tests, we rounded up some of the biggest brands of mochi ice cream—Mikawaya, My/Mochi, Bubbies, and more—in multiple flavors and tasted them side by side, judging them on the quality of the mochi dough, the quality of the ice cream, and their overall flavor.
I love pretty much all mochi-based treats (mochi doughnuts are my favorite food and if you’ve never had them, please go find some immediately), but some of the mochi ice cream we tasted didn’t make the cut because the dough was too tough (it should be tender, dammit), or because the coating was just way too dusty—a little rice flour or cornstarch keeps them from sticking to the packaging, but you shouldn’t get a mouthful of it when you take a bite. (Looking at you, Trader Joe’s mochi ice cream.) Whether you’re in the mood for strawberry mochi ice cream, mango mochi ice cream, or green tea mochi ice cream, these are the best mochi ice cream brands we found in our taste tests.
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- My/Mochi Cookies and Cream
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Cookies and cream is an elite ice cream flavor, and I’m pleased to report it translates nicely to mochi form, at least in this case. (We also tried Bubbies Cookies & Cream mochi ice cream, but didn’t like the chocolate-flavored dough; the flavor works much better with the plain dough.) I didn’t detect any cookie bits in My Mochi’s ice cream filling, but it still tastes plenty like cookies and cream. Be forewarned that this particular flavor is very sweet, so if that’s a turn off, this may not be the best mochi ice cream for you. But it’s definitely the best mochi ice cream for cookies and cream lovers.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Sweety Vietnamese Coffee
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Vietnamese coffee is typically made with dark roast coffee poured over condensed milk. I’m no expert, but I’m definitely a fan of this mochi ice cream version from Sweety. There’s big, bold, slightly bitter coffee flavor in this mochi ice cream that’s perfect for fans of coffee with lots of cream and sugar. Sweety mochi ice cream also seemed to have a slightly thinner, stretchier layer of mochi dough than some of the other brands, which I think makes it the best mochi ice cream for people who are new to the world of mochi ice cream.
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Mikawaya Matcha Green Tea
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We’d tried (and liked) Mikawaya Green Tea mochi ice cream in our previous taste tests, but this was the first time we got our hands on their matcha green tea flavor. We tasted both side by side and the matcha version was the team’s favorite by far. The regular green tea tastes like an herb I couldn’t put my finger on—floral and grassy with some tea flavor and a slightly odd lingering aftertaste. But the matcha version really tastes like a lightly sweetened cup of matcha. It’s earthy and leafy, but mild and not at all bitter. It’s the best mochi ice cream when that green tea craving kicks in.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Mikawaya Plum (Wine)
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I was the only person who really liked this Mikaway mochi ice cream flavor (which, for the record, was called Plum rather than Plum Wine on the box we got; oddly there is no evidence a Plum flavor exists). It’s the best mochi ice cream if you want something really summery and refreshing—it’s mild and a little tangy, and nods at ripe stone fruit even if it doesn’t taste exactly like plum. And of course we love Mikawaya’s squishy skins.
Credit: Liv Averett / Mikawaya
- Bubbies Passion Fruit Mochi Ice Cream
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It’s kind of wild that Bubbies can fit so much tart, juicy, tropical flavor into these little frozen blobs. The ice cream is mildly sweet and tastes exactly like straight-up passion fruit juice but creamy. We tried another brand’s stab at passion fruit mochi ice cream and it tasted like candy, not in a good way. Bubbies mochi ice cream tastes like something you’d get in an artisanal smoothie shop here in L.A. If you want to broaden your mochi ice cream horizons beyond green tea, mango, and vanilla, this is the best mochi ice cream to keep an eye out for at the grocery store.
