Contents
Brand
Flavor
Grey Poupon with Salted Pretzels
Rating
5 of 10
Review
Sweet Cream Ice Cream: The standard Van Leeuwen sweet cream base—good stuff. Rich, dense, and creamy. There’s a thin bit of the honey swirled into the base, and I’m liking it. It’s not a terrible combination. My first thought is this savory flavor could work. It’s edible. Perhaps it will grow on me as I move through the pint.
Salted Pretzel Chunks: These are salty and soft crumbled pretzels. On the upside, at least they’re not terribly soggy. Still, I would have preferred more crunch from these pretzels, more texture. But again as a combination, the salty pretzels and the sweet cream base are pretty darn good. This pint is, in fact, growing on me.
Honey Dijon Swirl: I get a big pool of the honey mustard swirl on my spoon with plenty of the sweet cream base. It’s just doesn’t taste good. Too much mustard flavor against the sweet, milky ice cream doesn’t taste right. The misstep for me here is including too much of the mustard swirl. I don’t want to taste that a second time.
Overall: Van Leeuwen’s Grey Poupon with Salted Pretzels is a nope for me. I really enjoyed VL’s Hot Honey. The sweet cream ice cream and salty pretzels are fine combo, even though the pretzel bits in this pint are too soft, not crunchy enough to really be enjoyable. But the combo of mustard and sweet cream ice cream only works for me when the mustard is hinted at—too much, too generous a ribbon of mustard, is toxic to my enjoyment. So, thanks, but no, on mustard ice cream. 5/10
On a sidenote: I do appreciate Van Leeuwen’s ingenious marketing. Putting crazy flavors on the shelves of Walmart will get people talking about your brand. And more people talking about your ice cream means more people buying your ice cream. Everyone has heard about and then considered trying VL’s Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Even me: that flavor was the first time I recall hearing about VL. What you may not recognize is that this viral marketing is absolutely necessary for VL to survive and prosper.
The premium ice cream market is overcrowded right now, and therefore, cutthroat. The problem, as crazy as it sounds, is too many high quality ice creams to choose from—an embarrassment of riches. Premium ice cream has attracted a wild amount of venture capital. That has enabled the creation of more premium ice cream brands. More brands on store shelves means greater competition because there are fewer consumers to share. Eventually, slow sales will kill a premium brand.
This overcrowded ice cream market is not sustainable. When, not if, the returns on venture capital investments don’t materialize, there will be a reaping of the premium ice cream brands—bankruptcies, mergers, rebrandings, hastily closed ice cream shops, discounted and discontinued pints. See Ample Hills and Coolhaus for two recent, prominent examples. Don’t believe me? Read this New York Times story and grab your favorite pint before it vanishes: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/13/business/ice-cream-premium-competition.html .
Home Delivery
Nationwide Shipping of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream
Front blurb
Limited Edition Van Leeuwen Grey Poupon with Salted Pretzels
French Ice Cream
Back blurb
Ever since 2008, when Van Leeuwen was born out of a yellow truck on the streets of NYC, we’ve been making good ice cream from good ingredients that makes you feel good.
After all, happiness is healthiness.
And nothing makes us happier than this Grey Poupon with Salted Pretzels Ice Cream. Grey Poupon elevates any meal to something worth savoring so, why not ice cream, especially French Ice Cream. An unexpected yet delightful blend of sweet ice cream, honey dijon swirl and salted pretzels. Mais oui.
Calories
- 2.5 servings per container
- Serving size: 2/3 cup
- Calories per serving: 310
- Calories per container: 775
Ingredients
Cream, Milk, Cane Sugar, Cold Brew Coffee, Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Egg Yolks, Butter (Cream, Salt), Cocoa Beans, Cocoa Butter, Brown Sugar, Invert Sugar, Cinnamon, Molasses, Salt, Vanilla Bean, Sea Salt, Carob, Baking Soda.
Contains: Milk, Eggs, Wheat, Soy, Tree Nut (Coconut).
Purchase Location
Walmart
Price
$4.98
Books
Need to know how Van Leeuwen does it? Get Van Leeuwen’s cookbook: Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream
Related
Psst! You can make ice cream like Van Leeuwen at home. Here’s Van Leeuwen’s secret ice cream base recipe! (Spoiler: their secret ingredient is 8 egg yolks!)
