Lucy Knight embarked on a mammoth taste test of 99 unusual ice cream flavours available in Britain this summer, ranking them from the unbeatable to the unlickable. The winner was Bears' brown butter popcorn, scoring 10/10 for taste and 9/10 for originality, while the loser was Paxo sage and onion stuffing from Anya Hindmarch's Ice Cream Project, scoring just 1/10 for taste.
The Worst of the Worst
At the bottom of the list, Paxo sage and onion stuffing ice cream from Anya Hindmarch's Ice Cream Project was described as tasting exactly like stuffing, which Knight did not want from an ice cream. Other low scorers included Oppo's high protein chocolate brownie, called a disgraceful, claggy excuse for ice cream, and Cadbury's Crunchie, which was sickly sweet with a weird, foamy texture.
Anya Hindmarch's Ice Cream Project, a yearly summer fixture, featured several flavours that scored poorly, including Jacob's Mini Cheddars, Green Giant sweetcorn, and Tunnock's caramel wafers, all scoring 1/10 for value despite their designer prices.
Mid-Range Surprises
Some flavours offered pleasant surprises despite their unusual nature. Aunt Bessie's yorkshire pudding from Anya Hindmarch tasted more like pancakes with syrup but scored 7/10 for taste. Marmite on toast from Big Kid was described as bizarre but somehow not terrible, scoring 5/10 for taste and 10/10 for originality.
Kikkoman soy sauce from Anya Hindmarch was loved for its salty first spoonful but became overwhelming with more, scoring 5/10 for taste. Brown bread from Simply Ice Cream scored 8/10 for taste, praised for its balance of unusual flavour and creaminess.
The Top Contenders
In the top ten, Knight highlighted several standout flavours. Not fried chicken from Life Raft, an ice cream shaped like a chicken drumstick with a chocolate pretzel bone, scored 9/10 for taste and 10/10 for originality. Jude's flat white coffee scored 8/10 for its strong espresso flavour, and Chocolate Guinness cake from Jude's was described as delicious and rich.
Clingy Wrap's toasted rice, pineapple jam mezcal, and peach mascarpone flavours scored 7/10 for taste and 9/10 for originality, with the toasted rice having an almost cereal milk flavour. Araw's Kalamansi gochujang sorbet scored 7/10 for taste and 10/10 for originality, called zingy and fresh.
The Winner: Brown Butter Popcorn
The top spot went to Bears' brown butter popcorn, scoring a perfect 10/10 for taste and 9/10 for originality. Knight described it as a perfect balance of savoury, sweet, rich, and creamy, right on the edge of being too salty, and vowed to track it down again.
Bears also impressed with miso banana butterscotch and cinnamon sponge, Bramley apple jazz, cream cheese frosting flavours, both scoring 9/10 for taste and 9/10 for originality. Knight said she would be putting everyone she knows on to Bears ice cream, based in Kent.
Value and Originality
Throughout the taste test, Knight evaluated each ice cream on taste, value, and originality. Many of the highest-scoring flavours came from independent companies like Bears, Clingy Wrap, and Simply Ice Cream, while supermarket own-brands like Asda and Waitrose offered good value options like raspberry pavlova (2.67 for 900ml) and peach melba (3.50 for 480ml).
Anya Hindmarch's Ice Cream Project flavours consistently scored low on value due to their high prices (16 for 500ml), but often scored high on originality. The project's flavours included Capri-Sun orange, Müller Corner strawberry, and Yazoo chocolate milk, all scoring 5/10 for taste and 7/10 for originality.
