Little Baby’s – Ranch
One of the Top 5 Worst Flavors
Ah, yes. Little Baby’s Ice Cream. The ice cream shop of Philedelphia whose creative bounds truely know no limits. From rhubarb fenugreek to pumpkin curry to balsamic banana and beyond, there are is an almost unheard of amount of flavors that have never been tasted or even imagined before. That’s why I was super stoked to find this place and see what kinds of crazy creations they came up with.
Before I get into the flavor, I feel that is is important to note my tasting process. I generally go into an ice cream shop, tell them about my life’s quest to try amazing ice creams, and then usually ask for a recommendation or two based on popular opinion or unusual flavors that catch my eye. And for all the craziness that appeared on the board, the one that caught my eye above all others was at the very bottom- Ranch. So needless to say, I just had to try it.
Ranch Flavor Profile
For those of you hoping that Ranch is like a clever euphamism of pony tracks or some sort of rustic country flavor, I’m afraid to disappoint. It’s nothing more than the dressing whose name illicits ideas of salads or specialty potato chips.
Truthfully, in ice cream form it’s pretty disgusting. I mean, very few people (and by people I mean madmen) will eat ranch (the dressing) by itself without any vegetable or food to go with it. And the few people (madmen) that do, are absolutely batshit crazy to begin with, so clearly we can’t trust their opinion.
Ranch is an acceptable condiment for a vegetable platter, on a salad, or if you’re feeling wild, on french fries/pizza. But in all those instances, the ranch is just accenting something else. Here, there is nothing to accent. It’s just… ranch. So you get the sharp, bitter, astringent flavoring that comes, and there really isn’t much of a calming cream element to it for balance and posterity purposes. And in the end it’s just… terrible.
To me, eating this is reminiscent of those school days where there was one weird kid who really liked a condiment, and would put that stuff on everything. And after a while some other kids notice and bet the weird kid that he can’t drink and entire cup of said condiment, and then the kid would do it, and in unison, everyone would yell, “ewwwww.” And even though there was no crowd to witness this, internally, I could hear the “ewwwww” crying out in my head, as my conscience scolded me for even attempting this ice cream.
One important thing to note, and perhaps you picked up on, was how there isn’t a picture of this ice cream in either a cup or a cone. And there are two reasons for that. First and foremost, I didn’t get a full scoop of the ice cream. *Gasp! I know. And some of you may think I’m not qualified to judge this flavor since I didn’t suffer through a full scoop. But after the sizable samples I ate (yes, I had a second sample just to make sure), I believe I’ve experienced this flavor in full. As for the second reason? That one’s a little bit simpler. The photo I took initially didn’t turn out well. It’s all blurry because my phone focused on the background instead of the sample spoon. Arg! My terrible photography skills strike again! For that I apologize.
Ranch Conclusion
It’s not good. Plain and simple. Also, I’m not sure who I respect more at the moment. Little Baby’s for trying something so gosh darn crazy, or me for mustering the willpower to try something so gosh darn crazy. I know that I always say there’s a time an a place for every flavor, and that still holds true. It’s just that the time and place for this flavor is either at a condiment convention, or while serving it to your enemies at a peace summit to show them how batshit crazy your are before negotiations.
