Toscanini's Grapefruit Sorbet: I paid a visit to this Cambridge favorite on my visit back to MIT and purchased a mini-scoop of grapefruit sorbet. The portion was generous, and the ice cream had a fantastically smooth texture. A great palate cleanser and very fresh – acidic and slightly bitter, though it did have that slight metallic taste you sometimes get even with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. Despite the cold, the shop was as popular as ever, and it felt good to be back. 4.0/5.0
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Revival Ice Cream Pear sorbet: Ultra-creative yet accessible homemade ice cream from a James-Beard nominated pastry chef. Based in Monterey, Revival has about a dozen seasonal flavors, the most popular of which is one called the Beesknees, an ice cream studded with bits of honeycomb, broken into small enough pieces to add texture (both crunchy and soft). It's sweet but also has a slightly burnt flavor that's just a touch bitter to balance it out. I had their pear sorbet, which combines pear with celery juice. This is not ... (read more) 4.5/5.0
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Lush Gelato Mango Sorbet and Ricotta Lemon Zest Gelato: Located in the back of The Epicurious Garden in Berkeley, this Lush Gelato location has a rainbow assortment of sorbets and gelatos made with ingredients proudly sourced from local farms. (This all sounds very befitting for a spot in the Gourmet Ghetto, I know.) I sampled the Vietnamese cinnamon (which tasted like Cinnamon Toast Crunch) before deciding on their mango sorbet and ricotta lemon zest. For all three flavors, I found them to be overly sweet for my taste, and while the texture w... (read more) 2.5/5.0
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Mashti Malone Cucumber Sorbet: After getting a scoop from Saffron & Rose, my sister and I stopped by Mashti Malone to compare. Half of Mashti Malone has regular American ice cream, while the other has more interesting Persian options. The difference in quality between S&R and Mashti is immediately noticeable, though, even before tasting. While the cucumber sorbet I tasted had an interesting savory vegetable flavor, it was more of an italian ice than a sorbet, with a very icy texture. When it comes to Turkish flavors, ... (read more) 2.0/5.0
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Ici Coconut passion fruit sorbet: Ici is an ice cream shop in Berkeley started by a former Chez Panisse pasty chef. Its menu consists of elevated classics made with quality ingredients. The coconut passion fruit sorbet I ordered had a vibrant orange hue and was more tart than sweet, with an acidic passion fruit flavor and smooth coconut finish. The balance was slightly off, as it was more sharp than I personally prefer, but the most disappointing part was the texture, which was varied and mostly too icy. The homemade cone, t... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Morgenstern's Tour Pine'Our soft serve: One of my favorite chefs, Paul Liebrandt, recently collaborated with the LES ice cream shop Morgenstern's and introduced a series of special soft serve flavors over the course of a month. I sampled the last one, a swirl of strawberry hibiscus sorbet and sunchoke ice cream. The texture of the soft serve was excellent, and I especially loved the sharpness of the sorbet. The sunchoke ice cream was fine, but more of a neutral base for the sorbet. The entire dessert was topped with toasted hazel... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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