I don't think any other commonly available ice cream in the US comes close to Haagen Dazs. High butterfat content, no HFCS, and no emulsifiers/stabilizers. I love the fact that it is hard as a rock straight out of a cold freezer. Just let it stand a few minutes. Rocky Road is my current favorite as well. It would be even better if they used marshmallow bits instead of marshmallow cream. I guess I'm not very adventurous but the only other flavors I normally buy are strawberry and vanilla. Most of the others are just to sweet.

Ice crystals likely caused by improper transport/storage temps. Thaw and refreeze cycles ruin it.

Addicted to Häagen-Dazs ice cream
 

I'm addicted to Häagen-Dazs ice cream.

It wasn't always this way. In a college business class, I remembered the professor's lesson on Häagen-Dazs' creative destruction: a Bronx businessman couldn't sell his ice cream, so he changed the name to something unpronounceable and doubled the price. Suddenly he was rich! The real story wasn't quite that simple, but for years I never gave it a chance, convinced people were falling for a mental trick instead of buying a quality product.

After getting married, my wife insisted on buying a pint of it. I told her it wasn't healthy, it was overpriced, and we shouldn't buy it. Wrong move. We bought it, and I learned there are some battles I shouldn't fight. Now I'm the one who is buying it and she is the one trying to convince me - unsuccessfully - not to buy it.

I'm also lactose intolerant. The sometimes gut wrenching stomach pains are a small price to pay for the delicious, creamy taste of Häagen-Dazs.

I've tried a bunch of other ice creams, even the "artisanal" ones they sell here in San Francisco. Nothing comes close to beating Häagen-Dazs for me. Also, I do realize that Dreyers manufactures Häagen-Dazs in the USA, but even Dreyers tastes bad to me.

Any other addicts out there?

Yes, my husband. :)

We are still only "part time" at our U.S. residence but whenever we are there, currently between 6 weeks and 3 months a year, he consumes vast quantities of it. He also otherwise avoids dairy, having shifted from regular milk to almond milk and only recently reintroduced some cheese.

But he will eat a small portion of Häagen-Dazs as dessert to nearly every meal, including breakfast, when we're in the U.S.

We just returned from a nearly 3 month trip and Mint Chip and Rocky Road were the main selections, with the occasional Coffee thrown in. And he did try another brand this trip as an attempt to break the habit (can't even remember the brand) but it wasn't a hit.

The best weeks were when Publix had Häagen-Dazs on a buy one, get one free offer.

I almost kicked my habit by purchasing a large tub of inferior ice cream. I hated it (I think it was Dreyer's mint chocolate chip). After a couple of weeks of eating it, I thought I was finally done with ice cream.

Then I had Häagen-Dazs again...

Speaking of the name change, years ago when I still lived in the U.S. I got on a kick of buying Frusen Glädjé ice cream because I had a thing for anything Scandinavian. The container even had an image of the Swedish map on it. Of course, this one was also made in the USA. :)

I'm also a HD loyalist. My local upscale supermarket stocks many different brands of "artisinal" ice creams, some of which cost 2 or more times what HD does, but the difference is all in the ingredients. HD has several varieties, including vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and coffee, that each have about 5 ingredients such as milk, cream, sugar, eggs and strawberries. Most importantly, no artificial stabilizers or thickeners like guar gum, xanthan gum or carrageenan. That's why the HD tastes so dense and creamy, and why it tends to freeze much harder than other brands. Compare ingredients next time you're in the store.

I love HD Strawberry & Coffee. I'm still waiting for CVS sale to stock up mine for the summer.

I broke that habit by switching to Breyer's. It was cheaper and had a healthier looking ingredients list, and less fat. I broke the HD habit, but not the Ice Cream habit.

My ex had a thing for HD, and we got through a huge amount - we would walk down the road to a little cluster of shops and divide and conquer - one of us would order a pizza and wait while it was cooked, one of us would choose a video, and the one picking the video also bought a tub of HD (smart smart move by the video shop!) Haven't bought a tub in years!

If you really want the addiction to be unshakeable, try the HD Black Cherry Amaretto Gelato.

I love it but HD is not my first choice. ..it's a bit too dense. It needs to have some more air churned into to make it creamier imo.

You need to burn some airline miles, and take a trip to Wisconsin. There's a little place south of Fond du Lac just off I-41 called Kelley's Creamery. It will put Häagen-Dazs to shame, to the point that you'll end up moving to WI. Eating cheese curds and ice cream all day. Thank fully, there's a lot of cows there, so as long as you keep a window open, no one will notice.

Also in WI: Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha. It may be touristy, but it was the first place I ever had apple pie topped with cheddar cheese. #genius

I have a few recipies for my Breville Ice Cream maker that rival Haagen Daz. Actually, I think mine are better :) And I know the ingredients I put in it ^