Salt & Straw ice cream
Summary
What I really wanted was fresh pistachio gelato.
Like, not even anything of truly outstanding quality. Just fresh, with the right amount of sugar.
Left/above: ice cream sundae (possibly AI), via CreativeFabrica
Did I want anything like this? Something breathtaking? Or visually stunning?
Well…no.
While I’m sure that some food out there taste great and are eye candy, too, I’ve found that from personal experience, this isn’t always the case.
Which is fine, as, personally…
I’d rather eat something that tastes good than looks good. If I can’t have both.
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So yeah. I really just wanted some quality dessert. Just something that, with my personal palate and preferences, would taste good to me.
(Here’s a little intermission, before we proceed. The reason for this is that I was wondering how we appreciate food. So I asked Microsoft’s Copilot to simplify and explain this, as if we’re 10 years old.)
| Sensory profile | How food smells, tastes, feels, and looks |
| Palatability | How yummy and easy it is to eat |
| Gastronomic integrity | How well the ingredients work together |
| Culinary architecture | How the food is built or layered |
| Organoleptic properties | The science-y way to say taste, smell, and texture |
| Flavor dynamics | How the taste changes while you eat |
| Textural contrast | Different textures in one bite |
| Ingredient synergy | How ingredients help each other taste better |
Right/above: vanilla ice cream (possibly AI), via CreativeFabrica
In search of fresh pistachio gelato
I knew I didn’t want anything tinged with this background color (upper left). What I was looking for was pistachio gelato that would have a natural, earthy brown color (lower right).
Another thing I wasn’t looking for was anything with any almond flavor. Because while almond supposedly makes pistachio shine, that flavor combination is just not something I’m fond of.
(Now I have to wonder if some gelato makers actually use almond to hide the flavor of pistachio gelato that is no longer very fresh. 🤔
Of course, that’s just my theory. Gelato makers may have more integrity than that. At least in Italy, idk about the US.)
Anyway, I still couldn’t find a nearby gelateria that served fresh pistachio gelato here in the Southwest. So I was stuck with a few options. And I figured I was open to something else, provided that the quality was good.
Sometimes, we like to try new flavors
Since we’d tried many of the ice cream and gelato (sadly, not many) options in our area, we were on the lookout for something we hadn’t tried before.
Needless to say, I didn’t want to go back to the gelato shop near my sister’s mail store. Because despite having a few hundred 5-star reviews on Google, in my sister (and mine’s) humble opinion, their gelato tasted “mid.” And because it was mid, we deemed it “expensive.“
By that I mean that if the quality of food is good, sometimes it’s OK that it’s a bit on the pricier side.
So as I scoured the internet for nearby frozen dessert places, I spotted Salt & Straw ice cream, at a complex called the uncommons. A place I pass by every time I drive to work.
As I went over their menu, I noticed that Salt & Straw’s ice cream flavors were different, and quite interesting.
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Which immediately had me wondering if their flavors were legit.
Or was it all a gimmick?
Like, you know, gold-covered steaks, or ice cream with cotton candy in them, and other celebratory food that look incredible on Instagram.
Anyway, I checked out the menu looking for pistachio, but didn’t find any.
(Come to think of it, the uncommons likely has food and beverage places that are…surprise—uncommon.)
The GOOD: What I LIKE about Salt & Straw ice cream
I love the whole concept of Salt & Straw ice cream
It’s definitely a plus in my book that the company uses locally sourced ingredients, and popular ones, like their(?) grandma’s famous almond brittle, and Bartlett pears grown in Oregon.
In their About Us page, they also mention using foraged Washington nettles in 1 of their ice cream flavors. Which is really interesting, as I think of stinging nettles when I hear of nettles. Do you think they’re using this exact same variety?
Either way, the makers seem very creative, in that Portland kind of way.
Left/above: Salt & Straw ice cream goat cheese marionberry habanero ice cream
(You can tell that this is my photo and not AI, by how badly I edited it. You’re welcome.)
The habanero ice cream was, in my opinion, fantastic
With the Goat Cheese Marionberry Habanero ice cream, everything blended surprisingly well. The flavors were also balanced in that nothing overpowered another. That is to say, I really enjoyed this flavor.
The ice cream base was a bit tart from the marionberry, something that made me happy. I’ve come to believe that many people simply don’t like or understand a nice, tart flavor. In fact, I’ve had lemon ice cream that could just as well have been called bathroom cleaner ice cream—it didn’t have a drop of sourness in it, and it was awful.
So I liked that this goat cheese marionberry habanero ice cream wasn’t afraid to be a bit tart.
