Where I live, the basic vanilla ice cream is usually bland, if you don't buy a really expensive tub. When I was a kid, the local store had 3L tubs of vanilla or trio (three separate parts of vanilla, strawberry and chocolate in same tub) from Euroshopper-brand (usually known for really low prices and low quality), but the vanilla was wayyyy better than the domestically produced "high end" vanilla ice cream. The price is not always a guarantee of quality. Most of the viewers know Euroshopper from Finnish energy drink-memes : D
For those wondering "No Blue Bell", the company only distributes to 23 states. New York (Where babish lives) does NOT stock it all year round, and when they do they dont get much, it sells quickly. It is likely that it simply wasnt time to stock it where he lives or that it is sold out.
Vanilla is an incredibly unique plant, it blooms for a mere two months in the tiniest corner of the world. It's basically straight out of a fairy tale, and yet people use it as synonymous for plain. For shame.
Well it comes from north America similar just like chocolate before the discovery of the Americas there was no vanilla or chocolate could you imagine that. Similarly both were taken to Africa to be grown in large quantiles on the European plantations. Africa produces 70% of the world's chocolate(cocoa) and Madagascar specifically produces 80% of the worlds vanilla.
Well because true vanilla is too expensive so most the time vanilla you get in stores are mock vanilla more of a concoction of different things to try and simulate true vanilla kind of like what they do with cinnamon sticks
It’s like saffron in Latin America or the recent truffle oil craze, it’s a super premium ingredient but most people only know it in cheap imitation processed derivatives or substitutes that are artificial AF,
Vanilla Ice Cream is how you separate the greats from the bads. When you have simple ingredients like vanilla, it must be high-quality, and mixed properly, else it don't taste great. So really, it ain't boring... because it's how you find out which company can actually make ice cream!
Breyers, it's worth noting, has "Ice Cream" and they also have "Frozen Dairy Dessert," and you can absolutely tell the difference when the stuff can't legally be called ice cream. The texture is just sadness in a tub.
"Imagine a flower: A climbing orchid, to be exact; the one of some twenty thousand varieties that produces something edible. Now imagine that its blooms must be pollinated either by hand or a small variety of Mexican bee, and that each bloom only opens for one day a year. Now imagine the fruit of this orchid, a pod, being picked and cured, sitting in the sun all day, sweating under blankets all night for months until, shrunken and shriveled, it develops a heady, exotic perfume and flavor. Now imagine that this fruit's name is synonymous with dull, boring, and ordinary. How vanilla got this bad rap I for one will never know." -Alton Brown
I don’t know what it says about you that you had this quote come to mind and actually added it, props. I also don’t know what it says about me that I was able to read it in Alton Brown’s voice and cadence. 😂
@@mr.dirtydan3338 Cause Vanilla is expensive, most Vanilla ice creams use artificial flavor & most people associate it with real vanilla. And even if they use Real Vanilla they use little.
I was literally about to post, "Oh boy, wait until people from Texas watch this and see Blue Bell isn't in the mix..." (No idea if you're from Texas, but I'm married to a Texan and... well, she stans Blue Bell so hard it's absurd. I'm a Vermonter, meanwhile, so it's all Ben and Jerry's, all day, for me.)
Just remember, before we had Vanilla in any commercially viable sense, we frequently used Rose Water to flavor things. Imagine sampling 25 pints of Rose water ice creams. Vanilla revolutionized desserts not that long ago, and it's one of the most complex flavor compounds there is, yet somehow it is used to describe something as boring.
It's described as boring because it's in tons of desserts, and it's expensive so they tend to skimp on it. It's like comparing regular Hershey's chocolate to a super fancy 90% cacao chocolate that costs $20 per bar.
Rose is a criminally underappreciated flavor though. There's nothin' at all wrong with spices and florals but everyone's palate's just gone sideways on sugar.
Seven years ago, the bakery I worked for special ordered Madagascar Vanilla by the gallon and payed over $700 a jug for it. Part of the reason their cakes started at $40 at pop. People can't get enough of them.
the term "french vanilla" come from the method used to make said icecream. It's custard based using eggs. the yellow creamy ice cream. the white icy texture vanilla is conventional vanilla ice cream using just cream.
If anyone didn’t know, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream has so much stuff in it because Ben has anosmia, no sense of smell. So texture is very important. I love chunky ice cream and different flavors, so I go hard for B&J’s
Tried Blue Bell homemade vanilla for the first time like a month ago and I have tho say, it’s the best ICE CREAM I’ve had. Not just vanilla, all of them!
Costco brand vanilla ice cream is rebranded Humboldt creamery. unfortunately Humboldt creamery was bought out by a larger dairy - I think five or six years ago now - and it definitely changed the quality. I live in Humboldt County in California and the milk processing plant that used to process the dairy for Costco brand vanilla ice cream was shut down - I think it’s in the Central Valley now. I was hoping it wouldn’t change the quality, but I really think it has. that being said, it does still beat other local brands like Tillamook and Umpqua. I was surprised to see Tillamook all the way on the East Coast, and of course, Umpqua was not included… but there vanilla is comparable to Edy’s, imo.
And simply because of the jerky comment, beef jerky? Idk but I’ve basically only found really bad ones so I’d love to see what he says about the universally accessible ones in the US.
I am so glad they mentioned that Edy's and Dreyers are the same brand I was losing my mind over how everything about the packaging was the same except for the name. Dreyers French Vanilla is my go-to vanilla ice cream always.
Häagen-Dazs changed their ice cream up when Dryers (?) bought them. It was dense without air with deep vanilla tones. Now it’s totally airy. I miss the old Dazs. I looking for a new favorite so choose wisely Mr. Babish. My ice cream future is in your hands.
YES! I've been saying this for years but could never find any firm confirmation. What they did to it was a crime. Haagen-Dasz used to be top-tier and is now disappointing. But they still charge premium prices!
Yes, same here! I tasted it immediately when the change happened. Iirc, at the time, they said that the recipe "didn't change", I deduced after that, that they changed the process. Totally not the same! If you're a vanilla purist like I am, Aldi has an AMAZING vanilla at a great price! 5 ingredients!
