Break out your spoons: Pure frozen goodness, Blue Bell Ice Cream’s homemade vanilla, Dutch chocolate and Cookies 'n Cream will soon be back in our lives. The three fan favorites will be among the first flavors to hit Houston grocery markets when the Brenham-based company begins distributing its products on August 31.
The creamery, still reeling from a 2014 listeria meltdown at all three of its facilities (located in Brenham, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and Sylacauga, Alabama) and the mass recall of its products that followed, is back up and running, but at its Alabama plant only.
Our fingers are crossed for good ol' freezer standbys: Mint chocolate chip, buttered pecan, rocky road or chocolate chip cookie dough.
Thus, the company’s first output since last April will be limited both in variety and in distribution (products will be distributed in five phases to 15 states with Houston, Brenham, Austin, and Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama first in line).
This week, the company has been milking the release of its flavor lineup, rolling out just one per day via its Instagram account with a fourth and final favorite lick to be announced tomorrow.
And while we’ll enthusiastically take any taste of Blue Bell we can get, the list thus far isn’t surprising. As CultureMap reported, an Alabama health department official told Dallas station WFAA that the only flavors officials tested in a truck were homemade vanilla and Dutch chocolate, the company’s best selling flavors. Cookies 'n Cream is the third most popular scoop.
Thursday's unannounced flavor, however, has us playing the guessing game. An informal polling of the CultureMap staff concludes that we're a crew of Blue Bell Ice Cream fanatics.
Our fingers are crossed for good ol' freezer standbys: Mint chocolate chip, buttered pecan, rocky road or chocolate chip cookie dough. Or how about something sexier like strawberry cheesecake, peaches & homemade vanilla, caramel turtle fudge or birthday cake (it's straight-up legit with pieces of chocolate cake, plus chocolate icing swirl and multi-colored sprinkles)?
Here’s to your favorite, and our many, returning to shelves soon.
UPDATE August 27: Drumroll, please. We would have never guessed it — the fourth and final Blue Bell Ice Cream flavor to hit shelves on August 31 will be... The Great Divide (half homemade vanilla and half Dutch chocolate).
The Great Divide is the fourth and final flavor to hit shelves on August 31.
Antonio Gianola is the new co-owner of Houston Wine Merchant. Courtesy of Houston Wine Merchant