Acme Valley Strawberry Ice Cream: This ice cream was available for free through a promotion at PCC, a PNW co-op that's kind of like a more expensive Whole Foods with local produce and products. I don't generally shop there but thought I'd take advantage of the free pint. Acme is a Washington-based company that advertises its ice cream as Full Strength with "one-of-a-kind rich taffy-like texture." Unfortunately, it isn't like Turkish ice cream, which is what I thought it looked like from the photograph on the label, but it... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Amausaan uji Matcha Matcha Ice Cream: Green-tea-flavored soft serve from Japanese sweets stand Amausaan uji Matcha in the Richmond district of SF (they also have a location in Berkeley). At $5, this large portion comes in a waffle cone and is topped with matcha powder. Most of the bitter matcha flavor comes from the powder, but the ice cream is creamy and smooth; the cone is standard in both flavor and texture. I enjoyed it overall, but sampling it at the Berkeley location the next day, I found the ice cream to be too sweet, ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Ample Hills Creamery Lemon ginger sorbet and Snap, Mallow, Pop ice cream: Family friendly ice cream shop Ample Hills Creamery is probably as Brooklyn as an ice cream store can get. The flavors are completely made in-house, hand-drawn illustrations act as signage, and flavors like “gooey gooey butter cake” and “Nonna d’s oatmeal lace” hearken back to an extremely classic American childhood that I can only imagine those that had cookie jars in their kitchens may have experienced. AKA this is a very white-person ice cream shop (not to denigrate - just stating the f... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Awan Coffee Chocolate Chip Ice Cream: Awan is a vegan ice cream shop with a small "window" in West Hollywood where you can take scoops / pints to go. I'm not normally one to get coffee or chocolate ice cream, but after sampling a few flavors, the coffee chocolate chip was the clear winner to me. The texture is remarkably smooth and creamy for vegan ice cream, and the coffee flavor was toasty and rich, with chips of chocolate chip that had a quality snap in texture. Kiddie size was perfect even for sharing. 4.0/5.0
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Azabu Sabo Matcha Ice Cream: Azabu Sabo is an ice cream stand located in Akihabara station that offers a variety of classic flavors as well as several green tea options. I ordered their stronger matcha flavor, which had a solid balanced bitter green tea flavor. The texture of the icy was fluffy, which was pretty surprising, but you could also taste the sugar crystals so it wasn't entirely smooth. Overall, not bad but not one of the better options in Tokyo. 3.0/5.0
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Bang Bang Ice Cream Avocado and Matcha ice cream: Redolent of butter and baked goods, Bang Bang Ice Cream is a small shop specializing in ice cream sandwiches and waffle cones all made in house. I was lucky enough to experience Bang Bang without having to wait in line, a rarity I'm told. I ordered one scoop, without a cookie or cone, combining two flavors: avocado and matcha. Both were excellent, with a distinct creaminess without being heavy or dense. Having had a lot of matcha ice cream, I was especially appreciative of the deep, rich her... (read more) 4.5/5.0
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