I honestly don't get this weird Vanilla hate. People talk as if Vanilla is the absence of flavor. Try eating ice'd cream without any vanilla or sugar before you think that.
People say it because vanilla is in everything else. Chocolate is chocolate plus vanilla. Cookies and cream is cookies plus vanilla. Brownies have vanilla. Vanilla is base. I wouldn't want to eat just salt, even though it's fundamental too.
Nobody talks as if vanilla is the absence of flavor. Not one person. Not even Andrew (Babish). He just doesn't like vanilla ice cream, and there's nothing weird about not liking the flavor of something.
@@notahotshot I've heard LOTS of people talk about Vanilla that way. "Why would you take vanilla? Just drink milk at that point!" "I hate vanilla! It doesn't taste like anything!"
A purely dairy ice cream like mackies in the UK is incredible if you love cream and sugar alone which I do. I make my own crude ones usually though using double cream and condensed milk combined and lifted during its cooking periof
Vanilla is a flavor that oftens fills the gaps around other flavors. If you can't at least appreciate a nice vanilla, you don't deserve to appreciate any of the other flavors its in.
Really happy to see Lactaid score so high as I recently got diagnosed as intolerant (explains my whole life really) but I've been so weirdly nervous (it's the 'tism) about trying alternatives and stuff especially for treats. So maybe I'll give them a try next!
La raid is technically still milk so they’re products are generally almost the same as normal milk, but often a little sweeter due to having to replace the lactose with other sugars
i love how alvin just took over cooking fun stuff while babish just went unhinged, these have a botched by vibe that i definitively think Andrew shine in (not to say i don't enjoy the normal videos too, im just really happy to see more of this along with it)
This series has such a great, casual feel to it. I didn't even notice he was facing screen right until he mentioned it. We all are just hanging out in the room and it's incredible.
Vanilla is literally something that cannot exist without human intervention. It is the seed pod of an incredibly temperamental orchid plant, and every single flower must be pollinated BY HAND. When people think of something sweet in almost any culture, it is high up there on the list of flavors we think of. I could see vanilla just not being a flavor you love, but calling it “boring” is based af at this point. Vanilla deserves better tbh
Vanilla can and does exist in nature. It is endangered, but it does exist. It just can't be COMMERCIALIZED without human intervention. It can live in its natural habitat just fine without humans and has for millions of years
Babish should come to Troy, NY during the summer. They have an ice cream shop (Moxie's) that makes multiple types of Vanilla ice cream depending on where they are sourced: Dom Rep Vanilla, Indonesian Vanilla, Mexican Vanilla, Tahitian Vanilla, and Ugandan Vanilla. Believe it or not, Vanilla can have different undertones depending on where it is from. It is quite the experience 🤤
@@southeastasiandude did ollie suggest this name? OHHH i think I get the joke lol,, he was being silly with the 'with babish' thing lol that was hilarious
You complain about how boring vanilla ice cream is, but that's why it's great. There are so many options to change it. It's a blank canvas that you color with the flavors you desire. That said, my favorite is Kemps simply crafted vanilla (which I thing is more of a regoinal brand).
Not surprised at all when the “criminally smooth” ice cream turned out to B&J. I haven’t ever tried the plain vanilla but the texture immediately reminded me of my all time favourite cherry garcia and being i don’t like chocolate ice cream, i only buy the flavours that use their vanilla as the base.
100% Nestle owns (or owned) HD, too, and the quality dropped precipitously. Not to mention we don't give nestle money in this house if we have a choice.
The crazy thing it that I once had Vanilla ice cream in a tropical country, where they had extemely fresh Vanilla. It was amazing and I've never found anything similar in a western country
😮Mr Edy was my husband’s grandfather. He lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and was a candy maker. He owned candy stores and and a restaurant. Mr Dreyer and Mr Edy became partners. Mr Edy came up with the idea of putting candy in the ice cream. Rock road ice cream and Mint Chip were born! Nestles eventually bought out Dryer’s and Edys .
Of the nondairy ice creams, Oatly repeatedly disappoints. NadaMoo is my current fave because they make rocky road. The avocado brand is super creamy but not always very flavorful (I think this is a natural outcome of the avocado, which kinda mutes everything else).
I thought that too. Was fun trying to guess based on his reaction comments. I knew cardboard = oats! I never choose vanilla either. Skeptical (and curious) about hagen dazs lowish ratings tho!
I feel like Tillamook has gone down hill. Used to be by far my favorite. I will always go for tillamook cheese, but the ice cream hasn’t impressed me in recent years.
It's boring in the sense that it's the one flavour that you will find literally everywhere before any other flavour is available. It's unadventurous. The origins are irrelevant in the face of that ubiquity.
@@siri7005 It's not that ubiquitous if you take into account that most things that are advertised as vanilla contain no actual vanilla and those taste worse, too.
5:00 That school ice cream analogy hits super close to home. I know *exactly* how that tastes, I can practically taste it myself just hearing about it.
"This might get me flamed" Dude. Vanilla has literally become a metaphorical synonym for safe/boring, it's literally the zeitgeistiest thing imaginable to find Vanilla to be plain.
Literally the hottest take of the year. I was like oh boy, do we have a risk taker here 🙄 when he said that. Anyway, going to watch the rest of the vid on ice cream brands that don't exist in my country
I highly recommend tracking down Golden Vanilla ice cream! It's made with buttermilk, so it's extra rich, sweet, and creamy. The only brand I know for it is Purple Cow, a Meijer house brand. Easily my favorite flavor of ice cream.
I was so confused when you loved the 1st Dreyers sample, because every experience I’ve ever had with Dreyers was more like what you described with the 2nd Dreyers sample. Dreyers is to ice cream what Arco is to gas or Little Caesars is to pizza. Sometimes you do get what you pay for. Sometimes low price does mean low quality.
@@vinstinct Better Ingredients. Better Pizza. Papa John's And also every single other pizza place that is not Little Caesar's. Don't get me wrong, it's still pizza, and for the lowest price, it's still worth it. But when I want better pizza and I'm willing to pay more for it... ...I'm also willing to drive to the other side of town for not Little Caesar's.
