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Ciao Bella Tahitian Vanilla FTW.

No surprise there. Haagen Dazs is one of the few triumphs of "Big food" along with Coca Cola.

On the west coast (more specifically, the Pacific Northwest), Tillamook's vanilla bean ice cream is excellent - I would rank it a very close second to Ben & Jerry's. I haven't tried Häagen-Dasz's vanilla bean - guess I'll have to now!

I think I would have listed them in the same order as you, without even doing the taste test. Although I would have thought Edy's would have taken 3rd place.

I hate having to eat either Breyers or Edy's.

We have Blue Bell in Florida now at Publix and it is good, tastes like real ice cream.

Double rainbow is my ice cream of choice, though i dont think theyre national. We get it down here in SoCal. But you have to eat it quickly, it loses its pure white color and amazing flavor, I wont touch it after a week.

@Hillary: funny, that was my reaction too. Breyer's has been tops in my book for a while. Probably the presence of the vanilla seeds has tricked me into overestimating it.

Booooooo.... no Blue Bell?! Srsly.

Mmmmm, I love me the occasional pint of Häagen-Dazs.

I guess to be in keeping with threads as of late --> [insert thinly veiled derision directed at an above poster here]

I'm so glad that someone mentioned Blue Bell. After growing up in Texas, I can't really say that I've ever found a substitute.

You made a pretty big mistake with the Breyers ice cream. Breyers makes _two_ vanilla ice creams. Regular and French. The regular is just ok, but the French is fantastic.

In my opinion this mistake is large enough (and very careless i might add) to warrant a retaste!

i think you would have gotten the same results if you just sorted by amount of fat and eggs. b&j and hd are very different styles of ice cream than the others and are the only premium brands in the comparison. it's a bit apples to oranges if you ask me.

I agree with your assessment, although I haven't tried Blue Bell. I am very fond of Haagen Dazs' version, and enjoy their Honey Vanilla flavor even more. To me, their vanilla ice cream is best enjoyed on those yummy almond and chocolate covered bars on a stick of theirs, though.

Of the light and airy versions, I prefer both Breyer's French Vanilla and Vanilla Bean, to the rest. I simply abhor Edy's/Dreyers (you nailed it with the Cool Whip statement), and cringe whenever someone serves that with an otherwise beautiful pie.

Cheers,

~ Paula

~ Paula

I've always loved Breyers specifically because of the icy, light texture. It's suffered a bit since they started using some kind of gum (all natural, I'm sure) to make the texture creamier. The super-premium ice creams taste like butter to me. I find Haagen-Dazs vanilla tasty, but suitable only for topping, like whipped cream—I can't eat it straight.

http://www.bluebell.com/

You've tried the rest, now try the best! You can even have some shipped to you (if you're in the US) for a hefty price.

When is the chocolate ice cream taste test?

I was suprised to see Bryers so low.. I think its a pretty good product, and the ingredient list is short! Tillamook is good, but they use corn syrup!

Ben and Jerry's all the way. Gotta support my state.

Uh, Byrne Dairy, it may not be a national brand, but they are tastyyyyy

Ugh, I always hated when my mom would buy Breyer's, especially the vanilla bean. Nasty, nasty, nasty. I preferred the French vanilla (or could get it down anyway). My favorite vanilla ice cream would be homemade. By me. With a custard base.

First problem with this sort of review. I suspect most of those expressing an opinion have never had homemade vanilla ice cream, or are not comparing commercial brands to homemade. The ultimate vanilla ice cream is not some cool whip gummed up junk you have fond memories of from childhood.

First test, test and smell some melted ice cream, does it smell like fresh cream, vanilla, with maybe a hint of egg? Or does it smell stale, sour or odorless?

Second test, does it melt in your mouth, or disolve like whipped cream or does it coat with a cloying sticky effect?

Third test, does the vanilla taste like vanilla extract, can you taste the alcohol? I'd rather have "cream" flavored ice cream, than something with a powerful extract flavor.

Breyer's used to be fresh, almost like a whipped gelato. But Unilever took over, broke the pledge of purity (used to be printed on every damn carton). Now Breyer's has gums added, and is cheap crap. Horrible horrible turn of events.

Haagen Daz vanilla has a powerful vanilla extract flavor, you can taste the alcohol and egg yolks. If you let it thaw, the result smells sour and off. Mix it with booze, eat it cold, don't compare it to homemade and you won't notice what you are missing.

Haagen Daz vanilla bean unfortunately uses ground up entire beans, not just the seeds (the flecks are supposed to be the seeds, the outer part of the bean is not normally consumed). This often leads to woody bits.

Haagen Daz Five vanilla has varied wildly in quality, first time I tried it, I was impressed. Excellent. But later tries were gritty with vanilla bean bits, and overpowering "natural flavors".

Ben and Jerry's is full of gums, and is just well marketed middle of the road stuff.

Regular Blue Bunny and Dreyers is commercial gummy whipped junk.

Blue Bunny all natural vanilla is similar to what Breyers used to be, it has a clean finish, although a bit too sweet.

Full Circle Organic is almost EXACTLY the same as the original Breyer's Vanilla. Very refreshing. But it's hard to find.

Mcconnells Vanilla bean is the closest in flavor to good homemade icecream. Fantastic stuff.

Um.... why was Thrifty's not in there?

...oberweis?

Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla, eating anything else in Texas is a crime.

I just had Trader Joe's vanilla ice cream this weekend and it was delicious!

Haagen-Dazs FIVE vanilla is my favorite..

Actually, all of the FIVEs (besides brown sugar, which is good, but a bit too intense) are really delicious, and are my favorite grocery store ice creams.