According to Salt & Straw’s page for this flavor, the goat cheese they use is from a company called Cypress Grove, which was started by a “self-proclaimed ‘serious hippie’” in California (I love companies like this).
On the other hand, Chef G said that goat cheese isn’t a flavor he could eat on its own.
While I struggled to put into words the unique taste of goat cheese, I knew Copilot could help me understand that cheese quality that has you thinking…
Right/above: Freeimages.com barn image from user _TekToNik
“Oh yeah, this definitely came from a goat.”
(I had an image of a goat there on the right, but I’ll spare you.)
“Copilot, tell me about that ‘raw’ flavor in goat cheese”
Off the bat, Copilot described this raw flavor as “goaty, earthy or barnyardy,” adding that what separates this “chalky or creamy” cheese from cow’s milk cheese is a “sharp, slightly musky flavor,” as well as its “distinct aroma.”
Furthermore, Copilot added that as goat milk ages, its “flavor intensifies—becoming more pungent, sour, and savory, especially in aged or rind-covered varieties.”
Of course, having come from an Asian country where we eat things like fermented fish, I guess it’s safe to say that I have no issues enjoying goat cheese.
Just the same, I understand that goat cheese won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.
As for the marionberry, at first I felt like it was a strange choice, yet multiple online sources say it’s an Oregon thing (Salt & Straw ice cream originated from Portland, it seems). This berry flavor went well with the goat cheese.
Lastly, I thought the habanero would just mess up the pairing. However, it actually somehow improved it. Strange, but it all kind of works. The flavor actually reminds me of baked brie with jam, or this blue cheese & black pepper macaron my sister used to buy (blue macaron with black dots—I miss it).
Salt & Straw ice cream Double Vanilla was…vanilla
If I’m being completely honest, I’ll say that I’m on the fence about this flavor. And yet, come to think of it, this double vanilla ice cream never promised to be anything other than vanilla ice cream with twice the regular amount of vanilla.
At first, I struggled to understand it. So what I did was that I ate this with store bought “soft vanilla” ice cream from Blue Bunny.
From what I could tell, the Blue Bunny had a very artificial vanilla flavor to it, whereas the Salt & Straw ice cream Double Vanilla tasted more natural, somehow.
The BAD: What I DON’T LIKE about Salt & Straw ice cream
Left/above: Salt & Straw ice cream Double Fold Vanilla ice cream
It’s a tad pricey
We paid around $30 for our 3 x double-scoop ice cream order. So that’s around $5 per scoop. Though it really is quality ice cream, and with a lot of things, we get what we pay for, don’t we?
Nevertheless, we’re likely getting this ice cream only for special occasions.
Right/above: Salt & Straw ice cream’s Hazelnut Cookies & Cream ice cream (which,
according to its page, has a coconut cream base and a “splash of bourbon vanilla”)
The coconut was ‘overpowering’
At least this was Chef G’s opinion, when it came to the Hazelnut Cookies & Cream ice cream.
At first, I thought the coconut flavor in this one tasted just fine. But the second time I tried it, it did seem like the coconut flavor was much stronger than I liked. So this flavor is not something I’d likely order again.
Anyway, I tend to go for fruity flavors. Or nutty flavors in a vanilla or sweet cream base.
I recommend Salt & Straw ice cream
⭐⭐⭐⭐🌠 (4.5/5)
If you’re feeling a bit adventurous and looking into trying something new, I’d definitely recommend Salt & Straw ice cream. Whether you’re just in town visiting or you’re a local, Salt & Straw is worth paying a visit.
It may have taken us a while to try this Oregon-based ice cream, but I’m glad we finally decided to sample their flavors. Because Salt & Straw definitely didn’t disappoint. And we very much look forward to trying their other flavors.
For me, I think the next 3 that I want to try are the Tomato Gelato with Olive Brittle, Arbequina Olive Oil and Pear & Blue Cheese.
Right/Bottom: Salt & Straw Pear & Blue Cheese ice cream
Pear & Blue Cheese ice cream
It was our little missy’s birthday, and we got to try more flavors 😁. Now I wasn’t sure what to expect with the pear and blue cheese ice cream flavor, but I hoped it would be good, of course.
With the first bite, my first thought was…”banana.”
🍌 Yep, like this fruit over here.
While I’m aware that bananas and pears actually taste very different, I guess the strong flavor hit like banana when I first tasted it, especially as I hadn’t eaten anything in a while.
Needless to say, I can’t say this flavor is for me. The bits of blue cheese were very few. I was hoping to taste more of these, but there weren’t a lot of them.
On that note, I look forward to trying other Salt & Straw ice cream flavors.
Have you eaten at Salt & Straw ice cream? What did you think of their flavors?
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