People who say Vanilla is Plain or Bland is cause they associate artificial vanilla with the real thing, most Vanilla ice creams or anything Vanilla is going to be Artificial because what you said & it’s very expensive.
@@darkartsdabbler2407 cheap ice cream is loaded with a medley of gums that absolutely ruins the texture. it’s sticky, lingers on the palate, and makes the ice cream near inedible. higher quality/price ice cream is one of the only ways to guarantee you aren’t eating garbage
As a Pennsylvanian it gave me warm feelings that Edy's/Dreyers stood out, thats my goto. Not surprised by Turkey Hill. We need this caloric gauntlet one more time for the chocolate guys, cmon babby
Only thing that surprised me about the turkey hill was that it was rock hard and weird texture. For any of their faults, that's not usually one of them.
@@_ac39 True and I'm not opposed to their fvanilla. Their standard vanilla does nothing for me. But if vanilla is the move and I can't get edys fvanilla, whatevers on sale is the play lol
One major advantage of vanilla is that it's very common for big companies that the only flavor they still make using egg yolks is the vanilla flavor. And without egg yolks, ice cream tastes like water
I don't even know why we are having this conversation. Tillamook. Hands down. Then again, I've been to the Tillamook creamery in Oregon and love it! They have both a strawberry and dark cherry to just die for.
100% no competition. Im not usually one to simp for a food brand or be elitist but Tillamook is just so far and above the rest at a similar price point
Strawberry and dark cherry are not vanilla. They do a lot of flavors that are fantastic but their vanilla is kind of mid. Not the worst thing around but nothing to be excited about either.
It’s crazy to think that bryers, talenti, and Ben and Jerry’s are all made in the same factory but have wildly different textures, flavors and pricing!
it still is my favorite, but the milk quality went downhill after Foster Farms bought Humboldt creamery. I don’t think they changed the formula, but they closed down the local processing plant and now they truck it to the central valley and I swear I can taste the difference.
I look forward so much!!! If you ever can stomach ice cream again, it'd be cool to taste test ben and jerry's flavors. As for savory stuff, jarred tomato sauce, different potato chips, or different store bought cookies would be super cool!
Righteous is a phenomenal gelato, I’ve never had the vanilla, so I can’t speak to that, but it’s one of the best ice creams I’ve ever eaten. This is baffling
I have a spreadsheet for Vanilla Ice Cream on my Google Drive. It was the only flavor of ice-cream I could enjoy for about 2 years due to parosmia after Covid smell/flavor loss in April 2021. 90% of stuff is finally back to 'normal', including my love peanut butter, whom I've so dearly missed these last 3 years 😂 As for favorite grocery store vanilla ice-cream, Tillamook Old-fashioned Vanilla is my girlie! Insanely creamy texture and balanced real and artificial vanilla flavor.
I also got parosmia after Covid and vanilla ice cream was a go-to. One of the few things that still tasted normal. Peanut butter was awful, and took forever to return to normal!
So glad most stuff is back to normal for you!! I had anosmia for 6 plus months then it turned into parosmia when I finally started getting my smell and taste back. It's been close to two years now and I still can't eat a lot of things. Meat, particular oils, garlic, and onion are still the big ones for me. But I completely understand what you mean - vanilla (ice cream in particular) had been one of the few things throughout that has stayed exactly how it should be. Caramel as well so I either go for plain vanilla or like salted caramel flavors. I am so grateful for that as I've always loved both.
When I was growing up in Santa Barbara in the 70s, McConnell’s was in the same block as my church, so I’d always stop in for ice cream after choir practice. Even got a tour once in 6th grade. It’s wild to me that it’s this super high end ice cream now because it was just this local thing, and not expensive-maybe 10 cents more per scoop than Baskin Robins.
@@generalnando5722 I checked the website and it was only sold in a handful of CVS pharmacies. Even then, some people say they sell out quickly. UPDATE: Found roughly 4-5 locations in NY, 4 in Manhattan... only one in Brooklyn (place where BWB is recorded per internet results).
I feel much the same about vanilla icecream as I do cheese pizza. What is a company worth if they can't do the basic, the essential, well? Umpqua french vanilla is my favorite, but its a bit of a local specialty. Very dense creamy texture and great flavor.
My appreciation for vanilla has increased as I age. I think it took until my late 40's until I started considering it worthwhile. Our sense of taste changes throughout our lives. I expect that by the time I'm 60 vanilla will be my favourite. My younger self would be ashamed.
This is why people think vanilla is plain. It's because too many vanilla ice creams really don't taste enough like vanilla
Where I live, the basic vanilla ice cream is usually bland, if you don't buy a really expensive tub. When I was a kid, the local store had 3L tubs of vanilla or trio (three separate parts of vanilla, strawberry and chocolate in same tub) from Euroshopper-brand (usually known for really low prices and low quality), but the vanilla was wayyyy better than the domestically produced "high end" vanilla ice cream. The price is not always a guarantee of quality. Most of the viewers know Euroshopper from Finnish energy drink-memes : D
it upsets me far more than it should when people talk about vanilla stuff like it's the "plain" flavor, a blank canvas. Vanilla is fantastic
vanilla is suprisingly expensive
Whatever makes you feel better about being vanilla in bed
Isn't that kind of the point though? Vanilla is meant to be the base for ice cream creation. It's the blank canvas.
For those wondering "No Blue Bell", the company only distributes to 23 states. New York (Where babish lives) does NOT stock it all year round, and when they do they dont get much, it sells quickly. It is likely that it simply wasnt time to stock it where he lives or that it is sold out.
Thank you, I was curious.
He has a company just have it shipped to you from someone in another state!
(Still not an excuse.)
Blue bell isn't that great anyway tbh
@@Frostgiantbutsmall where else are you gonna get that Listeria twang
Vanilla is an incredibly unique plant, it blooms for a mere two months in the tiniest corner of the world. It's basically straight out of a fairy tale, and yet people use it as synonymous for plain. For shame.
I have a newfound appreciation for my favorite flavor now. Thank you, you’ve at least enlightened one.
@@taranovak8399 Great original post and great reply!