I live in Texas and I think Blue Bell is highly over rated.
That said, I would never turn it down when served at friend's dinner parties.
Many, many years ago, before it was bought out and turned into a corporate conglomerate, the original Breyer's had the very best vanilla ice cream. It was made with just a few high quality ingredients. Light and creamy, it was actually more like gelato.
But now, I'll stick with Hagen Daz if I HAVE to but something from the store. Most likely though, I'll get gelato from one of the many new good gelato stores that have been opening in Dallas lately.

I once was a guest to a celebration of an extended family in Minnesota. To keep the large numbers of children occupied after the meal they devised an entertainment for them. This consisted of getting the children to organise a blind tasting of 20 different vanilla ice creams. Each of the diners was presented with a chart on which to mark a score for each ice cream. One of the girls carefully covered all the pots so that no manufacturer was identifiable. The ice creams included local farm made ice creams, rice creams and a number of well-known and less-known brands. Other childrend provided us all with little paper cups with our initials on them and paper spoons.

The first ice cream to be tasted elicited a "10 out of 10” from half the children. The second ice cream was universally considered to be "better" and the children all subsequently revised their marks. This taught them, in the most extraordinary way, to discriminate between flavours. One child revised all his marks every time he tasted an ice cream - all 20!

When we had all tasted all the ice creams the children gathered up all the papers and took them off to the computer. One of them entered all the scores into an Excel spreadsheet - this was a most remarkable family - and came back announcing that the winner, in terms of flavour, was Häagen-Dazs.

What was even more extraordinary is that the children then started discussing amongst themselves which was the best "value" and asked for the prices. Because one of them observed that you paid less per unit if you bought large quantities of ice cream they introduced a correction factor depending on whether the ice cream was purchased in a pint or a quart container.

Blue Bell is definitely the best! And the best for the money - a lot less expensive (at least it is in Texas, I know you can't get it everywhere) than Haagen Daaz and Ben & Jerry.

if faced with the choices in this test, i'd buy haagen dazs, but i'm also a fan of Trader Joe's/Double Rainbow. Also, StoneyField Farm's makes a GREAT organic vanilla ice cream which is what I get when i want homemade apple pie a la mode :)

For all Breyer's fans: Ingredient list (which used to be just three items)

MILK, CREAM, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP, EGG YOLKS, NATURAL FLAVOR, NATURAL GUAR GUM, SALT, ANNATTO (FOR COLOR), NATURAL CAROB BEAN GUM

wow! corn syrup, 2 gums and a coloring agent, no less!
And it ain't cheap either!

FYI--Unilever also owns Ben & Jerry's, as well as a host of fake foods such as Shedd's Country Crock and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. http://www.unileverusa.com/ourbrands/

Eddie's Ice cream (not Edy's, my own ice cream that I make at home) second best is Braums or if it has to be from the regular grocery store Blue bell or Breyers. None of them is better than what I make at home.

As to the question is there milk flavored ice cream? The anser is No, but why would you want that? Just drink milk. Ice cream is made from Cream. It's like saying water flavored ice or beef flavored hamburger. Cream is the base you add flavor too. You might as well ask if there can be unflavored ice cream.

Uh, I think this is only available in the New England region but Brigham's vanilla ice cream is pretty special.

Up north, in the south, we enjoy Sweet Madge's Mudpucker Cream. Delicious, yet unobtrusive, whimsical, yet stalwart...

Natur-a Glace soy ice cream, Vanilla, is organic, creamy, and clean-tasting. I love the specks of real vanilla bean throughout. So good!

This whole thing makes me want to quote my old friend who used to say: "Vanilla is not a flavor, it's a base." Hehe.

Hands down best vanilla ice cream ever is SheerBliss!!

Check it out, you won't be sorry: www.sheerblissicecream.com

For those looking for Blue Bunny...........here in upstate New York, Walmart sells it. Perry's is our hometown brand........nothing compares except for homemade.
I'm surprised Breyer's made low on the list as well.

There is no doubt about it - Blue Bell Ice Cream from the little creamery in Texas - made by "happy cows" is THE VERY BEST ICE CREAM in the country!

Wow, so many Blue Bell fans. I'm living in Texas and never realized they had such a cult following.

I must say that after having tasted at least 20 different varieties of Vanilla ice cream, there is NOTHING that comes close to Silver Moon's Bourbon Vanilla Bean. The entire line of flavors by Siver Moon are unique and exceptional but the vanilla is a perfect example of how a standard flavor can be taken to the next level. The Bourbon Vanilla Bean has layers of flavor that compliment each other and knock your socks off. I never thought I would write such a compelling statement about vanilla but you have to try it.

Once I tasted LaSalle, I never went back to Haagan Daz again. Also great is Sedutto (but I think it's just available in cones in the New York area).

I'm also a loyal Blue Bell fan, and it's one of the things I miss the most about Texas. I usually dislike vanilla because I think it's too "plain" when there's so many interesting ice cream pairings out there. However, with Blue Bell I don't need anything else. There's a reason why they're the third-best-selling ice cream in the U.S. even though they only cater to less than half of the states!

i do

Brigham's vanilla ice cream is the Platonic idea of vanilla. It makes all other vanilla ice creams melt in shame. Sadly, Brigham's is a New England thing, and I'm going crazy without it here in Maryland!

Silver Moon's Bourbon Vanilla Bean is far superior to any of the vanillas mentioned in the comparison. It is a premium ice cream, and the tiny vanilla bean specks along with the creamy consistency make it my top vote. Silver Moon is a new ice cream from California with all natural ingredients.