Stacy Conradt
The Quick 10: The Untimely Deaths of 10 Ben & Jerry’s Flavors
by Stacy Conradt - October 7, 2008 - 2:36 PM

10

As promised, today’s list is Ben & Jerry’s flavors that have kicked the bucket. Maybe for good reason… but I’d sure be intrigued to try them. Kind of like Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.

black and tan1. Black & Tan. Chocolate & cream stout ice creams topped with a cream stout ice cream head. This guy was not even two years old – he lasted from March 2006-December 2007. There’s a helpful review at NotMike.com, where the picture comes from.

2. Capecodder. I can’t find a single reference to what was actually in the Capecodder. I feel like it was maybe chocolate-covered lobster bits and cranberries. I know there are some Ben & Jerry’s people that perused the site a while ago – if you’re still reading, give us a hint!

3. Chips ‘n’ Dip. This one was listed along with some other dubious flavors (pepperoni pizza with anchovy swirl?!) during a 2006 call for new flavor ideas from the general public.

4. Economic Crunch, which we could probably use right about now. It was vanilla ice cream with chocolate-covered almonds, pecans and walnuts. It was created in response to the tanking stock market in 1987. Hmm. Feels like history is repeating itself. Anyway, following the development of Economic Crunch and it’s sister, That’s Life (apple pie flavor), Ben & Jerry’s sent their free scoop vehicle to Wall Street to try to soothe the panicked stockbrokers with a little sugar.

5. Jalapeno Lime Ice. ‘Nuff said.

6. Tennessee Mud. I’d be all over this one, since it combines two of my favorite beverages: coffee and Jack Daniels. The base is coffee ice cream, mixed with Amaretto, JD, and roasted slivered almonds. Yum. Alas, I’m apparently alone in thinking it sounds good – it lasted only a year, from 1988 to 1989.

pbj7. Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich also sounds pretty delicious to me – peanut butter ice cream with peanut butter chips and a swirl of strawberry jam. One scoop of that and one scoop of Chips ‘n’ Dip, and you’ve got lunch!

8. Concession Obsession sounds really wonderful, but I think I feel diabetes coming on just reading about it: vanilla bean ice cream with nonpareils, fudge-covered crisped rice candy (like Nestle’s Crunch, I’m assuming), peanuts dipped in fudge and a caramel candy swirl. So good.

9. Bloody Mary Sorbet. From the sounds of it, this one never made it out of development, but it was in the running to become an actual flavor at one point.

doughnuts10. Duff & D’oh!Nuts was part of The Simpsons Movie publicity blitz last year. It was chocolate and cream stout ice cream with chunks of glazed chocolate doughnuts. It was only available at the premiere of the movie in Springfield, Vermont, and in Scoop Shops the night before the DVD release.

If you liked this post, be sure to check out Jason English’s “Discontinued Ben & Jerry’s Flavor or Band I Found on MySpace” quiz. I think I only gave one of them away… good luck!

« Previous Post   -   Next Post »
Click here to get a Risk-Free issue of mental_floss magazine
Comments (29)

  1. Tennessee Mud had a distinct after taste of JD. I don’t drink and didn’t like the alcohol taste. I like coffee ice cream and was disappointed. I only bought it once.

    posted by gus on 10-7-2008 at 2:44 pm

  2. I believe Black and Tan was removed due to a group, of the same name, involved in the IRA.

    posted by gus on 10-7-2008 at 2:46 pm

  3. The Black & Tan was really tasty. I just wish they focused more on the tan than the black. (The chocolate portion tended to overpower the stout flavor.)

    posted by erak on 10-7-2008 at 2:48 pm

  4. My favorite was Festivus, which was released around the ‘holiday’ a few years ago.

    posted by Taylor on 10-7-2008 at 2:59 pm

  5. Isn’t a real capecodder cranberry juice and vodka?

    posted by beth on 10-7-2008 at 3:12 pm

  6. Anybody remember Totally Nuts? Had Dilbert characters on the carton – awesome stuff. I miss it.

    posted by Roger on 10-7-2008 at 3:24 pm

  7. A Moment of silence please for Cool Britannia: Sweet cream ice cream with strawberry swirls and chunks of chocolate covered short bread.

    Also Aztec Harvest Coffee – the best straight up coffee ice cream ever to hit the market.

    And who can ever forget . . .

    Wavy Gravy with that decadant hazelnut fudge swirl.

    I actually don’t eat Ben and Jerry’s anymore for fear of losing another beloved flavor.

    posted by EMStoveken on 10-7-2008 at 3:53 pm

  8. Two words: Phish Food.

    posted by Johnny Cat on 10-7-2008 at 4:01 pm

  9. I remember Totally Nuts, and its fruity counterpart, Doonesberry Sorbet. It was great stuff. I miss that, too.

    posted by emily on 10-7-2008 at 4:01 pm

  10. The Black & Tan was really good, but Ben & Jerry’s excels at chunky flavors. And there was nothing to dig up in the black nor the tan.

    posted by MF on 10-7-2008 at 4:10 pm

  11. Ice cream with chunks of glazed chocolate doughnuts?!? Mama needs her Ben and Jerrys!!!

    posted by GTT on 10-7-2008 at 4:11 pm

  12. Black & Tan was awesome!

    posted by norby on 10-7-2008 at 4:35 pm

  13. I went to the link referenced in the other posting on Graveyards and was surprised to find Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz (or, Coffee Squared, Buzz Cubed- as I like to say).