Well it comes from north America similar just like chocolate before the discovery of the Americas there was no vanilla or chocolate could you imagine that. Similarly both were taken to Africa to be grown in large quantiles on the European plantations. Africa produces 70% of the world's chocolate(cocoa) and Madagascar specifically produces 80% of the worlds vanilla.
Well because true vanilla is too expensive so most the time vanilla you get in stores are mock vanilla more of a concoction of different things to try and simulate true vanilla kind of like what they do with cinnamon sticks
It’s like saffron in Latin America or the recent truffle oil craze, it’s a super premium ingredient but most people only know it in cheap imitation processed derivatives or substitutes that are artificial AF,
Vanilla Ice Cream is how you separate the greats from the bads.
When you have simple ingredients like vanilla, it must be high-quality, and mixed properly, else it don't taste great. So really, it ain't boring... because it's how you find out which company can actually make ice cream!
exactly its the base line. I explain this so often to my friends as to why i like vanilla.
100% agree. Why B&J's wasn't at the top is baffling to me. I've always held their ice cream in high regards and think it tastes far superior to Edys.
Every Italian will tell you the same: first pizza in a new pizzeria? Go with margherita, and be a harsh judge.
It's the cheese pizza of the ice creams. The baseline. The proving ground for the who's who.
Breyers, it's worth noting, has "Ice Cream" and they also have "Frozen Dairy Dessert," and you can absolutely tell the difference when the stuff can't legally be called ice cream. The texture is just sadness in a tub.
"Imagine a flower: A climbing orchid, to be exact; the one of some twenty thousand varieties that produces something edible. Now imagine that its blooms must be pollinated either by hand or a small variety of Mexican bee, and that each bloom only opens for one day a year. Now imagine the fruit of this orchid, a pod, being picked and cured, sitting in the sun all day, sweating under blankets all night for months until, shrunken and shriveled, it develops a heady, exotic perfume and flavor. Now imagine that this fruit's name is synonymous with dull, boring, and ordinary. How vanilla got this bad rap I for one will never know."
-Alton Brown
I don’t know what it says about you that you had this quote come to mind and actually added it, props.
I also don’t know what it says about me that I was able to read it in Alton Brown’s voice and cadence. 😂
Because you can replicate 90% of the flavor with one chemical you can make pretty easily from petrolium.
👏👏👏
@@putinslittlehacker4793but that 10% makes a difference! They are not the same
Sounds like something Tucker Carlson would say with all the imaginary hypothetical questions.
I feel like people that say vanilla is boring just don't know how to appreciate the simple things in life.
Vanilla isn't actually simple. It's just an over produced products because it's easy to chemically replicate.
@@mr.dirtydan3338 Cause Vanilla is expensive, most Vanilla ice creams use artificial flavor & most people associate it with real vanilla. And even if they use Real Vanilla they use little.
No Blue Bell?
IKR?!
I was literally about to post, "Oh boy, wait until people from Texas watch this and see Blue Bell isn't in the mix..." (No idea if you're from Texas, but I'm married to a Texan and... well, she stans Blue Bell so hard it's absurd. I'm a Vermonter, meanwhile, so it's all Ben and Jerry's, all day, for me.)
@@JeffKelly03i’m also a vermonter, love ben and jerry’s 🙏🏽
This is a crime
@@JeffKelly03you should try the H‑E‑B creamy creations 1905 vanilla. It’s honestly the best
Just remember, before we had Vanilla in any commercially viable sense, we frequently used Rose Water to flavor things. Imagine sampling 25 pints of Rose water ice creams. Vanilla revolutionized desserts not that long ago, and it's one of the most complex flavor compounds there is, yet somehow it is used to describe something as boring.
It's described as boring because it's in tons of desserts, and it's expensive so they tend to skimp on it. It's like comparing regular Hershey's chocolate to a super fancy 90% cacao chocolate that costs $20 per bar.
Rose is a criminally underappreciated flavor though. There's nothin' at all wrong with spices and florals but everyone's palate's just gone sideways on sugar.
I literally LOVE rose flavoring. Especially compared to fake vanilla. We should bring it back....
Rose water ice cream sounds nice
Seven years ago, the bakery I worked for
special ordered Madagascar Vanilla by the gallon and payed over $700 a jug for it. Part of the reason their cakes started at $40 at pop. People can't get enough of them.
the term "french vanilla" come from the method used to make said icecream. It's custard based using eggs. the yellow creamy ice cream. the white icy texture vanilla is conventional vanilla ice cream using just cream.
French vanilla being made with creme Anglaise is the funniest thing imaginable to me.
Thanks, I always wondered what French vanilla meant.
Ish. Most french vanilla today is just yellow food coloring. Tillamook uses eggs and it's not french vanilla.
If anyone didn’t know, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream has so much stuff in it because Ben has anosmia, no sense of smell. So texture is very important. I love chunky ice cream and different flavors, so I go hard for B&J’s
Ben and Jerry's is now owned by Unilever and is not the same.
@@angelwild5665 I haven’t noticed a difference in the quality, unless Unilever took over 14+ years ago
@@angelwild5665 It’s still the same, nothing changed.
Ben & Jerry's is also my favorite brand of Ice Cream. So many interesting, delicious flavors!
its also over 1000cal for a pint of ice cream, but yeah sure keep going hard for BJs😏
It's not boring. It's pure. Pure sweet creaminess.
Vanilla is goated. Babish is way off
No
@@Valuepak🤡
Vanilla is literally the flavor you add to make other flavors taste better. How can that be boring?
💀💀💀Bruh that's sus
Vanilla is actually the best flavor. That's why you put it in almost everything you bake.
I love that half the comments are like "I LOVE vanilla" (I agree), and the other half are "no Blue Bell??"
That must mean something right? Blue Bell homemade vanilla is the best vanilla ice cream for popular brands. And vanilla is the best!
@@TheRichie213 so true!
Tried Blue Bell homemade vanilla for the first time like a month ago and I have tho say, it’s the best ICE CREAM I’ve had. Not just vanilla, all of them!
does this mean we do chocolate now? it’s only right.
also testing different peanut butters could be cool
As someone who absolutely loves peanut butter I agree with that suggestion
. . . Peanut butter ice cream?
