Best Ice Cream: Oberweis vs. Baskin-Robbins vs. Dairy Queen

Ice cream has always been a well-loved dessert, and its popularity transcends age, gender, and even geographical barriers. No matter where you are in this world, you will find people who appreciate ice cream for what it’s worth. But where can you find the best cup of ice cream? What pint and what brand will make you melt for more?

The three most popular brands in the world are probably Oberweis, Baskin-Robbins, and Dairy Queen. They have their similarities and differences, and at the end of the day, it really becomes a matter of personal taste. But in search for the best ice cream and to help you choose from among the brands, here’s a guide:

Oberweis

What makes Oberweis unique is that it’s not just an ice cream brand. Its origins and core product is still milk, and premium ice cream just became a natural by-product. The main ingredient of their ice cream is the fresh milk that’s produced in Oberweis’ family-owned dairy farms. This milk is produced exclusively for Oberweis Dairy, so you really get to ensure the ice cream’s quality primarily because of its raw material. The fresh milk and cream is mixed with sugar and other ingredients, before the mix is pasteurized. This is the mix that’s chilled and agitated for 24 hours, and this is how Oberweis ice cream gets its famous rich and creamy texture.

Like its milk, Oberweis believes in producing fresh products, so their ice cream is produced in small quantities. This treatment is not as commercialized as others, and ensures that each batch is really of premium quality. A minimum 18% butterfat in the ice cream mix makes it much richer than other brands. Here are some quick facts about Oberweis ice cream that you may want to compare with others:

• Serving ice cream since 1951
• Flavors:
  • Apple Strudel (with real apple pieces)
  • Black Cherry
  • Butter Pecan
  • Butter Brickle (with real pieces of toffee candy)
  • Chocolate
  • Chocolate Chip
  • Chocolate Marshmallow
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter
  • Cinnamon
  • Coffee
  • Cookie Dough (with real cookie dough pieces)
  • Cookies ‘N Cream
  • Mint Chip
  • Peach
  • Strawberry
  • Vanilla
  • Seasonal flavors: Brandy, Egg Nog, Peppermint, Pumpkin

Baskin-Robbins

Baskin-Robbins is perhaps the largest and most recognizable ice cream chain in the world, and it has come a long way since it was founded in 1945. It is most known for its slogan of “31 flavors,” founded on the idea that if you’re an ice cream lover, you can actually have a different flavor of ice cream every single day of the month. Baskin Robbins is also famous for its small pink spoons, because it has always maintained the policy that customers should get to taste and sample the various flavors until they find that one flavor of ice cream that they want to buy.

Since 1945, Baskin Robbins has introduced over 1,000 flavors into the market. It has also expanded from just selling ice cream to sherbets, sorbets & ices, premium churned ice cream,  frozen yogurt, no sugar added, and soft serve ice cream. Baskin Robbins is present in over 7,000 locations – 4,600 of those outside of the United States.

• Serving ice cream since 1945
• Flavors (The Original 32):
  • Banana Nut Fudge
  • Black Walnut
  • Burgundy Cherry
  • Butterscotch Ribbon
  • Cherry Macaroon
  • Chocolate
  • Chocolate Almond
  • Chocolate Chip
  • Chocolate Fudge
  • Chocolate Mint
  • Chocolate Ribbon
  • Coffee
  • Coffee Candy
  • Date Nut
  • Egg Nog
  • French Vanilla
  • Gold Medal Ribbon
  • Lemon Crisp
  • Lemon Custard
  • Lemon Sherbet
  • Maple Nut
  • Orange Sherbet
  • Peach
  • Peppermint Fudge Ribbon
  • Peppermint Stick
  • Pineapple Sherbet
  • Pralines N Cream
  • Raspberry Sherbet
  • Rocky Road
  • Strawberry
  • Vanilla
  • Vanilla Burnt Almond

Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen on the other hand is most known for its soft serve formula. Unlike Oberweis and Baskin Robbins, there are not that many flavor options with Dairy Queen, but they have managed to evolve their soft serve vanilla ice cream formula to other products. The Dairy Queen Formula is quite simple. You have soft serve ice cream that you can enjoy either in a cone, a chocolate dipped cone, a waffle cone, a chocolate-coated waffle cone, or in a waffle bowl as a sundae.

You can also enjoy your Dairy Queen ice cream as a parfait, a banana split, or a brownie earthquake. This means getting additional ingredients like bananas and brownies and peanut butter, but your main ice cream is still the signature soft serve vanilla ice cream.

Of course, Dairy Queen is also known for its Blizzard, which is still soft-serve that you can enjoy with other mix-in ingredients like cookies and various chocolate treats. Over the years, Dairy Queen has probably sold more than 175 million blizzards, ranging in flavor from chocolate chip cookie dough to Oreo cookies and M&M’s.