Ben & Jerry's Nostalgic New Flavor Is Inspired By Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ben & Jerry's may be known for its progressive social positions, including signing an agreement for the union election among workers who want to form a Scoopers United union, but the newest Limited Batch pint flavor is pure nostalgia. With callouts to our collective childhoods, like drinking from the garden hose and collecting money after mowing the neighbors' yards, the Vermont-based ice cream maker announced its newest flavor: Ice Cream Sammie.

A press release from Ben & Jerry's describes the new flavor, which should arrive "just in time for Memorial Day parties and cookouts," as a faithful tribute to the classic ice cream sandwich, which will feature vanilla ice cream, chocolate sandwich cookies, and swirls of chocolate cookie bits. The brand is known for associating its flavors with pop culture (from the hip to the hippie), with Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream or the brand's nod to psychedelic jam bands with Phish Food and Cherry Garcia. However, this new flavor harkens back to a time before we even cared about being hip — when we only cared about enjoying the simplest of pleasures.

Some of the brand's flavors are a tie-in for their calls for social justice, like Chocolately Love A-Fair, which directly addresses the exploitation inherent in the chocolate industry, or the company's team-up with Colin Kaepernick for its Change the Whirled flavor — Ben & Jerry's doesn't shy away from controversy. The brand even leaned into the common punchline that the ice cream is a favorite among cannabis users by publicly advocating (on 4/20 of this year) that people demand governors use their clemency powers to pardon those charged with cannabis-related crimes.

But this flavor reminds us that we all need a vacation from the controversy. Billed as ideal for "when you're tired of #adulting," Ice Cream Sammie, according to Ben & Jerry's, comes with a "no sticky fingers guarantee." The new flavor, which will only be around for the summer, offers the opportunity to slow down, remember how delicious an ice cream sandwich really is, and maybe catch a lightning bug or two. 

But even when you're relaxing in a lawn chair with a pint, you can pat yourself on the back (with fingers free of the shmutz that come with regular ice-cream sandwiches) because, as with other flavors from Ben & Jerry's, the Ice Cream Sammie is made of Fairtrade, non-GMO ingredients, including Caring Dairy certified milk and cream.