@@daemonkalcifer Different brands of peanut butter
Peanut butter!!
@@daemonkalcifer real peanut butters. but as icecream/milkshake flavor it is really great
I'm really surprised the Costco/Kirkland brand Vanilla is not in here. It's probably the best Vanilla Ice Cream I've ever had, and I've had a lot!
I've heard it differs by region because of different suppliers.
@@SmallMediumToebeans the california is definitely a topper, beats out most of the local ice cream parlors i've been to
Costco brand vanilla ice cream is rebranded Humboldt creamery. unfortunately Humboldt creamery was bought out by a larger dairy - I think five or six years ago now - and it definitely changed the quality. I live in Humboldt County in California and the milk processing plant that used to process the dairy for Costco brand vanilla ice cream was shut down - I think it’s in the Central Valley now. I was hoping it wouldn’t change the quality, but I really think it has. that being said, it does still beat other local brands like Tillamook and Umpqua. I was surprised to see Tillamook all the way on the East Coast, and of course, Umpqua was not included… but there vanilla is comparable to Edy’s, imo.
Nope, it's packed with gum. It doesn't melt and the texture is terrible as a result.
Southerners don't realize Blue Bell is not easily accessible up north
Hence why I'm glad they're slowly expanding up towards the north. They recently expanded into St Louis
It's also very mid-tier.
@@CollinOffTheCuff heresy
@@reignrevival2689 there's a reason it's not nation wide
yeah Blue Bell is a 10/10
Ideas for the next of this series:
Jar spaghetti sauces (or alfredo)
Frozen dinners
Cheeses
American beers
I just want to second jarred spaghetti sauce!
And simply because of the jerky comment, beef jerky? Idk but I’ve basically only found really bad ones so I’d love to see what he says about the universally accessible ones in the US.
Vanilla ice cream is the best because its the blank canvas upon which you can create! Add fruits, coffee, nuts, sauces, anything goes.
Consider having an on-demand palate cleanser for this video format
Seconded. I was actually surprised they weren't already doing do.
Whiskey. He mentioned it several times.
Gatorwine
Do you like a heavy steeped kettle of hot tea
Gatorwine definitely. Would love to see it return.
As an Oregonian, Tillamook and Umpqua are two of my favorites. Sad to see Tillamook ranked at 5, but to each their own.
And that they only had one of the three flavors of vanilla Tillamook has.
Umpqua has worse ingredients than Tillamook
@@sto-humanfriendly It really does, and I grew up on Umpqua.
Agreed!
@@jenrosejenrose7417 I grew up on it too, but I guess I just got more nostalgia for it.
How in the world did vanilla, traditionally one of the hardest to get, most expensive, exotic spices in Europe, become synonymous with basic?
Same way salt became cheap and ubiquitous, although once was treasured and expensive.
As a man who likes vanilla ice cream, I prefer fries with no ketchup.
Boo this man
Depends on the fry for me. But I will stand with you.
I prefer anything that isn't ketchup 😅
Forget ketchup. Give me garlic aioli. And sweet potato fries.
Had me with the garlic aioli...Made me abandon ship with the sweet potato fries.
I am so glad they mentioned that Edy's and Dreyers are the same brand I was losing my mind over how everything about the packaging was the same except for the name. Dreyers French Vanilla is my go-to vanilla ice cream always.
Some of Dreyers and breyers are manufactured at the same place as well
@@craigisaacson7630 Incredible. Terrible. Thank you for cursing me with this information.
Me too! Dreyers is the name out here in California ☀️
Häagen-Dazs changed their ice cream up when Dryers (?) bought them. It was dense without air with deep vanilla tones. Now it’s totally airy. I miss the old Dazs. I looking for a new favorite so choose wisely Mr. Babish. My ice cream future is in your hands.
YES! I've been saying this for years but could never find any firm confirmation. What they did to it was a crime. Haagen-Dasz used to be top-tier and is now disappointing. But they still charge premium prices!
Yes, same here! I tasted it immediately when the change happened. Iirc, at the time, they said that the recipe "didn't change", I deduced after that, that they changed the process. Totally not the same! If you're a vanilla purist like I am, Aldi has an AMAZING vanilla at a great price! 5 ingredients!
I honestly don't get this weird Vanilla hate. People talk as if Vanilla is the absence of flavor. Try eating ice'd cream without any vanilla or sugar before you think that.
People say it because vanilla is in everything else. Chocolate is chocolate plus vanilla. Cookies and cream is cookies plus vanilla. Brownies have vanilla. Vanilla is base. I wouldn't want to eat just salt, even though it's fundamental too.
@@brugbo613 That doesn't explain treating like it's a lack of flavor, just that it's the first flavor.
Nobody talks as if vanilla is the absence of flavor. Not one person. Not even Andrew (Babish). He just doesn't like vanilla ice cream, and there's nothing weird about not liking the flavor of something.
@@notahotshot I've heard LOTS of people talk about Vanilla that way. "Why would you take vanilla? Just drink milk at that point!" "I hate vanilla! It doesn't taste like anything!"
A purely dairy ice cream like mackies in the UK is incredible if you love cream and sugar alone which I do. I make my own crude ones usually though using double cream and condensed milk combined and lifted during its cooking periof
Vanilla ice cream is the superior basic ice cream flavor, fight me.
It's the worst flavour and it's even worse if it's American ice cream.
I respect your opinion but I love Vanilla Ice cream with sprinkles.
@@veritorossiSure, Jan. 😂😂😂😒
Vanilla is a flavor that oftens fills the gaps around other flavors.
If you can't at least appreciate a nice vanilla, you don't deserve to appreciate any of the other flavors its in.
@@veritorossithe American hate starting early on this one 🤣
Really happy to see Lactaid score so high as I recently got diagnosed as intolerant (explains my whole life really) but I've been so weirdly nervous (it's the 'tism) about trying alternatives and stuff especially for treats. So maybe I'll give them a try next!
I was reading the comments and laughed so hard when I read yours because I am also autistic and have stomach problems
@@StateofKait At least we are not alone! Happy to provide a guffaw.
