I want to preface this article by saying I do enjoy eating ice cream, however in general I am not a dessert person. Now, I can say with absolute certainty ice cream is one of the most overrated desserts. At one point it seemed like a novelty. When you were a kid, you may have been excited when you heard the melody of the ice cream truck as it rolled around the corner. Maybe your school had ice cream day or when you did something well a teacher gave you an ice cream. At that point ice cream was a treat and something that people really wanted. Now, that novelty has worn off. Think about this scenario: you are sitting in your office and your boss praises you for doing something well and decides to give you some ice cream as a reward. Does that really have the same effect as it used to? Ice cream is good, however I think the feelings we had toward it when we were younger may have carried over. That’s partly why ice cream is overrated. It feels like its reputation is better than it actually is because in the past it was such a treat. 

Another reason why ice cream is overrated is because its flavor is consistent across all sorts. For example, this past summer I went to the grocery store to get ice cream. At the store there are tons of different companies that make ice cream and obviously some are more expensive than others because in theory they are better than others. However, I honestly never really taste a significant difference. Yeah, some definitely taste better than others but is it really worth double the price? Every time I was at the store, I didn’t care what company it was; all I cared about was what was the best deal. The flavors across different companies and stores are relatively the same. Again, the flavor and consistency of ice cream is good; however, it’s kind of just good everywhere. I am never truly overwhelmed by ice cream. Maybe I have never had absolutely incredible ice cream before, but they all are just good. How good can ice cream really get? It’s just frozen milk and sugar, not necessarily a revolutionary combination. Since some companies’ ice cream is more expensive, you may overrate it and say it’s so much better to justify the purchase. But in reality, you will likely be equally satisfied with Starmarket’s Signature Select $3 ice cream and Breyer’s $6 ice cream. 

One of the good things about ice cream is that there are so many flavors. Since it’s such a simple dish, it almost seems easy to have so many variations of it. However, this aspect of ice cream also causes it to be overrated. Most people have a favorite flavor of ice cream. Maybe it’s chocolate, strawberry or even peanut butter. These flavors are specific to something that you can get outside the form of ice cream. So, I think that people don’t necessarily really love strawberry ice cream, but instead really like strawberries. Having the flavor in ice cream may elevate it, but it’s almost like a mirage. You think it’s the ice cream part of your strawberry ice cream that is making you love it, but in reality, it’s just because you really like strawberries. A specific flavor in a different form may make you think it tastes a lot better than it actually is. 

My biggest issue with ice cream is how frequently people put toppings on it. If ice cream was truly this unbelievable dessert, people would not need to put extra stuff on it. I know people would argue that toppings make the food taste better but at that point it’s not just ice cream anymore. I have definitely seen people put so many toppings on the ice cream that the ice cream is just a side part. Good food does not require extra stuff. Take a good steak for example. A really good steak likely does not need extra sauce. However, apparently with really good ice cream, people still need sprinkles and chocolate sauce? That doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t believe you can say the ice cream was great when your ice cream was covered in a million different toppings. 

Overall ice cream is a great dessert. It’s great for so many occasions. You can eat it at almost any time. But I think we are blinded by some aspects of ice cream that cause us to overrate it. So, the next time you go out and are about to buy ice cream, ask yourself if ice cream is really as good as you think it is.