Right before National Ice Cream Month officially commenced, we discovered the existence of a totally new type of non-dairy dessert. Cado is a vegan ice cream brand that, unlike many non-dairy ice creams, makes its base with something other than nuts. As the name suggests, this ice cream is actually made with avocados. Since avocados and non-dairy ice cream are both absurdly trendy, we were immediately enticed by Cado, and we set out to taste test the three flavors that are currently available: Deep Dark Chocolate, Simply Lemon, and Mint Chocolate Chip.
When we first stuck our spoons into a pint of Cado, it became immediately apparent that this is the creamiest non-dairy ice cream we've ever tried. Meghan Dowd, one of Cado's three co-founders recently told Refinery29 via email that the creaminess of avocados is one of the main features that drew her and her partners to try making ice cream with the fruit. Once we saw the ice cream IRL, we realized she was right. Running our spoons against the surface of the Deep Dark Chocolate was almost like scooping frosting from a can. Even the Simply Lemon doesn't have the icy quality you often find in sorbets. All three flavors had the thick and rich texture of soft serve, which could either be thanks to the avocados or the guar gum that show ups on the ingredient list. Either way, we give the ice cream's consistency a thumbs up.
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As for taste, however, we weren't sold across the board. Though none of the flavors tasted anything like avocado — even our resident avocado hater, who was extremely skeptical, signed off on that sentiment — none of them were spot on ice cream equivalents. Our favorite flavor actually turned out to be Simply Lemon, which was surprising and since we tend to think ice cream is far superior to sorbet. However, Simply Lemon possessed a nice balance of tart and sweet, and on this hot July day, we found it quite refreshing.
Our second favorite was the Mint Chocolate Chip, which was nice and minty. We liked the size of the small chocolate chips that were sprinkled throughout but thought there could have been more added into the mix. The Deep Dark Chocolate was our least favorite of Cado's three flavors. Though it was rich and smooth, important qualities in chocolate ice cream, it had a slightly sour aftertaste. We actually tasted that same odd tang in the other two flavors but it was most prominent in the Deep Dark Chocolate.
Though the flavors weren't exact matches for our favorite dairy versions, the fact that Cado managed to created a non-dairy ice cream that creamy is a huge accomplishment. It's also one of the only vegan ice creams that's safe for those with nut allergies to eat, which is another major breakthrough. According to Dowd, Cado is working on four brand new flavors — Cherry Amaretto, Java Chip, Vanilla, and Salted Caramel — so expanding its portfolio could lead to even tastier ice cream. And, the fact that we're more than willing to taste the new flavors once they're released says a lot.
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