This is oddly specific and I completely relate
i LOVE lactaids ice cream. so soft but seriously top tier
La raid is technically still milk so they’re products are generally almost the same as normal milk, but often a little sweeter due to having to replace the lactose with other sugars
my preference for vanilla flavor is French Vanilla.
Tillamook is my go-to brand, but I typically get more 'fun' flavors.
Their mudslide ice cream is top notch!
Marionberry slaps
Home style vanilla Tillamook is by far the superior vanilla ice cream
i love how alvin just took over cooking fun stuff while babish just went unhinged, these have a botched by vibe that i definitively think Andrew shine in (not to say i don't enjoy the normal videos too, im just really happy to see more of this along with it)
Tillamook is my favorite brand, but I prefer their "Old Fashioned Vanilla" flavor to the French Vanilla.
This series has such a great, casual feel to it. I didn't even notice he was facing screen right until he mentioned it. We all are just hanging out in the room and it's incredible.
What’s up with screen right?
@@themaksedquack His wife?
Vanilla is literally something that cannot exist without human intervention. It is the seed pod of an incredibly temperamental orchid plant, and every single flower must be pollinated BY HAND. When people think of something sweet in almost any culture, it is high up there on the list of flavors we think of.
I could see vanilla just not being a flavor you love, but calling it “boring” is based af at this point. Vanilla deserves better tbh
Calling vanilla boring isn’t based. It’s the dumbest take anyone can have. Based means courageous and great, not brain dead.
I think they meant to say biased
That's because we made vanilla's natural pollinators extinct.
That's the opposite of what based means...
Vanilla can and does exist in nature. It is endangered, but it does exist. It just can't be COMMERCIALIZED without human intervention. It can live in its natural habitat just fine without humans and has for millions of years
Babish should come to Troy, NY during the summer. They have an ice cream shop (Moxie's) that makes multiple types of Vanilla ice cream depending on where they are sourced: Dom Rep Vanilla, Indonesian Vanilla, Mexican Vanilla, Tahitian Vanilla, and Ugandan Vanilla. Believe it or not, Vanilla can have different undertones depending on where it is from. It is quite the experience 🤤
That sounds awesome. Wish I lived near there.
Would love to see a ranking of every flavor of Ben and Jerrys Ice Cream! Lots of flavors to sort through there.
I love the name rebrand to ‘ranked with babish’. The thoroughness of these videos is always amazing
Maybe taken from Ollie from JOLLY channel
@@southeastasiandude did ollie suggest this name? OHHH i think I get the joke lol,, he was being silly with the 'with babish' thing lol that was hilarious
It's funny though; I'd generally call eating 24 scoops of ice cream in a day binging.
You complain about how boring vanilla ice cream is, but that's why it's great. There are so many options to change it. It's a blank canvas that you color with the flavors you desire.
That said, my favorite is Kemps simply crafted vanilla (which I thing is more of a regoinal brand).
Not surprised at all when the “criminally smooth” ice cream turned out to B&J.
I haven’t ever tried the plain vanilla but the texture immediately reminded me of my all time favourite cherry garcia and being i don’t like chocolate ice cream, i only buy the flavours that use their vanilla as the base.
cherry garcia gaaaaang
Welp, when's the Chocolate Ice cream episode....
I agree. It's absolutely necessary.
Could you guys do all the grocery store coffee brands?
Edy's association with Nestle being the deciding factor for an automatic fail is correct xD
100%
Nestle owns (or owned) HD, too, and the quality dropped precipitously. Not to mention we don't give nestle money in this house if we have a choice.
It's also just a nasty "frozen dairy dessert" brand... Can't even call their product ice cream
The crazy thing it that I once had Vanilla ice cream in a tropical country, where they had extemely fresh Vanilla.
It was amazing and I've never found anything similar in a western country
Which country?
@@muhammedahmed3291
It was in the Seychelles
Vanilla ice cream I had in costa rica was the best I've ever had, so I'd agree with you there.
Other countries get real food compared to the US, almost everything tastes better abroad
@@rohangondor6250 Yeah, I'm from the Netherlands but nice try, I guess?
😮Mr Edy was my husband’s grandfather. He lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and was a candy maker. He owned candy stores and and a restaurant. Mr Dreyer and Mr Edy became partners. Mr Edy came up with the idea of putting candy in the ice cream. Rock road ice cream and Mint Chip were born! Nestles eventually bought out Dryer’s and Edys .
I totally agree with you on Halo Top; I bought it once, and never again. Didn’t even finish it.
Tillamook is highly underrated
Shhhhhh! I want it for myself!!
Specifically the old fashioned vanilla. It's my fav for sure.
Don’t tell the rest of the country, they’ll all want it.
And so is Trader Joe’s
Agree100%
Did anybody else get an ad for Babish Culinary Universe in the middle of the video and think it was part of the video?
no because anyone sane uses adblockers or pays for yt premium
@@voidlight6006Or uses ReVanced
Vanilla is a great and amazing flavor.
Most Vanilla ice cream has not enough vanilla in it.
Most is artificial because it’s expensive & rare
And despite all those Breyer’s vanilla types, they still managed to miss one! Breyer’s “Extra Creamy Vanilla”
Technically not an ice cream! it's a frozen dairy dessert
I'll take a wild guess and call it...
...4.
He didn't do Breyers French Vanilla either..
The best of the Breyer's ones imo
I recently came across Van Leeuwen ice cream at my local Kroger, and I love the 2 flavors I’ve had so far. Their honeycomb ice cream is addicting
Tilamook has two or three versions of Vanilla. French Vanilla, Old fashioned Vanilla, etc.
When you said cardboard i immediately thought “must be oatly” because i also think the same and am glad im not alone LOL
Of the nondairy ice creams, Oatly repeatedly disappoints.
NadaMoo is my current fave because they make rocky road.
The avocado brand is super creamy but not always very flavorful (I think this is a natural outcome of the avocado, which kinda mutes everything else).
I thought that too. Was fun trying to guess based on his reaction comments. I knew cardboard = oats!
I never choose vanilla either. Skeptical (and curious) about hagen dazs lowish ratings tho!
