Ice cream flavors show personality (2024)

Are you gregarious, colorful and a risk-taker? Could you be considered a fiscally conservative, logical perfectionist? Do people see you as dramatic and enthusiastic? Or maybe you are just plain perfect.

How do you know?

These and other traits were revealed in a study of ice cream preferences sponsored by Dreyer's and Edy's Grand Ice Cream Inc. It was conducted by Chicago's Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation founder and neurological director Dr. Alan Hirsch.

Once it was complete, the folks at Dreyer's found some of the study's results too negative for their purpose (to sell ice cream, of course) so they "put a spin on it," according to Dreyer's spokeswoman Jill Kasser. "We are in the ice cream business to make people happy."

While Hirsch is not critical of how Dreyer's presents the results, he stands by the study's scientific validity, noting that his full report is "more complete."

I found Hirsch's study at netscrap.com. You will likely get a chuckle or two from the following excerpts. And that is the whole idea.

One more thing … despite what the study says about column writers, strawberries and cream is not my favorite ice cream. That would be Ben & Jerry's Coffee, Coffee Buzz, Buzz, Buzz and almost anyone's Moose Tracks, especially if the peanut butter/chocolate chunks are embedded in coffee ice cream. (But I wouldn't turn down chocolate or vanilla.)

Here are excerpts paraphrased from Hirsch's study:

Vanilla: Unless you are one or are close to one, you may think vanilla ice cream lovers are unexciting, predictable and introverted. But Hirsch's study characterizes them as colorful, at times impulsive, risk-taking, gregarious and enjoying a full and hectic schedule. They are expressive and easily suggestible. They enjoy close relationships even though they may be private about their own lives. Vanilla lovers set high goals and expectations for themselves and others.

Vanilla lover's perfect partner is another vanilla lover.

Double chocolate chunk: Double chocolate chunk eaters are lively, dramatic, charming, enthusiastic, flirtatious and like to be the center of attention. They are easily influenced by others, overly trusting and tend to follow rather than lead. They play hunches rather than relying on logic, are easily absorbed into romantic fantasy, love novelty and become bored easily with routine.

Double chocolate chunk eaters are well-matched with butter pecan ice cream eaters.

Banana cream pie ice cream: If banana cream pie is your favorite ice cream flavor, according to Hirsch, you are well-adjusted, easy going and empathetic. Your prototype is the perfect husband, wife, parent or child.

Banana cream pie ice cream lovers are compatible with fans of all other flavors.

Chocolate chip ice cream: Generous, visionary, competitive and ambitious describe Hirsch's findings regarding those who favor chocolate chip ice cream. They are charming in social situations and enjoy being catered to. Their prototype is Donald Trump.

Chocolate chip ice cream lovers should look for partners among butter pecan ice cream lovers.

Butter pecan ice cream: If butter pecan is your favorite ice cream flavor, you may be a perfectionist and a procrastinator. You are also detail-oriented, careful, devoted to work, morally ethical, fiscally conservative, intelligent, competitive and self-critical. You may have difficulty expressing your true feelings for fear of hurting someone else.

"Butter pecan eaters should stick to their own kind," says Hirsch.

Strawberries and cream: If your favorite ice cream flavor is strawberries and cream, says Hirsch, you are likely introverted, feel inadequate or overwhelmed with life's stresses, easily made to feel guilty, frequently irritable and cranky, pessimistic, have low self-esteem and tend to view the glass as half empty. Prototypes include Andy Rooney, column writers (yikes!) and receptionists at the complaints departments of retail stores.

This is by far the most negative of Hirsch's findings. No wonder Dreyer's put its own spin on the results: "Shy, yet emotionally robust, skeptical, detail-oriented, opinionated, introverted and self-critical."

Strawberries and cream eaters should look for partners among chocolate chip ice cream eaters.

Another Web site, , adds a few more flavors. It cites no studies, but maybe you will find your favorite flavor.

