Anti-mint: Mint chocolate chip ice cream is overrated

TERESA GUZMAN

Staff Writer

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream, the familiar saying goes.

We can all agree that ice cream is a top-tier dessert, especially one to enjoy on a hot summer day. Or on a cold December one if that’s more your speed.

But what I’ve never understood is people’s obsession with mint chocolate chip ice cream. It’s easily one of the most overrated ice creams to exist, and I’m here to tell you why. Mint chocolate chip lovers, you’ll want to shield your eyes from this one.

Mint chocolate chip ice cream is a wannabe Thin Mints Girl Scout cookie. But even though imitation is said to be the most sincere form of flattery, the flavor of both desserts is rather mediocre. While any slander against frozen Thin Mints is treasonous, it is still an unexceptional, basic dessert on its own. The true reason Thin Mints reign over any other minty dessert is the excitement surrounding the commodification and scarcity of their production—it’s not every day the Girl Scouts come knocking on your door. 

If someone came knocking at my door offering me mint chocolate chip ice cream, I would have to decline. Pairing mint and chocolate is just not exciting—it’s a tired combination that doesn’t really deserve all the hype it receives. 

Pro-mint chocolate chip people claim that sweet chocolate and cool mint together is a religious experience, but I just don’t buy it. How can they look past the obviously disturbing taste?

“I personally don’t like mint chocolate chip ice cream because I don’t like something minty and chocolate going together, it’s kind of gross,” said freshman conservation biology major Aidan Kimener.

Grace Pippin, a senior psychology and education double major and mint chocolate chip ice cream critic, was quite explicit about why she doesn’t like the flavor.

She elocuted her disdain for the ice cream in just one word: “Toothpaste.” 

Imagine deciding that the best way for you to enjoy a little sweet treat is to scoop up what is practically just a menthol paste. Unfortunate.

Pippin goes as far as to say that “literally anything else” is better than mint chocolate chip ice cream, and I have to side with her on this one.

Furthermore, not to get critical, but also to be very critical, the appearance alone is skeptical. 

Though some varieties of mint chocolate chip are worse than others, the ice cream itself is often an unnatural green color. It gives off slime-on-a-messy-Nickelodeon-game-show vibes, and I am not here for it. 

Out of 15 people I surveyed here at UMW, nine voted that they liked mint chocolate chip ice cream, while six said they didn’t. 

Freshman mint chocolate chip lover Sophie Jensen said, “It might be weird, but I think of the chocolates as little treasures to find in the ice cream.” 

As fun as treasure hunting is, something must be said for the fact that people who eat mint chocolate chip seem like they have to distract themselves with the game just to get through a cup. 

Another member of team mint chocolate chip, freshman English major in the education program Enya Cea-Levin said, “I like mint chocolate chip because it is refreshing but also has a sweetness to it!”

While Levin may find some sweetness in the flavor and the experience, the menthol brain freeze just isn’t worth it. The toothpaste-flavored ice cream alone could be swept under the rug as just an interesting choice. However, when you add in the bittersweet piece of chocolate, things can get weird. 

At the end of the day, everyone can choose whatever ice cream they want. Will there be some mild judgment? Of course. However, mint haters and mint lovers can come together at the end of the day and agree on one thing: People whose favorite ice cream is vanilla or chocolate are the true enemy.