I taste the cardboard but I like it 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
French fries without ketchup is how I usually have my fries. If ya season them well.
This plus the box brownie episode.... I will become unstoppable
The box brownie episode changed my kid's life, lol! He now bakes brownies on the regular and takes them to school for people there.
Eventually you'll have everything needed to make the ultimate kids part buffet 🎉
Vanilla's my favorite flavor! Thank you for tasting them and sacrificing your calories for them!
Tillamook gang 🐄
I feel like Tillamook has gone down hill. Used to be by far my favorite. I will always go for tillamook cheese, but the ice cream hasn’t impressed me in recent years.
Vanilla is an exotic orchid pod that only grows in a few remote locations. How 'vanilla' became synonymous with boring, I will never comprehend.
It's boring in the sense that it's the one flavour that you will find literally everywhere before any other flavour is available. It's unadventurous. The origins are irrelevant in the face of that ubiquity.
At least credit Alton Brown for the quote lol
People that's just trying to be edgy.
@@siri7005
It's not that ubiquitous if you take into account that most things that are advertised as vanilla contain no actual vanilla and those taste worse, too.
@@nyancat5393 "Disagrees w/ me, therefore, contrarian" wait until you discover other peoples' opinions, you're in for a treat...
5:00 That school ice cream analogy hits super close to home. I know *exactly* how that tastes, I can practically taste it myself just hearing about it.
I wish I did 😂 we got blue bell in schools cus Texas 😂
Shoulda tried Breyers “Natural Vanilla”.. they have like 4-5 different vanillas and natural is def goated
"This might get me flamed"
Dude. Vanilla has literally become a metaphorical synonym for safe/boring,
it's literally the zeitgeistiest thing imaginable to find Vanilla to be plain.
Literally the hottest take of the year. I was like oh boy, do we have a risk taker here 🙄 when he said that. Anyway, going to watch the rest of the vid on ice cream brands that don't exist in my country
I like plain french fries without ketchup!
@@tomhorsley6566 same, just salt, oil, and potato, and nothing else to hide behind.
It's not surprising to consider Vanilla plain.
It *is* a little surprising to not like it, though.
@@tomhorsley6566 depends on the fries. if they're dryish or thin you need something to balance out imo, I actually enjoy em with tartar sauce
Me, lover of vanilla ice cream, french fries with no ketchup, and kisses without mustaches: 👁👄👁
Same but I do like kisses with the ol' upside down moustache down below
My favorite is a midwest brand: Meijers Purple Cow Vanilla
rating tilamook (til-uh-muck btw) 5?!?!?!? i am appalled.
Unreal. I blame the fatigue
I agree with him. Many of their other flavors are fantastic but the vanilla is just ok, nothing special.
I highly recommend tracking down Golden Vanilla ice cream! It's made with buttermilk, so it's extra rich, sweet, and creamy. The only brand I know for it is Purple Cow, a Meijer house brand. Easily my favorite flavor of ice cream.
You didn't do Kirkland Signature, they have ultra premium vanilla!
I was so confused when you loved the 1st Dreyers sample, because every experience I’ve ever had with Dreyers was more like what you described with the 2nd Dreyers sample. Dreyers is to ice cream what Arco is to gas or Little Caesars is to pizza.
Sometimes you do get what you pay for.
Sometimes low price does mean low quality.
Don't you trash talk Little Caesars!
@@vinstinct Better Ingredients.
Better Pizza.
Papa John's
And also every single other pizza place that is not Little Caesar's.
Don't get me wrong, it's still pizza, and for the lowest price, it's still worth it.
But when I want better pizza and I'm willing to pay more for it...
...I'm also willing to drive to the other side of town for not Little Caesar's.
Got a babish ad while watching babish how neat now I know how to make the perfect French omelette
Lol, sameeeee.
People who say Vanilla is Plain or Bland is cause they associate artificial vanilla with the real thing, most Vanilla ice creams or anything Vanilla is going to be Artificial because what you said & it’s very expensive.
I don't like cheap vanilla ice cream, but I do love high quality vanilla ice cream. The difference is night and day.
As we’ve learned here “cheap” isn’t always the main factor
@@darkartsdabbler2407 cheap ice cream is loaded with a medley of gums that absolutely ruins the texture. it’s sticky, lingers on the palate, and makes the ice cream near inedible. higher quality/price ice cream is one of the only ways to guarantee you aren’t eating garbage
Cause cheap vanilla ice cream is fake vanilla expensive uses real vanilla. Of course it taste like night & day.
As a Pennsylvanian it gave me warm feelings that Edy's/Dreyers stood out, thats my goto. Not surprised by Turkey Hill. We need this caloric gauntlet one more time for the chocolate guys, cmon babby
I had no idea that Dreyers was called something else on the east coast. I thought I was going crazy for a second when I saw the different name.
Only thing that surprised me about the turkey hill was that it was rock hard and weird texture. For any of their faults, that's not usually one of them.
@@_ac39 True and I'm not opposed to their fvanilla. Their standard vanilla does nothing for me. But if vanilla is the move and I can't get edys fvanilla, whatevers on sale is the play lol
Try TILLAMOOK!!!
it would be cool to have this same episode but with chocolate ice cream
Mayfield Signature Vanilla is hands down the best store bought ice cream, and one of the best ice creams ever.
As an Oregonian, Tillamook is the best hands down, don't need to watch the video. Also it is pronounced Tilla-muk not moo-k
Is the high school football team still named the Cheesemakers?
One major advantage of vanilla is that it's very common for big companies that the only flavor they still make using egg yolks is the vanilla flavor. And without egg yolks, ice cream tastes like water
Vanilla is the buttered noodles of ice cream
so the most excellent that you will return to again and again?
You say that likes it’s a bad thing.💀 Butter noodles are fire. They’re literally a butter delivery system. Butter makes everything better.
cant wait for the water ranking video
Is it ironic that the vanilla episode has Babish going on the most unhinged rants
Tillamook "Old Fashioned Vanilla" >>>>>>>>>
TILLAMOOOOOOOOK ugh love them
Shhhhh I don't want the price to go up or stock to go down
Is Tillamook even sold outside of the PNW? I have no clue but since they didn't have it I'm guessing distribution is somewhat limited.
