Simply Ice Cream - I Scream for Ice Cream!

If someone asks you if you want to try ice cream in one of the hottest weeks of the year, there isn't much decision making to be made.  Not for me anyway because I'm somewhat of a sucker for ice cream.

Simply Ice Cream got in touch with me to see if I would be interested in reviewing some of their natural ice cream.  I loved the sound of their flavours (I'll get to those in a bit) and how all of their ice creams are made by hand in small batches using only simple, natural and local ingredients.  Obviously I said, "yes please!" and then waited excitedly for my delivery to arrive as instead of asking for specific flavours (or ALL of them...), I asked them to surprise me so had no idea what was coming.
Fast forward a week and six little pots of ice cream arrive.  It was another hot day so thought it would be wise to try them all immediately to cool myself off...

Good quality ice cream made with real cream will be rich, creamy and smooth - it will probably feel like it's coating the inside of your mouth a little and you will be able to still taste the flavour once you've finished a spoonful.  For the sake of not repeating myself for the rest of the post, I have to say that all six flavours I tried were like this.  I've had a lot of ice cream in my time but can honestly say that these were quite possibly the richest, smoothest and creamiest ice creams I've ever had.  No one's twisting my arm to say this, honest!  They were that good!

So on to the flavours...

Honeycomb - honeycomb flavoured ice cream dotted with chunks of homemade honeycomb pieces.  I found the flavour of the honeycomb to be quite strong and very sweet.  You would not need too big a serving to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Coffee and Kentish cobnut fudge - I was pretty excited about this flavour as you don't often see cobnuts anywhere, never mind ice cream and Kent (where Simply Ice Cream are based) is well known for cobnuts!  I do love the smell of coffee but have never been a fan of the actual flavour however this ice cream somehow tasted of everything I love about the coffee aroma.  My only disappointment was that the cobnuts weren't obvious at all, either flavour or pieces.

Dreamy vanilla - not much to say about this except it was indeed dreamy!  I've never tasted anything with such an intense and creamy vanilla flavour and can see it sitting atop a piece of apple pie, fresh from the oven.

Raspberry - if I hadn't have known what flavour this was, I would have immediately known from the first taste.  It actually tasted like fresh raspberries and the tartness cut through the creaminess really well - so refreshing!

Lemon curd - I don't know if it is but the lemon curd flavour felt even more creamy and rich than the others which is possible a good thing because it was wonderfully tart and zingy so the creaminess balanced this out.

Christmas pudding - I was really excited to try this flavour because I was curious how ice cream could taste like Christmas.  Well, if it's made with sherry, rum-soaked raisins and spices (basically everything you would get in a Christmas pud!) then a spoonful will get you feeling festive even if it is in the middle of the summer.  Absolutely delicious!

On their website, Simply Ice Cream explain that they believe that simple, natural food tastes best.  I think they've pretty much nailed it!  They started selling from a local farm shop and luckily for us who don't live in Kent, their ice cream is now available across nearly 400 outlets across the south of England including Waitrose so I highly recommend you check to see where your nearest shop is so you can try some too!

Have you tried Simply Ice Cream before?  What is your favourite flavour (I can't decide what flavour to try next!)

*Thank you to Simply Ice Cream for getting in touch and sending me this ice cream to sample.  As always, this review is open, honest and entirely my own opinions!