News 8 tries to crack the mystery behind Blue Moon

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Every Michigander knows about Blue Moon ice cream : The bizarrely blue treat that is adored here in the Upper Midwest.

But Blue Moon is full of mysteries. Namely, what is the flavor actually meant to taste like? Plenty of web sleuths have tried their best to crack the proprietary code that is Blue Moon ice cream. But so far, it’s just a long list of guesses with no clear answer.

First, I took the question to the hub of all things internet: Reddit . I asked the members of the Michigan subreddit what they thought gave Blue Moon its unique flavor. I got all sorts of answers, including plenty of the common ones.

A lot of people think it is some mix of vanilla and citrus. Others say nutmeg. One reader who claimed to have worked at Hudsonville Ice Cream insisted it is almond flavored. While another threw out almond with orange blossom added in, which they claim is what makes it taste like Froot Loops cereal.

Then I brought in some experts. And by experts, I mean my co-workers on the News 8 digital team. I knew that to really get to the bottom of the mystery, we needed to get our hands on some ice cream. News 8’s Madalyn Buursma, Corinne Moore, Phil Pinarski and Rachel Van Gilder were — shockingly — more than happy to take a break from work and take part in my ice cream experiment.

Everyone but Phil are native Michiganders, but his time on the West Michigan Scoops Tour has made him a seasoned pro when it comes to ice cream.

Up first was Hudsonville’s Blue Moon . Corinne picked up on the citrus flavoring, while Rachel’s first thought was marshmallow. No one seemed more stumped than Phil, who ultimately went with “artificial blueberry.”

Sometimes it helps to have a second sample to make comparisons, so the team also tried some Blue Moon from Ludington’s House of Flavors. Their ice cream is sold as Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream across the country. Interestingly enough, the different manufacturer yielded some different answers.

Ashby’s was considered creamier and had more of a mild, vanilla flavor. Phil said it reminded him of Fruity Pebbles, while Madalyn said she was even getting a hint of mint.

Rachel was having a hard time picking out any one flavor, saying “it just tastes like sugar,” then noted that marshmallows — her first guess — are “basically just sugar.”

Several minutes and two scoops of ice cream and later, the jury was in. We had no idea. The News 8 Digital Team couldn’t crack the code. Some would consider our experiment a failure, but since we got to eat ice cream on company time, let’s call it a wash.

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