@@Jaka515yes!!! I’m from California and loved it. I am living in Boston (only for a few more months 🎉), and they do have it here!!
@@Jaka515 It's sold in Texas in the Gulf Coast so the reach has to be pretty wide.
Controversial companies like Nestlé is beneath Babish... Respect.
Controversial? Try evil.
Plus their ice cream sucks anyways, it’s filled with shortening and artificial flavors
Hate to be the party pooper but Haagen-Dazs is Nestle
@@patton333Häagen-Dazs also isn't all that great with a few exceptions lol.
IMO the only time vanilla icecream is worth it is when it’s ACTUALLY homemade- best thing ever
I don't even know why we are having this conversation. Tillamook. Hands down. Then again, I've been to the Tillamook creamery in Oregon and love it! They have both a strawberry and dark cherry to just die for.
Tillamook huckleberry. Awe yeah
100% no competition. Im not usually one to simp for a food brand or be elitist but Tillamook is just so far and above the rest at a similar price point
tillamook is gross
Strawberry and dark cherry are not vanilla. They do a lot of flavors that are fantastic but their vanilla is kind of mid. Not the worst thing around but nothing to be excited about either.
Where’s my Tillamook Gang?
Tillamook for life!!!!
We out here
Chocolate ice cream next ? Or maybe strawberry or mint chocolate?
I love coffee ice cream when I can get any
It’s crazy to think that bryers, talenti, and Ben and Jerry’s are all made in the same factory but have wildly different textures, flavors and pricing!
Talenti got done dirty in this one.
It's easily my favorite vanilla ice cream.
Kirkland Signature is the absolute best! Costco FTW!
I concur! It is so creamy, almost custardy. Brands from a grocery store now taste over churned with too much air and ice crystals in comparison.
Kirkland clears!
@@flatflo Costco Vanilla ice cream is made by Humboldt Creamery in Northern California.
@@bradzeiglerthanks for that info - from the Humboldt Creamery website, it looks like happy cows supply my favorite treat!
it still is my favorite, but the milk quality went downhill after Foster Farms bought Humboldt creamery. I don’t think they changed the formula, but they closed down the local processing plant and now they truck it to the central valley and I swear I can taste the difference.
I look forward so much!!! If you ever can stomach ice cream again, it'd be cool to taste test ben and jerry's flavors. As for savory stuff, jarred tomato sauce, different potato chips, or different store bought cookies would be super cool!
I have concluded Andrew does not like vanilla ice cream.
Maybe a ranking of all cookie dough icecream would be cool
No
I love the Breyer’s natural vanilla. While it doesn’t have the creamiest texture, I love the vanilla flavor.
“Does that bother you? The viewer” I felt him peering at me and yes, it did bother me. 😂
that Edy’s threw me for a loop never knew Dreyer’s did that😂
Righteous is a phenomenal gelato, I’ve never had the vanilla, so I can’t speak to that, but it’s one of the best ice creams I’ve ever eaten. This is baffling
What I get in Canada has a different color, more beige, definitely not white. It's the only vanilla ice cream I will eat.
I have a spreadsheet for Vanilla Ice Cream on my Google Drive. It was the only flavor of ice-cream I could enjoy for about 2 years due to parosmia after Covid smell/flavor loss in April 2021. 90% of stuff is finally back to 'normal', including my love peanut butter, whom I've so dearly missed these last 3 years 😂 As for favorite grocery store vanilla ice-cream, Tillamook Old-fashioned Vanilla is my girlie! Insanely creamy texture and balanced real and artificial vanilla flavor.
I also got parosmia after Covid and vanilla ice cream was a go-to. One of the few things that still tasted normal. Peanut butter was awful, and took forever to return to normal!
Most depressing thing when I had covid was eating a flavorless PB&J.😢
So glad most stuff is back to normal for you!! I had anosmia for 6 plus months then it turned into parosmia when I finally started getting my smell and taste back. It's been close to two years now and I still can't eat a lot of things. Meat, particular oils, garlic, and onion are still the big ones for me.
But I completely understand what you mean - vanilla (ice cream in particular) had been one of the few things throughout that has stayed exactly how it should be. Caramel as well so I either go for plain vanilla or like salted caramel flavors. I am so grateful for that as I've always loved both.
Well, you absolutely have to do chocolate ice cream now
I would've done this in a heartbeat, there are many subtle differences in vanilla ice cream
When I was growing up in Santa Barbara in the 70s, McConnell’s was in the same block as my church, so I’d always stop in for ice cream after choir practice. Even got a tour once in 6th grade. It’s wild to me that it’s this super high end ice cream now because it was just this local thing, and not expensive-maybe 10 cents more per scoop than Baskin Robins.
For anyone asking about why Blue Bell isn’t on the list, it’s really difficult to find in NYC (where I’m 99% sure they film).
I'm glad somebody in the comments section used common sense.
So they couldn’t try harder to find it?
@@generalnando5722 I checked the website and it was only sold in a handful of CVS pharmacies. Even then, some people say they sell out quickly.
UPDATE: Found roughly 4-5 locations in NY, 4 in Manhattan... only one in Brooklyn (place where BWB is recorded per internet results).
Excuses
Easy hack….Blue Bell supplies ice cream to Outback Steakhouse…that’s how you get it in NY and New England
for the next ranking video, will you rank salsas pretty please?
I feel the sweetness overload just by watching this
I feel much the same about vanilla icecream as I do cheese pizza. What is a company worth if they can't do the basic, the essential, well? Umpqua french vanilla is my favorite, but its a bit of a local specialty. Very dense creamy texture and great flavor.
What's your local? Montana here, and Umpqua is also a fav here. I am glad they switched over to sealed containers over just fit-top lids though.
My appreciation for vanilla has increased as I age. I think it took until my late 40's until I started considering it worthwhile. Our sense of taste changes throughout our lives. I expect that by the time I'm 60 vanilla will be my favourite. My younger self would be ashamed.
I’d love a video of you testing peanut butters!