Six weeks. 32 flavors. One winner. That’s the Turkey Hill Ultimate Flavor Tournament and it’s about to begin. Starting today, we’re pitting 32 of our best ice cream flavors against each other to determine which one has what it takes to take home the title of the “Ultimate Flavor.” Last year, Vanilla Bean was crowned the winner. Who will win it all this year? The power to decide rests with you!
Here’s how it works: Each week will feature a different series of match-ups, all voted on by you (see the polls on the right). We’ll start with 32 flavors (the “Thrilling 32”) and narrow the field down every week until one flavor, as determined by your votes, is crowned the champion. Of course, there will also be prizes. At the end of the tournament, we’ll give away a free one month supply of ice cream to 10 commenters chosen at random and one lucky reader will receive a ONE YEAR supply of ice cream.
To help make sense of it all, each Monday here on the Ice Cream Journal Ernie will be offering expert analysis of predictions for each match-up. Starting right now!
THE DUETTO MATCH-UP – Mango Duetto vs. Root Beer Duetto
“An exotic tropical flavor versus an all-American classic? This is what the Ultimate Flavor Tournament is all about. I see a win for Mango here, but it won’t be as easy after this round.”
THE DUETTO MATCH-UP (PART 2) – Cherry Duetto vs. Raspberry Duetto
“Two fruit flavors, but only one winner. That’s too bad, because both are great. This could go either way, the but traditional Cherry might have the edge here.”
THE LIGHT MATCH-UP – Light Recipe Extreme Cookies ‘n Cream vs. Light Recipe Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
“I’m an Extreme Cookies ‘n Cream fanatic. Everyone knows that. But up against Cookie Dough? That’s a tough one. Alright, I’ll go with the Cookies. Is anyone surprised by that?”
THE LIGHT MATCH-UP (PART 2) – Light Recipe Moose Tracks vs. Light Recipe Strawberry Cheesecake
“These Light Recipe flavors are a force to be reckoned with and these are two full-flavored heavyweights. I’m going out on a limb here and picking Cheesecake to upset the very popular Moose Tracks.”
THE LIGHT MATCH-UP (PART 3) – Light Recipe Banana Split vs. Light Recipe Skinny Minty
“The Light Recipe line is so robust, we had to add a third match up this year. This one features two lesser known flavors, but they’ve got a lot of heart and potential in this tournament. Who will win? It’s just too close to call.”
THE SPORTS MATCH-UP – Eagles Touchdown Sundae vs. Phillies Graham Slam
“Play ball! Yeah, that’s more of a baseball phrase, but both of these Philly flavors are going to put on a great show in this round. The Eagles scored a late touchdown to win this match-up last year, but I predict the Phillies’ World Championship will propel Graham Slam to a win this time around.”
THE PINT-SIZED STUFF’D MATCH-UP – Tastykake Peanut Butter Kandy Kake vs. Snyder’s of Hanover Chocolate Pretzel
“Good things come in small packages. If you don’t believe me, check out our Stuff’d line-up. Here’s two of our finest pint-sized treats going head-to-head, but only one will win. I’m going with Kandy Kake here, but I have a feeling Chocolate Pretzel will prove me wrong.”
THE DYNAMIC DUOS MATCH-UP – Caramel Cone Chaos vs. CocoNutz!
“This is a new flavor category for Turkey Hill and some might say the Duos line-up has an unfair advantage because they’re actually two ice cream flavors in one package, but I don’t think that’s the case. They’re rookies in this tournament and they’ll have to pay their dues. As for these two, CocoNutz! has an explanation point in its name, so you know it’s playing to win.”
THE YOGURT VS. SHERBET MATCH-UP – Orange Cream Swirl Frozen Yogurt vs. Fruit Rainbow Sherbet
“These are the only two non-ice cream flavors in the tournament and it’ll be interesting to see how far the winner of this match-up makes it. But I think there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in this match-up. Look for sherbet to win and potentially beat a few ice cream competitors in this tournament.”
THE LIMITED EDITION MATCH-UP – Gertrude Hawk Box of Chocolates (January) vs. Coconut Cream Pie (February)
“If you were lucky enough to try both of these flavors when they were out earlier this year (or still have some in your freezer), you know that this is a tough match-up. I’ve tried them both, and I still can’t predict a winner here.”
