We Tried Ben & Jerry's New Speculoos, Peanut Butter, and Mocha Flavors

Ben & Jerry's Spectacular Speculoos, Boom Chocolatta, and Peanut Buttah Core flavors
Kristin Hunt
Kristin Hunt

The cookie butter cheesecake was just the beginning. Ben & Jerry's announced today the release of three new Cookie Core flavors: Peanut Buttah, Boom Chocolatta, and Spectacular Speculoos -- the world's first known cookie butter ice cream. Obviously we had to try these pints for ourselves, and Ben & Jerry's was gracious enough to stop by our office with samples of each ice cream. Will the Spectacular Speculoos mark a new peak in the basic food pyramid? Read our takes to find out:

Ben & Jerry's Spectacular Speculoos ice cream
Kristin Hunt

Spectacular Speculoos

Yes, that is a river of cookie butter, and it is life-affirming. Ben & Jerry's wasn't taking any chances on this Speculoos-inspired pint. On top of that legit swath of cookie butter, there's a nice, subtle cookie crunch throughout the dark caramel and vanilla ice creams that ensures every bite is packed with cinnamon and nutmeg bliss. This is your new Chubby Hubby if you're a Speculoos nut -- just don't give into your natural impulse to spoon out the cookie butter straight. Pace yourself and mix it into the ice cream. It'll make for a more pleasant experience, and this way, your tongue won't instantly stick to the roof of your mouth.

Ben & Jerry's Peanut Buttah Core ice cream
Kristin Hunt

Peanut Buttah

You might think it's cool to skip this Cookie Core, since Ben & Jerry's has certainly done peanut butter before. But you'd be a worthless idiot to do that, because this might be the best PB pint on the market. Seriously. What Peanut Buttah gets right that a lot of peanut butter ice creams get wrong is that it's not unbearably rich. Though there's a ton of PB in this thing -- peanut butter ice cream, peanut butter sugar bits, peanut butter cookies, peanut butter cookie core -- the ice cream balances it out just enough so you can blaze through three helpings without hating yourself... immediately. We recommend it just a little melty, but really, you can't mess this one up.

Ben & Jerry's Boom Chocolatta ice cream
Kristin Hunt

Boom Chocolatta

There's a lot going on in this third Cookie Core offering. Whereas the other two had a clear, set theme (cookie butter, peanut butter), this guy is rocking a blend of mocha, caramel, fudge, and general chocolate flavors. Scooping the chocolate cookie core after dealing with those butter bases made us feel a little like grizzled miners, and we had to spend a minute developing the proper mixing strategy, but once we sorted all that out, we were left with what's essentially an ice cream version of a blended Starbucks drink. Only way crunchier. So if you've always wanted more cookies in your Frappuccino, you're in luck.

(Also, fair warning: there's a 65% chance "Boom Shakalaka" will get stuck in your head while you eat this pint.)
 

The Verdict

It might seem crazy to release new ice creams in January, but we can see why Ben & Jerry's couldn't wait with these flavors. The guys deserve props for releasing a Speculoos pint that's actually tasty, and not just a smart take on the trend, and we are forever in their debt for this new Peanut Buttah. The Boom Chocolatta doesn't quite stack up to the other two, but we won't hold that against it, because that duo is seriously something else, and also Boom Chocolatta is still pretty tasty. All three ice creams are on shelves now, so you can test them out yourself -- once you're safely back indoors under a blanket, pretending this is totally normal winter behavior.

Kristin Hunt is a Food/Drink staff writer for Thrillist, and almost cried when she tasted the Peanut Buttah. Follow her to ice cream in January at @kristin_hunt.