Nice Cream, an ice cream shop located in the Clarendon neighborhood Arlington, creates ice cream a little differently than your average scoop shop. The made-to-order ice cream is handcrafted and frozen with liquid nitrogen in individual mixers behind the counter. They source fresh and local ingredients to create natural flavors that alternate weekly. At The Highlander, we tried the Ice Cream Sampler ($15.99), which comes with six mini versions of their flavors and allowed us to sample six out of this week’s seven flavors.
Cold Brew Coffee: 3.5 /5
As a coffee lover, I had high hopes for this flavor. The taste certainly delivered a punchy, palatable taste of coffee, but the texture fell through. It failed to meet Nice Cream’s standard and beloved creamy, smooth texture, and instead felt kind of icy. The flavor was light and balanced, but the texture ruined the full experience of this ice cream for me.
Salted Caramel: 3/5
This ice cream flavor was very mediocre. The caramel taste was almost too subtle, and lacked the delightful salty note that truly makes a full caramel flavor. While the texture was very smooth, I had to really look for the caramel flavor. This flavor fell flat to the standard full-bodied flavor of caramel, and you can find a better salted caramel ice cream elsewhere.
Matcha Green Tea: 4.6 /5
Delightful! The matcha flavor was very developed and carried its taste beautifully through the rich creaminess of the ice cream. When I first looked at it, I had doubts about the fullness of the flavor due to its very light green color. However, this flavor fulfilled all of my expectations and more and I would definitely order the full size of it whenever it comes back into Nice Cream’s weekly rotation. This was my favorite one out of the whole ice cream flight.
Campfire S’mores: 2/5
Nice Cream, what happened… This flavor was definitely not giving “Campfire S’mores.” Yes, the chocolate flavor was beautiful and rich and creamy, but gave no indication to its name. There were no graham crackers, and I personally find those to make up a third of the three staples of a s’more: graham cracker, chocolate, and marshmallow. They also failed on the other two, with probably four marshmallows in the entire cup, which were tiny, hard and blah. As for the chocolate, it was ok. I expected more from this flavor because I love s’mores, and this was tragically underwhelming.
French Toast: 3.7/ 5
This flavor was definitely unique. It reminded me more of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal than the french toast breakfast classic, but was nonetheless good. The cinnamon flavor paired delightfully with the vanilla base. The one thing I would comment on is the crunchy cereal-type cinnamon topping incorporated into the ice cream. The crunch was kind of weird and got a little soggy as I neared the bottom of the cup. While this flavor didn’t exactly epitomize french toast, it was a pleasant sweet treat.
Nutella: 4.3/5
There is no way you can go wrong with the classic chocolate and hazelnut pairing, and this flavor certainly delivered. The creaminess was unmatched by the other flavors, and each bite delighted my taste buds. The Nutella flavor was prominent and melded perfectly with the thick richness of the ice cream. If you are a Nutella lover, this flavor will not disappoint.
Nice Cream is definitely more heavily-priced than other local ice cream shops around the area, but the ambiance is welcoming and the flavors are always unique. The shop is fun and cute, and happily invites customers in with its teal walls, clean environment, and bright lighting. While the nitrogen doesn’t make Nice Cream’s texture any more extraordinary than regular ice cream, the rotational flavors and friendly staff make this little ice cream shop a joint worth stopping by.
