Carmen's Best Ice Cream

After seeing the interview of Paco Magsaysay (yes, our late president's grandson) on Cocktails and listening to what he has to say about the product, I was convinced that I needed to buy it, pronto! And the horror to swearing by my word was paying the price of Php370.00 (Now costs P445.00!!!) for a pint of ice cream. I was screaming on the inside as I handed my newly received salary. The question is, is it worth it? Let me put it this way, if I'm filthy rich as identified under a Class A/B market, earning loads of cash, then it is...but the fact that I earn a sorry amount of pay every fifteen days, then it's obviously beyond a reasonable expense for my budget. The price reminded me of Haagen Dazs (it's actually more expensive than Haagen Dazs and Ben and Jerry's!!!), an unnecessary commodity but worth a try, and a rare reward to one's self. The next time you want to indulge in it, it should not come out of your pocket. 

Handwritten labels means there's not a lot, and has human touch.

The ice cream is so compact and rich that there's no air space.

Here's what the packaging claims:

"If this is your first taste of Carmen's Best, you may wonder why our ice cream only comes in small tubs. Well, like the finest artisinal ice cream, it is homemade, the old-fashioned way, in small quantities.

We use only 100% fresh cow's milk and cream that's brought over daily, at dawn, from the family's dairy farm in Bay, Laguna. The amount of ice cream that we make depends on the amount of fresh milk that we get. From the fresh milk, we extract the cream that rises to the top, and that is what gives Carmen's Best that incredibly smooth, silky texture.

We source the rest of our ingredients from all over the world: Horlicks malted milk from England, chocolates from Switzerland, rum from Jamaica, the finest vanilla beans from exotic Madagascar, and Turron de Jijona from Spain.

Quality means taking no shortcuts, and getting no substitutes for the finest ingredients. Very simply, that is the secret of Carmen's Best."

It's also sticky and melts into thick cream, not watery at all.

And since I've said my bitter sentiments, I can now compliment the product because I'm kind this way.  Besides, it is good, and if you don't think of the price it's really really good. The ice cream is so thick that it borders close to the consistency of a gelato, except that it's still ice cream, less the air, which also happens to be our commercialized ice creams' number one ingredient. The artisinal thing that they're claiming is made obvious by the consistency and quality of its taste. It's smooth like silk on the tongue that slowly coils and envelopes it with the right amount of flavor. 

It was mentioned by Paco in the interview that the reason why he started the business in the first place was because he had access to raw ingredients from his father's dairy farm. Jun said that they have forty milking cows out of two-hundred, and thus to reduce the excess products Paco came up with the solution. He claimed he got most of his recipes online and in cookbooks, but the flavors being produced are his personal preference. There was one question the two men avoided to answer when Cita Revilla asked about the calorie content of the product...which would mean that mentioning the calories is not a concern for the product because the point is making a real rich ice cream. So I posted the Nutrition Facts because I'm feeling kind today.

And who is Carmen if the person behind the product is a guy named Paco? She's his daughter. He said in
defense that he knew the market for ice cream is women, thus naming it after a girl makes for a better  appeal. He made his point...but the ice cream is still expensive. Tears.

To conclude this article, let me write it in a statement that best describe how I truly feel:

"It's really good, one the best ice creams I've tried thus far, but it's also expensive." 

No, you're not getting away without a price.

They now have cup sizes that costs about Php100.00-Php125.00 each

Demand have gone up, so have their prices and flavors. No more hand-written labels.

Let me go through the few flavors that I've tried:

Salted Caramel: It's compact caramel flavor with a slight salt aftertaste. It's clean on the tongue that I can eat a whole pint in one sitting.

He's Not Worth It!: Will make you wonder if any man ever is. It's a combination of what you need after a heartache...or if you just deserve a reward for causing one. It has a chocolate base ice cream, mixed in with brownie chucks, almond bits, and a drizzle of caramel. 

Cereal Milk: Disappointed me a bit because I was expecting a cornflakes-milk aftertaste, but this one is more of a rice crispy cereal that's soaked in some almond milk mixed with some low fat milk and then combined with heaps of roasted whole almonds. The flavor is light and a bit grainy, which what some people like for breakfast. 

Honey: This did not meet my expectation. Merry Moo's Honeycomb gelato is better than this. Why? Because of a more intense honey taste. This was a little to light for me in terms of it's supposed flavor. You need to have an extra sensitive pallet for this one. If you light a real light flavor though, this should be perfect for you.

Cheese: Oh-mhay-ghad! Those queso de bola chucks in there were huge that I was puckering my face the whole time I had to go through the cup. I really love the base ice cream that they made for the cheese flavor, but those bits made it a less pleasurable experience.

Brazilian Coffee: This, I truly love with passion and I declare it a winner for coffee lovers. The intensity of the coffee is as intense as your crush on Brazilian men. It's strong, and you can really taste the aroma of the coffee come through despite it being in an ice cream form. It has been well blended with milk and cream that as a whole, it is something worth splurging on for a time or two.

They have several key outlets throughout the metro that can be found on their FB page.
And I'm glad I have one close by. I bought mine over at: 

ECHOStore Serendra
Ground Floor, Serendra Piazza, McKinley Parkway,
BGC Fort, Taguig

But with the popularity of the brand soaring, they have a lot more outlets now including Rustan's Supermarket.