The Worst Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Flavor Is A Divisive Classic

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So many ice cream brands fight for our dessert-time attention these days, but one that's really taken the market by storm is Van Leeuwen. The French-style ice cream brand started up in New York City in 2008, but has grown to sell several colorful pints at the nation's top grocery stores. The brand's most popular flavors are classics like vanilla bean, coffee affogato, and ice cream cake, but it also sells unique concoctions like mango sticky rice. That said, some of its flavors completely miss the mark. According to one of our reviewers, that includes mint chip.

Of the 20 Van Leeuwen flavors our reviewer ranked, mint chip was undoubtedly the worst. She found it less creamy than the other flavors, and it had a chalkiness reminiscent of poorly blended matcha powder. There were also very few chocolate pieces, and the mint flavoring didn't come through until it completely melted on her tongue. Despite its inviting green color, it didn't deliver on that classic refreshing mint taste.

Mint chip is already divisive — some love it, some hate it — but a few online commenters agreed with our reviewer's Van Leeuwen assessment. "It's a subtle mint hint, and I was needing more. I was expecting Shamrock shake levels, but it was more like the level of 10-minute-old chewing gum," one Redditor said. Yet other customers can't get enough. "Van Leeuwen Mint Chip is hands down the best mint chocolate I've ever had," another Redditor posted on r/icecream.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time Van Leeuwen's green-hued flavors disappointed our ice cream aficionados. In a different taste test of 11 mint chocolate chip ice cream brands, Van Leeuwen's version ranked in the second to last spot because of its aforementioned chalkiness. And in a ranking of eight pistachio ice cream brands, Van Leeuwen's Sicilian Pistachio was also dubbed the worst. It seems the issue for that one was the egg yolks. While an integral ingredient for French ice cream, the eggy flavor overpowered the nutty pistachios. Amazon reviewers also said it's entirely too salty and didn't include enough real nuts.

So, if you're a true mint chocolate chip lover, which brands can you rely on to satisfy your ice cream cravings? Our reviewer named Graeter's Mint Chip the best of the group. It's creamy, has pure peppermint oil flavor, and hefty chocolate chunk pieces. It's a Cincinnati-born ice cream brand, but can be found in select grocery stores across the country.