We recently tested premium ice creams to see which scoops the prize for best tasting. We answer all the important questions like, ‘Which one tastes best?’, ‘Does premium ice cream taste better than regular ice cream?’, and ‘What’s the difference between gelato and ice cream?’ 
You’re welcome!
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If you ever need extra ice cream tasters for research purposes, just let me know 
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Are all the products mentioned in the article ‘ice cream’ according to the FSANZ definition? Even the Streets product? I smell a possible ‘shonky’ … 
edited to add:
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A representative collection of the commonly available supermarket brands for sure, but what about Movenpick, NZ Natural, Ben & Jerry’s, etc?
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I agree. Lots of supermarkets sell those brands anyway. Having said that not all of them have a simple vanilla to compare
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Hmmm, I’ll guess we’ll just have to buy more ice cream next time 
We do our best to get as many brands that fit the criteria into our tests. Hopefully next time we can also include these others 
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We included all brands we could find in supermarkets that had a straight vanilla flavour so that we were comparing with like with like.The other brands you mention either weren’t available in supermarkets or didn’t have a straight vanilla flavour (according to our product research team). Perhaps next we should to a taste test of ice cream/gelato chains such as Movenpick, NZ Natural and Royal Copenhagen!
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If you forward your tasting samples in unmarked coded freezer packs I would be pleased to work with @gordon to compare and rate these others 
You could do a separate test for, say, date kumquat salted caramel pistachio with Yarra Valley chicken flavour to do the specialities. (Sorry, got carried away by the increasing difficulty of finding potato flavour potato chips any more.)
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Likewise it should be noted that perception of taste varies according to many factors including climate and region - proper testing should include tasting performed in desert areas … (pun intended) … 
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An article from UQ regarding taste perceptions.
Perhaps all the testers need to have similar size brains for more accurate comparisions.
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Quinine icecream, yuuuuum.
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There are many wonderful potential accoutrements to ice cream, and many interesting and exciting ways it can be eaten, but this is a G-rated forum, generally … ahem … wow, that was cold !! 
The huff’s had this to say … beware …
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Are the professional tasters splitting hairs, or rather the cream from the ice and vanilla flavouring?
Streets Blue Ribbon Ice Cream can score 79% and the 3 best just 2% higher at 81%.
That’s a fine margin judged on experienced palettes.
Is that extra 2% worth paying nearly twice the price for Aldi or Woolies brand?
Or 4 times the price for Connoisseur brand?
When Connoisseur is on half price special at IGA it does rate a buy. Mainly for one of the flavoured varieties. For straight vanilla the Streets is as good as it gets without paying a premium price.
I wait open minded for Choice to present the premium products that score in the 90%, like a fine vintage red, dusted off after 50 years. 
Suspect they may be imported from over the ditch if my taste buds are still half functional.
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My guess is that a 2% margin is within the margin of error. Any comments from the testers?
So a product that is not technically ice cream is indistinguishable from the best rated genuine ice creams that are double the price and may well be better than super premium ice creams (Maggie Beer and Haagen Daz) that are about ten times the price.
What do we conclude here?
1 Vanilla ice cream tasting is too subjective to score like this, or
2 people who pay top price are eating a label, or
3 the panel is incompetent or out of touch with what the market wants
4 And the technical definition of ice cream is barely relevant to taste.
5 Some combination of these.
The panel do seem to be qualified but are they judging what the man in the street likes?
The spread of panel scores would help to identify the issue. If wide we should look at (1).
Should this study go into Higher cost doesn’t equal better quality or is it too confused?
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Many food flavourings are tasty but they remain flavourings. What is the goal for food? Reality is that what are perceived to be the highest quality natural products are often ‘out tasted’ by chemical-laden wannabe’s heavy in sodium and sugar. and all those ‘numeric’ additives in the ingredients lists.
How does one account for that other than in the caveat box regarding the testing regime? “‘A’ was the clear taste winner because it had 400% of the sodium and 200% of the sugars of the typical natural product.” How many read the box and use it to make their buying decisions as compared to how many read the league table and go for the top?
Taste tests are a hard job and taste is a game unto itself.
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Should the scoring system assign large negative points for high salt and sugar content?
Should chemical food additives, flavourings and stabilisers also be assessed?
There is perhaps an argument for some additives, those that are useful as stabilisers or for shelf life. A tricky situation though as some additives may offer more than one type of benefit to the product?
For all natural would freshly squeezed cane juice and outback pan gathered salt still qualify?
It might just be easier to close your eyes, not read the label fine print and indulge?
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Is nothing sacred for the Choice Forum?
Could you not just have let us enjoy one of the most pleasurable sweets available?
Eating Ice Cream will never be the same again!
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Thanks. Very interesting article.
Maybe its time ti dig up Grandma’s icecream recipe.
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Maggie Beer is trailing behind other brands? Surprised.
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