Try It, You Might Like It: The T’s Ice Cream
Sometimes, there are things in life you just aren’t sure about trying. Maybe you lack a sense of daring, or maybe you’re just sane. Luckily, we’ve got high levels of daring with a twist of insanity, so we will sample these things for you. Today, we tried (T)errific Charlie ice cream.
We got our Terrific Charlie at the Cold Stone Creamery in the Pru, which was festooned with stickers, tri-fold standup ads, and circles hanging from the ceiling trumpeting the new flavor. The overworked but cheerful woman behind the counter reacted with mild surprise when we placed our order for a “Like It” (otherwise known as a small) Terrific Charlie. We asked her if they sold much of that blend.
“No,” she answered quickly. “People don’t like candy in their ice cream. They like cookies more. I mean, we always have Snickers around.” Ahh, the MBTA– giving people things they don’t really want (hello, Silver Line) instead of what they’d actually like (hello, Green Line in Somerville).
The blend has a lot going on, much like the MBTA as an organization. The first bite was overwhelmingly sweet, and had one M&M on the spoon with the cake batter ice cream. Perhaps the concoction would have been better with vanilla or another flavor that isn’t as cloyingly sweet as cake batter. (Cold Stone allows you to switch out ingredients if you want, but we ordered it as the MBTA imagined it.)
Walking around the Christian Science Center with our pile of ice cream, feelings self-consciousness began to creep in. A grown adult, eating ice cream with candy on top of it seems a little strange. That feeling only grew as the ice cream melted, and dissolved the shell of the M&Ms into a rainbow of visible colors.
The Kit Kat is a nice touch, adding mercifully little sweetness and a nice crunchy texture. Cold Stone always has Snickers around for a reason. The caramel gets cold as it sits in the ice cream and you look like a cow chewing its cud until your mouth warms it up again. Snickers also stay in big, rainbow-shell coated hunks unlike the easily-crushable Kit Kat.
It seems that the MBTA’s nefarious plan with this ice cream is to not curry favor with us adults who already hate the T, but to create positive memories for the young commuters of tomorrow. Only a child could love big chunks of candy in sickeningly sweet ice cream with bright colors visible on their spoon. Don’t let your children be brainwashed into fare-hike accepting drones, parents.
Our verdict? Don’t try this, and if you’re over the age of 12, you probably won’t like it.
