Last week I was in the freezer aisle at my local grocery store replenishing my ever-present stock of Blue Bell ice cream. A fellow shopper next to me was also purchasing an ice cream novelty, but – get this – it was generic store brand. Being the BB junkie that I am, I immediately passed judgement. How could he do such a thing? Doesn’t he KNOW?! Well, then it hit me that maybe he didn’t know about the wondrous frozen gift that hails from Texas. Maybe his grandmother didn’t keep Peaches and Homemade Vanilla in her freezer. Maybe he hasn’t seen the giant billboards or commercials. So then I stepped down from my throne of judgement and decided to bring Denver up to speed.
There’s a billboard near Colorado and I-25 featuring a half-gallon tub of The Double B and the text reads “What memories taste like.” For me, that’s the truth. One scoop of Homemade Vanilla and I’m sitting at my grandmother’s kitchen table on a 100 degree, 100% humidity Louisiana summer afternoon. But regardless of your familiarity with the stuff, Blue Bell just tastes old school. It tastes so purely homemade that I wonder if that creamery is just full of ninety year old grandmas, turning cranks on barrels filled with cream and sugar.
Texans turned Coloradans are rejoicing (I may have met one in the ice cream aisle while we were both squealing like three-year-olds), and odds are there’s some other transplants to the 303 that are totally stoked. But folks like Generic Grocery Guy and his acquaintances need to hop to King Soopers, Walgreens, or Sunflower Market and try the stuff for themselves. No freezer in Colorado is complete without that gold-rimmed, half-gallon bucket.
Besides, we owe it to Blue Bell. As if bringing their product to Colorado wasn’t enough, they even made us our own flavor.
Rocky Mountain Road has a rich dark chocolate base and is mixed with chocolate-covered peanuts, pecans, and almonds. To top it off, our own Colorado flavor is sprinkled with roasted walnuts and swirled with marshmallow creme. With a flavor that intricate and special, the least we can do is grab a spoon and give it a whirl.
Classics to try:
Homemade Vanilla
Homemade Vanilla and Strawberries
The Original Cookies ‘N Cream