Taste Test: Jeni’s solar eclipse flavors | Eat & Drink

To celebrate the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams launched four new, “out-of-this-world” flavors. According to the Jeni’s website, this collection, named “Punk Stargonaut,” is inspired by a “fictional flight through the galaxy,” gathering “alien fruits” to transform into ice cream. 

On Friday, April 6, Jeni’s shops were giving out free eclipse glasses when you purchased a scoop or a pint of ice cream. As a lover of both ice cream and Jeni’s, I was excited to try the new flavors. 

Nebula Berry

All of the colors in the ice cream collection were very pleasing, but this one was my favorite color-wise. It is a gorgeous hot pink color. The display card described it as “tart like a blueberry and vibrant like a raspberry, with an elderflower fragrance.” 

This was one of the three fruit-flavored ice creams in the collection, and even though I’m not the biggest fan of fruity ice creams, I was excited to try this. 

Although I knew it was tart going into it, it was beyond my imagination. Every bite left me puckering my mouth and closing my eyes. The texture was very sorbet-like, which was nice but unexpected for ice cream. Unfortunately, the extreme tartness overpowered the overall taste. 

Rating: 3/5

Cosmic Bloom

Another fruity flavor, the “Cosmic Bloom,” looked a bit basic at first glance. It’s a light orange color, and the display card described it as “a tropical delicacy! Citrusy like a mandarin, refreshing like a kiwi and punch like passion fruit.” 

It was a little underwhelming. Where the “Nebula Berry” was insanely overpowering, this one felt a bit lackluster. It was citrusy, and I could taste the mandarin and passion fruit, but there wasn’t any sort of the desired “punch” like described. However, I did appreciate the subtle flavor, as it helped balance out my taste buds after trying the “Nebula Berry.”

Rating: 3.5/5

Super Moon

I was most excited to try this flavor. I love traditional ice cream flavors like chocolate and vanilla, so I was looking forward to trying something more creamy after the tart, fruity flavors. The display card described it as “tastes like candied violet and marshmallows. Almost like cereal milk!” 

Unfortunately, that was exactly what it tasted like. Cereal milk. I am not the type to drink a glass of milk, so this ice cream was not very enjoyable. I wish there was more marshmallow flavor than milk flavor. It was like I was drinking a glass of really sweet milk. It also didn’t feel like it fit with the other flavors. I liked that it was creamier and a break from the fruity flavors, but I think something else, like chocolate, would have been better. 

Rating: 2/5

Purple Star Born

The purple color of this ice cream was very intriguing to me. It looked like a sorbet, and it seemed to scoop very nicely. The display card described it as “reminiscent of Concord grape and puckery-like blackcurrants. Intensely juicy!” 

This was not wrong at all. 

Imagine you ate an entire spoonful of grape jelly. That is exactly what this ice cream tasted like. I luckily like grape jelly so this was an enjoyable experience. I thought it was a good balance between creamy and juicy. It wasn’t too tart, but the grape jelly taste did get tiring after a few bites. 

Rating: 4/5

Overall, these flavors missed the mark a little. I appreciated the concept, and the colors of the flavors were very aesthetically pleasing. Each flavor by itself could have worked, but as a collection, it wasn’t very cohesive. The “Nebula Berry” and “Purple Star Born” were so similar that choosing one over the other would have been fine. The “Cosmic Bloom” was a nice palette cleanser, so I would keep that flavor. However, the “Super Moon” was so different that it felt lost. 

These flavors will be sold in scoop shops while supplies last.