THE LIMITED EDITION MATCH-UP (PART 2) – Junior Mint (March) vs. Fried Ice Cream (April)
“Here are two more Limited Edition flavors and they couldn’t be more different. One’s a minty candy favorite and the other is a sweet Latin treat guaranteed to end any meal on a good note. I’m rooting for Fried Ice Cream here, but Mint might have enough power to emerge with a win in this one.”
THE PREMIUM MATCH-UP – Vanilla Bean vs. Cookies ‘n Cream
“Now we’re getting to the power players in this tournament. Last year Vanilla Bean won it all and I expect it to go far again this year. Sorry Cookies ‘n Cream, you’re not going to make it past the first round.”
THE PREMIUM MATCH-UP (PART 2) – Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup vs. Butter Pecan
“CPBC finished second in last year’s tournament, right behind Vanilla Bean. Look for another run at the title from this strong contender, which mean Butter Pecan will be defeated easily in this match-up.”
THE PREMIUM MATCH-UP (PART 3) – Dutch Chocolate vs. Party Cake
“This is an odd match-up. A traditional favorite like Chocolate against a wacky newcomer on the ice cream flavor scene. Party Cake has a lot of followers, which is rare for such a new flavor, but I don’t think it’ll be enough to take down this classic.”
THE HOLIDAY FLAVORS MATCH-UP – Egg Nog vs. Peppermint Stick
“Christmas has come and gone, but these flavors are so great, we had to include them in the this year’s tournament. I’d be happy to find either one in my stocking, which is why I can’t really choose a winner here. Okay fine, Egg Nog by a reindeer’s whisker!”
THE ALL NATURAL MATCH-UP – All Natural Mint Chocolate Chip vs. All Natural Coffee
“Sales of our All Natural line-up benefit the Lancaster Farmland Trust, and you can’t argue with that. As for which of these two charitable treats will win in the first round, I have to go with Mint Chocolate Chip.”
Someone here on the Turkey Hill Team – who shall remain anonymous to avoid further playful taunting by co-workers – has elected to give up ice cream for the annual 40 day and 40 night marathon of temptation known as 
If you’ve got a technical question about the ice cream making process or some other inquiry about the nuances of America’s favorite treat, chances are Ernie has the answer. He might not be able to answer all questions, but he’ll try his best and some may be featured on the Ice Cream Journal.
COMMENTS (AND BIRD DROPPINGS)
Friday, March 27th, 2009In the two-and-a-half years that the Ice Cream Journal has been around, we’ve received almost 20,000 comments from our readers. That’s a lot of comments. You may wonder if it’s even possible for us to read all of those comments, but we do. In fact, many of us in the Turkey Hill offices read the comments and take great delight in hearing from so many fellow ice cream fans. We giggle at some of the funnier ones and pass around some of the most inspirational ones.
We’ll probably comb through those 20,000 comments at some point soon and compile our all time 10 favorite comments. That won’t be easy at all! Speaking of comments, here’s one that was left on our recent entry about seagulls who steal ice cream cones. It has to be one of the funniest comments ever left on the Ice Cream Journal!
MEGHAN S. WRITES:
I must admit, my first reaction was to laugh. Laugh at the man’s horrified expression at the audacity of the birds…but then I had to stifle my giggles and think how I would feel if that happened to me. Truth be told, I did have a similar experience. And this is a little graphic, and a little gross but please don’t judge because it is just a tribute to how much I love my ice cream.
To set the scene, I am sitting on a picnic table bench in the hot August sun at my family’s usual vacation place at the beach. My Dad just treated us all to ice cream for an after lunch treat and I was first in line and first to sit because my family knows my love for ice cream. As I am just about to take my first bite, a white and brown swirled liquid drops from the sky and land in my ice cream bowl. Yes, it was bird poop. I was horrified!! And you may be horrified by this…I scooped the bird poop out of my ice cream, and a small layer underneath and threw it away, then got a new spoon and ate the rest of the ice cream! I wasn’t going to let my ice cream go to waste!!
Now THAT’S a love of ice cream! We’re not sure how many people would have made such a difficult decision, but we applaud Meghan’s quick thinking. (A poll around the office reveals only a few who would have done the same thing.) Thank you for your very entertaining comment, Meghan. And thank you to everyone who leaves comments here on the Ice Cream Journal!
Tags: bird poop, comments, ice cream, seagulls, turkey hill
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