Rocky road: If this is your favorite, you are likely an aristocratic charmer and have an affinity for the finer things in life. You are outgoing, pleasant and open in social settings. You are easily hurt by slight negative comments and respond better to encouragement and motivation rather than to criticism and judgment.

On the other hand, The Date Report at wtop.com, asks, "Did anyone ever call you bossy when you were growing up? Well, chances are, if you like this flavor of ice cream, you still are. Not only are you bossy, but people usually listen to you and you're used to getting what you want."

Find your ideal partner among other Rocky Road fans.

Chocolate chip cookie dough: "This chunky, creamy deliciousness is reserved for indulgent party-animals," according to Date Report. "You do what you want to do – even if it interferes with work. Your philosophy is 'why not?'"

Coffee: An affinity for coffee ice cream reveals a bubbly personality, according to hubpages.com While lively and bouncy, coffee ice cream fans may also be dramatic and flirtatious. They tend to overcommit and abandon projects before they are finished.

A coffee ice cream lover's ideal partner would be a strawberry ice cream fan.

Mint chocolate chip: Mint chocolate chip lovers are survivalists. They prepare for the future, finding security in a solid realistic plan. They are mostly truthful, trusting, loyal and dependable, which gives them a long-lasting bond with family and friends. They can be stubborn in relationships, but enjoy close family ties.

Pistachio: Pistachio lovers are highly individualistic and get straight to the point. If you are in this group, you take pride in being different, distinctive and exclusive and have a fondness for the exotic. You are loved by many, but you can be intolerant and not favor change. You seek comfort in routine.

Your ideal partner, says hubpages.com, would be banana ice cream and vanilla ice cream fans.

Neopolitan: It may be obvious, but if you favor this ice cream, you may be a little indecisive. "You're also "kind of immature and people like to baby you," says The Date Report.

Time for another study

Hirsch's study was conducted in 1998, but it is continually cited on Web sites and in lifestyle articles and reports. I'd like to see a study involving flavors that surely were not around at the time of the first study. One thing is for sure: If any of the flavors listed below are your favorite, you are adventurous and open-minded. (And some of your friends are probably questioning how well they know you!) If it turns out that you find your own favorite here, write your profile and send it along to me.

These are from saveur.com. Sources and recipes are available there as well.

Candied bacon: smoky, sweet and savory

Honey peanut butter salt ice cream with caramel sauce: for peanut butter lovers

Jasmine coconut: Asian-flavored blend of coconut and pearl jasmine tea

Popcorn with caramel: salty and sweet

Avocado and jackfruit: creamy and high in protein

Ginger green tea: fresh-tasting, comfort-producing

Carrot-orange ice cream with caramelized ginger and maple syrup: zesty, spicy, sweet

Baci: chocolate-hazelnut nougat

Chocolate-banana-peanut butter chunk soy ice cream: dairy-free

Pistachio gelato: packed with pistachios, salty and sweet

Rhubarb gelato: refreshing and easy to make

Evergreen (mastic) ice cream: piney aroma and fresh taste from Mastic resin of an evergreen tree that grows in the Greek islands

Black pepper and vanilla: cool vanilla with a hot kick

TODAY'S RECIPE

PLUM MESS SUNDAE

You will need heavy cream, sugar, berries, sorbet, lime juice, meringues (store bought or homemade) and sliced almonds. Amounts are mostly up to you.

Combine 1 cup heavy cream and 1 tablespoon sugar. Whisk until peaks form.

Squeeze a little lime juice and lightly sprinkle sugar over a mix of your favorite berries (raspberries and blackberries work well). Macerate berries until a sugar syrup forms in the bottom of the bowl.

Put 2 scoops of your favorite sorbet (this recipe uses plum) in a bowl. Crumble meringue over sorbet, leaving some fairly large pieces. Add a layer of whipped cream and then some berries.

Top with more meringue and some sliced almonds.

From a dailymeal.com video at huffingtonpost.com.