Blue Bell is a Freezer Pleaser
Louisville Courier-Journal
Friday, August 31, 2007
By: Marty Rosen cjdining@gmail.com
When the Blue Bell billboards started showing up last spring, I pretty much ignored them. "Just another mass-produced supermarket ice cream with a big advertising budget," I figured.
During the early summer, I stuck to my usual ice cream protocol, a mix of soft-serve and super-premium brands.
Then, one fateful afternoon, I plucked a half-gallon of Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate from the freezer case at a local Kroger.
For the record, I have not given up my ration of Graeter's black raspberry chip. Nor have I stopped picking up the occasional Brown Derby at my local soft-serve stand, the Dairy Kastle on Eastern Parkway.
But for the last couple of months, my freezer has been constantly stocked with Blue Bell Dutch chocolate.
I was bowled over from the first. It's not a super-premium ice cream. The fat content is around 11 percent to 13 percent, rather than the 16 percent to 18 percent found in super-premium brands (which is not to imply it has any place in a weight-reduction plan).
But it has an old-fashioned flavor and texture that takes me back to the days when there was no such thing as a super-premium ice cream, back to the days when my brothers and I would compete to see who could make their bowl of ice cream last the longest.
This is ice cream that rewards a bit of patience. It melts in glorious chocolate rivulets that feel wonderful on the tongue.
After quite a bit of field research, I got curious about the Blue Bell Creamery of Brenham, Texas.
It turns out 2007 marks the firm's 100th anniversary.
And it turns out that although Blue Bell is only available in 17 states, it's the third largest selling ice cream in the country. The folks at Blue Bell control every aspect of production and distribution— even to the point of shipping the ice cream in their own trucks and doing their own stocking of shelves to ensure the ice cream is properly handled at every juncture.
That Dutch chocolate? The chocolate is imported from Holland. If you want a light version, the company's Web site touts a double Dutch chocolate (half the fat, 20 percent to 40 percent fewer calories) that I haven't yet seen on my supermarket shelf.
Although I've mostly stuck with the regular Dutch chocolate, I can offer a high praise for the butter pecan as well.
You can find Blue Bell Ice Cream at a number of major supermarkets in the area, including Kroger, Wal-Mart and Doll's Supermarket.