    This used to be one of my favorites for true coffee flavor/expresso chunks, but it got really watered-down the last few times.

    And here’s the oddest thing to me, I only started buying it at the local B & J since 2006 (according to the Graveyard, it lived from 1996-1999.

    Maybe I’ve been getting a bad knock off, or maybe they just stopped putting it in the pint. In any case, I’ve moved on to Edy’s Expresso Chip – less $ and just as good as CCBBB used to be.

    posted by Anonymous on 10-7-2008 at 4:42 pm

  14. Black and Tan was great! My wife and I made some of the black part on our home ice cream maker with Guiness. It’s amazingly good…except I decided to get daring and make a Guiness float with it…bad idea…it tasted horrible!

    posted by Marty on 10-7-2008 at 4:44 pm

  15. Black and Tan was great! My wife and I made the black part with Guinness on our homemade ice cream maker. It was really good, but I decided to be daring and make a Guinness float…horrible idea.

    posted by marty on 10-7-2008 at 4:46 pm

  16. I still miss Rainforest Crunch. Charitable, nutty and delicious. And they sold the “crunch” part separately in tins, and it was wonderful.

    And re: Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz, my favorite flavor, it’s still available — just not in pints. You have to go to a scoop shop for it.

    posted by M on 10-7-2008 at 4:59 pm

  17. gus: The Black and Tans weren’t part of the IRA, they were on the other side– British soldiers who killed a bunch of Irish civilians during… one of those bloodbaths. I can never remember if it was the one in the 1910s (nineteen-teens?) or in the 1980s(?). Heck, I can’t even remember if I got the decades right.

    Which is why black and tans are called “half and half” in Ireland, and you should never, ever order a B&T.

    posted by Panthea on 10-7-2008 at 6:01 pm

  18. Sigh… the closest scoop shop to me is 111 miles away…

    posted by Jason! on 10-7-2008 at 6:18 pm

  19. How come no one mentioned Chubby Hubby? Oh my goodness, pretzels and peanut butter and ice cream.

    posted by Scott on 10-7-2008 at 6:18 pm

  20. M,

    You’re correct… our scoop shop carries it as well, just not as good as it once was.

    I am also miffed that (at least in my local shop) B & J no longer offers the free cone on your B-day. It used to be really a great treat at the former B J location, they’d give *3* healthy scoops in a big waffle cone (maybe that’s why they closed! :-))

    posted by Anonymous on 10-7-2008 at 6:36 pm

  21. yeah, I don’t eat a lot of ice cream, but Chubby Hubby is my favorite! I wish they sold it in the smaller sizes though. I haven’t had any of the flavors mentioned, and I really wish i could have tried the D’oh! one…

    posted by m on 10-7-2008 at 6:36 pm

  22. I know this one isn’t discontinued…yet…and I hope it never is, but I looove Stephen Colbert’s Americone dream! Vanilla ice cream with fudge covered waffle cone pieces and caramel swirl…by far the best ice cream I’ve ever had in my mouth! I may quit B & J’s if they ever discontinue this one…

    posted by Shannon on 10-7-2008 at 9:03 pm

  23. At the factory in Waterbury, Vermont you can visit the Flavor Graveyard and mourn and pay tribute to your favorite lost flavors. I’m not sure if all discontinued flavors are given a headstone since I haven’t been in awhile, but I’m planning on visiting when I’m home this weekend so I’ll find out.

    posted by Kate on 10-7-2008 at 9:47 pm

  24. yes, a cape codder should be cranberry and vodka…..usually ordered at the bar as a vodka cranberry…

    posted by brian on 10-8-2008 at 5:41 am

  25. I tried the Black & Tan and although it was enjoyable I never had the urge to get it again.

    I remember having the PB & J when I was in high school. I loved it and was disappointed because I never saw it again. They should bring it back…so good.

    posted by fertanie on 10-8-2008 at 10:29 am

  26. Actually, it’s called a “Cape Cod” (unless that’s just how we say it in the midwest.)

    Anyway, my FAVORITE was Magic Brownie! It was vanilla ice cream, brownie bits, and rasberry swirled in. They made an “encore” version that wasn’t as good with raspberry ice cream.

    posted by jplanet on 10-8-2008 at 11:38 am

  27. Thank you Johnnycat!!!!!!!

    posted by jabryel on 10-8-2008 at 2:36 pm

  28. Please people, there’s no excuse for dumbness now that the internet has all the answers: the ‘Black and Tans’ were a Government auxilliary security force operating in pre-independence Ireland, so called because of their make-do combination of police and army uniforms (eg. black tunics, tan trousers, or vice versa). They are an uncomfortable part of the history of Anglo-Irish relations, and, whatever your position on that period, have NO BUSINESS BEING AN ICE-CREAM FLAVOUR. An early Google search would have avoided that unfortunate naming decision, and been less CRASSLY INSENSITIVE to all concerned.

    posted by Alex on 4-28-2011 at 6:32 pm

  29. Why so sensitive to the name ‘Black & Tan’? It’s a popular beer and is mere coincidence that it has multiple meanings! From some of the comments on here, you’d have thought they made an ice cream named ‘Ni**er’.

    Also, a Cape Codder is vodka, cranberry juice, and a lime wedge. Without the lime, it is just a ‘vodka cranberry’.

    posted by Tyler on 7-10-2011 at 1:16 am

Comment

commenting policy