I like to believe I am an ice cream connoisseur. Whenever I visit a new place, and especially in big cities, I hop on Yelp and search out the best ice cream place in the city. In recent years, I have become a BIG fan of Salt & Straw – the way they change out their insanely delicious flavors each month makes me excited to go every time, and I could not recommend them highly enough. The loss of Baskin Robbins was felt deep in my heart – where else could I go to get a cheap ice cream cone that was surprisingly high quality? Nowhere. However, when all you’re in the mood for is visiting the nearest store while wearing your pajamas, Salt & Straw and the once-constant Baskin Robbins seem far out of reach. In these occasions, a container of ice cream you can bring home and eat on your couch is the best option, and in this realm of store-bought ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s is the overwhelming winner. With an insane variety of flavors, everyone can find something they love. Although the price of Ben & Jerry’s can often seem too much, I’m here to tell you that it’s worth it. They pack the flavor in every pint, with add-ins and swirls of all kinds. This ice cream is worth every cent, and with my extensive ice cream knowledge, I give you the subjectively five best flavors.

Tonight Dough

1. • With both caramel and chocolate ice creams, chocolate cookie swirls, chocolate chip cookie dough and peanut butter cookie dough, this flavor has something for everyone. The addition of the caramel ice cream makes the whole experience not too chocolatey, but the cookie swirls add some nice texture. Now, I’m a fan of chocolate chip cookie dough in pretty much everything, but you always feel like there’s something missing, and the peanut butter cookie dough hits that spot. I can’t thank Jimmy Fallon enough for creating this flavor.

Coffee Toffee Bar Crunch

1. • Now, I know that coffee ice cream is a hit or miss: either you really hate it, or you’re a big fan. I am a big fan, but I also have to be in the right mood for it, and when I am in the mood, this is the ice cream I go for. This flavor has chocolate covered toffee pieces swimming in Ben & Jerry’s classic creamy coffee ice cream. Simple, yet sweet. Coffee ice cream by itself can often seem not worthwhile, but the addition of the toffee pieces add a nice crunch and some flavor variation.

Chocolate Therapy

1. • To some people, this flavor is too chocolate-heavy, but for me, it’s heaven in a pint. With chocolate ice cream, chocolate cookies and swirls of chocolate pudding ice cream, this flavor beats out its near-counterpart, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, because of the sheer amount of chocolate content. When you’re in the mood for chocolate ice cream, you’re in the mood for VERY chocolate ice cream, not something that has chocolate ice cream and plain old brownies. You want your palette to be overwhelmed with chocolate, and this flavor accomplishes that.

Phish Food

1. • I know this is a popular flavor, and for good reason. Chocolate ice cream, marshmallow swirls, caramel swirls and delicious fudge fish. The combination of chocolate and marshmallow in this pint is reminiscent of childhood, bringing back memories of campfires and sticky s’mores hands. The fudge fish are, well, cute, and also add a texture variation, breaking up the smoothness of the ice cream and the swirls. Additionally, part of the proceeds from the sales of this ice cream go toward environmental efforts in Vermont’s Lake Champlain Watershed. Sounds like a win-win-win situation to me.

Chubby Hubby

1. • This flavor ranks last on my list solely because of the lack of a chocolate ice cream base. However, the sheer overall goodness outweighs that fact. Peanutty fudge-covered pretzels and fudge and peanut butter swirls are suspended in a base of vanilla malt ice cream. The vanilla malt ice cream is similar to the flavor of a vanilla milkshake, making you feel like you’re savoring a delicious summery treat. The fudge covered pretzels add a nice crunch, and the addition of the peanut butter swirl rounds out the flavor.