Credit: Liv Averett / Vons
- Bubbies Alphonso Mango Mochi Ice Cream
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Mango is a popular flavor in the mochi ice cream realm, and Bubbies Alphonso Mango achieves the most genuine mango flavor by far. These are sweet, tart, and tropical tasting in the best way. (And since we eat with our eyes first, they also happen to be a beautiful color.) We got the impression that even within a brand’s line, the dough could seem a little different flavor by flavor, and this one was particularly squishy and good. If fruity flavored desserts are your thing, give this mochi ice cream a shot.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- My/Mochi Double Chocolate Mochi Ice Cream
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My Mochi is the brand I’m most accustomed to seeing at the grocery store. It’s super available, comes in lots of flavors, and I’m pleased to report that several of them are good as hell. For instance, this double chocolate flavor, which was the best chocolate mochi ice cream we tried and some of the best mochi ice cream, period. These sweet little ice cream blobs have a rich chocolatey flavor, and we also liked that the chocolate bits in the ice cream filling add a little texture beyond just “squish.” They’re super sweet and the mochi dough makes them taste kind of like an undercooked chocolate baked good. This is excellent mochi ice cream.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Bubbies Churro Mochi Ice Cream
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This is a relatively new addition to Bubbies lineup of mochi ice cream flavors (it launched last year), and it’s a damn good one. The ice cream is super creamy and well spiced, and the dough contributes a flavor that makes the mochi taste convincingly like churros. This mochi ice cream deserves a spot right near the top of our best mochi ice cream list.
Credit: Liv Averett / Bubbies
- Mikawaya Strawberry Mochi Ice Cream
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I know not everyone loves strawberry ice cream like I love strawberry ice cream, but, wow, Mikawaya Strawberry mochi ice cream rules. The sweet, doughy flavor of the mochi really complements the taste of the strawberry ice cream, which we decided was the most tart and flavorful of all the strawberry ice creams we tried in this taste test. Mikawaya calls itself “the original and the best,” and they’re putting their money (and mochi) where their mouth is. Spoiler, but they also make the #1 best mochi ice cream on this list.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Instacart
- Bubbies Raspberry Cheesecake Mochi Ice Cream
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In our most recent mochi ice cream taste test, this flavor was the crowd favorite. Not a lot of mochi ice cream has mix-ins, and that’s what sets Bubbies Raspberry Cheesecake apart. Inside the mochi wrapper, you get creamy, tangy raspberry ice cream with bits of pie crust in the mix. It’s super fun. Overall, I still like Bubbies mochi skin less than I like Mikawaya’s. It’s stiffer and firmer, but I think that might be some people’s preference because it’s more stable and less sticky on your fingers. If you’re a mix-ins freak like Jordan Myrick, try this mochi ice cream flavor asap.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Mikawaya Vanilla Mochi Ice Cream
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I know, I know—when we tasted everything from alphonso mango mochi ice cream to Vietnamese coffee mochi ice cream, how could vanilla take the top spot, right? Hear me out: Vanilla ice cream is only boring if it’s bad and, also, there’s something highly appealing about the way the almost marshmallow-y flavor of the mochi dough complements a creamy, flavorful vanilla ice cream. Mikawaya makes an excellent mochi ice cream. The balls themselves are sort of mini cupcake shaped rather than disc shaped like some of the other brands, which I personally liked a lot. Also, the vanilla flavor in these is big and bold without being overpowering. These will go with anything—any mood, any meal. Even if you’re dubious, give Mikawaya Vanilla a try. It’s the best mochi ice cream we tasted.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Instacart
Best Cookies & Cream
Best Coffee Mochi Ice Cream
Best Green Tea Mochi Ice Cream
Best Stone Fruit Flavor
Best Tangy
Best Mango Mochi Ice Cream
Best Chocolate
Best New Flavor
Best Strawberry Mochi Ice Cream
Best with Mix-Ins
Best of the Best
Other products we tried: Sweety Simply Strawberry, Trader Joe’s Strawberry, My Mochi Strawberry, Bubbies Red Ripe Strawberry, My Mochi Vegan Strawberry, Bubbies Madagascar Vanilla, Trader Joe’s Vanilla, My Mochi Vanilla Bean, Trader Joe’s Green Tea, My Mochi Green Tea, My Mochi Sweet Mango, Mikawaya Mango, Trader Joe’s Ube, Bubbies Passion Fruit, Mikawaya Chocolate Chocolate, Bubbies Ube, My Mochi Passion Fruit
Jordan Myrick
Ariana Losch
Danny Palumbo
Jessica Block
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!