Are you vegan? Dairy-free? Looking to support a local Rochester area, women-owned business? Concerned with sustainability and where your food comes from? Don't particularly fall into any of these categories and just want some damn good ice cream? Pop on over to Eat Me Ice Cream in downtown Rochester and pick up a pint of their dream cream or their dream cream bars! They are a "future-forward" company committed to sustainability in their products from sourcing their ingredients to their compostable packaging, creating amazing flavors, and creating a plant-based option for ice cream lovers that tastes just as good, if not better than "regular" ice cream.
Currently they are only open on Fridays, but you can order your ice cream ahead of time and pick it up, like I did, or pick up a pint (or 4) from one of the many Wegmans' that stock their products. Eat Me also partners with other local women-owned food businesses to create limited edition flavors, I believe they do a new one a month, and just support the local community, especially in regards to women-owned businesses.
Okay, yeah this is all great, but how does it taste? I'll admit I was skeptical, especially since they use coconut milk and I HATE coconut, but I wanted to try a dairy-free alternative to ice cream so that my belly doesn't hate me every time I reach for the creamy goodness. I scooped up 2 of the hibiscus bars, 2 of the lavender lemon that was in low stock (must mean its good right??), a pint of the cardamom-rose & pistachio halva, and a pint of the passionfruit mezcal. I was being greedy! plus that cardamom one just sounded bonkers and I wanted to try it out, I like passionfruit anything so that was my back up incase the cardamom one wasn't for me.
I was nervous that the lavender lemon was just going to taste like straight soap, I've tried baking with lavender before and its STRONG, you really have to know what you're doing to get the balance right. Well, Eat Me was thoroughly successful with this flavor, the lemon and the chocolate coating adding a pleasant bitterness to cut the floral of the lavender and mellowing it substantially, without losing the flavor altogether. Very well balanced and delicious!! As for the hibiscus I was a bit disappointed. To me, it just tasted exactly like the lavender. I did have back in December and my taste buds are still sometimes untrustworthy, so it could have very well been due to that. Hibiscus is one of my favorite flavors- a little sour, a little sweet, a little tangy- mix that with the chocolate and I knew I'd be in for a treat! It was definitely still tasty, since I liked the lavender one anyway and I fully enjoyed it, but it was not what I expected. If someone else has had a different experience and can vouch for this flavor please comment! I often have trouble distinguishing raspberry flavor, and hibiscus reminds me of raspberry a lot, so it is very likely that its just my months-long struggle with getting my taste and smell back fully. I plan to dive back into this bar or a pint of it once my taste gets back to normal.
Pint-sized, with large-sized flavors- the pints were both great! The cardamom-rose & pistachio halva was a tad bit too floral for me, but it didn't stop me from eating the whole damn pint and the passionfruit mezcal was perfection. The flavors of the cardamom-rose & pistachio halva was well-balanced, sweet, floral, nutty and tasty. But I think I just don't prefer rose, I actually liked the lavender ice cream I had in the bar better, which surprised me. I thought for sure the rose would win out. Who knew! Passionfruit is a top 5 flavor for me (up there with hibiscus and raspberry) and this dream cream did it serious justice! The mezcal added an interesting bite that I wasn't fully expecting, which paired well with the sweetness of the passionfruit and added a wonderful layer of flavor that I was pleasantly surprised by. I didn't know what to expect from the mezcal part of this flavor, but I'm more than happy with this purchase. I've actually not finished this pint yet, trying to control myself so I can keep it around a bit longer!
Notice that in none of these flavors did I mention the coconut...because I couldn't taste it. At all. And I tried to, just to assess it. I enjoyed my experience so much that I actually just ordered a few more pints- 2 of the monthly collaboration one called The Chronic- Eat Me teamed up with Saucey Chef to create a chocolate base with PB&J swirled in and what looks like Cap'n'Crunch pieces! Oh my heavens, I can't wait to dig in already. I also ordered a pint of the S'mores, can't go wrong with chocolate, marshmallows, and a bit of cinnamon to have that graham cracker flavor without the actual pieces- which as a graham cracker hater, I appreciate!!
Besides the ones I've mention, their other flavors available include deep & dark chocolate, curry cashew & crystallized ginger, NYS maple & black walnut, chocolate with seas salt and cocoa nibs, and then a seasonal flavor as well. Please give them a visit, a lick...I mean like over on Facebook, and/or a follow on Instagram!
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