Not too long ago, I had my first affogato. My friend Jamiesen introduced me to it, and my life has never been the same since.
It seems so obvious—espresso and ice cream, it’s the perfect combination! And yet, I had gone 26 years of my life walking this earth without ever trying one. After devouring just one of those delicious treats, I have not been able to stop thinking about one thing: coffee and ice cream.
Everyone loves coffee, right? Or I suppose it’s safe to assume most people enjoy it (sorry to those who don’t; there’s nothing for you here). Most people also love ice cream (again, sorry to those who don’t). These two things combined create a beautiful marriage of flavor and comfort.
I recently had the pleasure of trying this combo in a flavor made by Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams––an artisan ice cream company based in Ohio. I ordered the flavor primarily because I love both coffee and ice cream to death, but also because the ice cream was made with Intelligentsia coffee beans steeped in cream.
Intelligentsia makes some of my favorite coffee. This seemed like a no-brainer at 10pm on a Sunday night, and so, I ordered a pint of the stuff to be delivered directly to my front door. It’s a beautiful day and age we live in.
The “tub” arrived, and I immediately dug into it. I had no idea what majesty I was in for as the aroma of coffee danced across my nostrils. My mouth watered at the smell, and I couldn’t wait to plunge my spoon into the smooth surface of the tub.
The first bite was incredible—waves of cream, sugar, and warm-roasted coffee. At times, I forgot I was eating ice cream altogether. Jeni’s ice creams are amazingly light and soft; it’s some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had, combined with some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. I’m very particular when it comes to the hardness and consistency of my ice cream; if it isn’t as soft as a cloud, and as smooth as whipped cream, I’m not interested!
This scratched all my itches at once. The coffee helped make it all somehow feel more adult, and you forget you’re pushing 30 and spending money you don’t have on pints of ice cream delivered to your door. Anyway, it’s all worth it. I can’t recommend it enough for when you’re looking for a nice treat that covers a wide range of flavors.
If you don’t have a place to buy Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams near you, you can luckily order the stuff directly from their website, which is pretty amazing. I highly recommend you do so, and check out their other flavors while you’re at it! I can’t say enough good things about their ice creams. I want to bathe in it!
The Couch Bandits 