A quick dispatch from your Axios Portland ice cream correspondent. Photo: Meira Gebel/Axios
Salt & Straw added a new hazelnut cookies and cream flavor to its classic flavor line-up — something the beloved local chain hardly ever does.
The latest: Co-founder and head ice cream maker Tyler Malek said in an Instagram post that he's avoided adding cookies and cream to the menu because it's his favorite.
Competing with the nostalgia of eating it as a kid on the Oregon coast "is really tricky," he noted.
A taste: Because it's Salt & Straw, it's not just straight-forward cookies and cream: coconut cream is spiked with vanilla bourbon, fluffy chocolate sandwich cookies are blended in and hunks of hazelnut butter fudge are found throughout.
Plus: It's vegan!
My thought bubble: While delicious, it's a third cousin at best to traditional cookies and cream. I really enjoyed how the cookies melted into the ice cream and the decadent mouthfuls of fudge. But the strong coconut kind of took me out of it.
Will it be replacing my go-to scoop? Probably not. But it's worth a try.
