Find Your Flavor: The 2023 Valentine's Ice Cream Collection by Sebastian's Ice Cream

Fun, offbeat and quirky with that playful "tongue-in-cheek counterprogramming" vibe, Sebastian's Ice Cream bucks the usual trend in this month of hearts with its lavish new 2023 Valentine's Ice Cream Collection. With wittingly named flavors like Matinong Girlfriend, Matinong Boyfriend, Unresolved Issues and Closure, the popular local ice cream brand nails it once again with pure and unrestrained indulgence with just a touch of humor for its own unique take on Valentine's. Ready to find your flavor? Then take a flavorful jab at Valentine's with a scoop from Sebastian's Ice Cream...

Fresh from the successful roll-out of new flavors for the new year (more on my post at Four for the New Year: Sebastian's Ice Cream Launches New Limited Edition Pint Collection for 2023 from last month), Sebastian's Ice Cream follows it up with what's considered by many of the brand's loyal fans as its defining creative showcase with the 2023 Valentine's Ice Cream Collection. It's the luscious weave of flavorful combinations and ingredients that never fails to delight both palates and emotions expressed in scoops, a slice and tasty bites. 

Sebastian's Ice Cream has been changing the local ice cream game since 2005 with its unique flavors and seasonal offerings for Valentine's, it's now a creative barometer of the brand's unorthodox style and character. Just how far will the envelope be pushed this Valentine's? This year, Sebastian's Ice Cream adds a new specialty Ice Cream Cake and their signature Poppits to their mix of inventive new flavors for February. Here's six new and decadent offerings from Sebastian's Ice Cream for Valentine's...

Chocolates and strawberries are a recurring theme for February and Sebastian's Ice Cream does one better with its decadently layered Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream Cake. An ideal present for those in love, a slice of this sinfully indulgent creation is the love language for couples in its purest form. If you find yourself all alone this Valentine's, then maybe you deserve a slice too. 

Imagine layers of rich, moist and dense Chocolate Cake studded with Chocolate Chips and velvety smooth Strawberry Ice Cream made with real strawberries topped with Strawberry Compote and Chocolate Shavings in a slice. That's pure love in a slice.

Each lavish component complements the other with its delectable textural contrasts and deep vibrant notes in an elegantly seamless blend. The indulgent richness of chocolate is complemented by the bright and tart sweetness of strawberries with each slice and bite representing Valentine's in another masterful ice cream cake creation. 

If you're single or unattached, console your lonesome self or give yourself a pat on the back depending on your perspective with a slice of the new Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream Cake by Sebastian's Ice Cream. You'll feel a whole lot better, guaranteed. 

Taking a cue from one of its innovative specialty creations, Sebastian's Ice Cream spins the Valentine's vibe with its bite-sized Strawberry Kisses Poppits with nuggets of Strawberry Ice Cream dipped in Milk Chocolate and drizzled with pink-hued White Chocolate for that finishing touch teasing the eyes before the palate.

The novel way of enjoying ice cream led to the success of Sebastian's Ice Cream's Poppits (more on my posts, Forget The Spoon. Enjoy Ice Cream in a Fun New Way with Poppits in a Pint by Sebastian's Ice Cream from early last year and American Classics and Pinoy Favorites Poppit Pint Mix: Let The Good Times Roll with Fourteen Awesome New Flavors by Sebastian's Ice Cream from 2022), and it becomes yet another blank canvas for creating exciting and refreshingly new ice cream expressions. The Strawberry Kisses Poppits is a notable addition to the Poppits line with its thematic Valentine's inspired flavors.  

Each bite is announced by a subtle crunch from the Milk Chocolate shell followed by the silky smoothness of Strawberry Ice Cream adding layers of rich flavors and contrasting textures. Off the bat, both the new Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream Cake and Strawberry Kisses Poppits come out strong to kickstart your Valentine's.

For the very first time, Sebastian's Ice Cream adds an Ice Cream Cake as well as their Poppits to this year's Valentine's Collections. But Sebastian's Ice Cream isn't done just yet...

Building on the successful and popular themes of previous collections, Sebastian's Ice Cream retained the witty names for an on-going tradition changing with the times and seasons with new flavors (more on past Valentine's Collections on my post, Closure, Unresolved Issues, Matinong Girlfriend and Matinong Boyfriend: Meet the 2020 Valentine's Collection of Sebastian's Ice Cream). This year, Sebastian's Ice Cream draws inspiration from health and wellness with its new tea-flavored creation. The aptly named Closure with Chrysanthemum Tea infused with Chinese Chrysanthemum Tea Blossoms is Sebastian's Ice Cream's very own take for a positive and healing note. Shifting from its original Japanese Genmaicha Green Tea blend from previous Valentine's collections, the new Closure with Chrysanthemum Tea offers more nuanced and subtle notes to rejuvenate your heart and move on. 

The smooth and chunkless ice cream is made with real dried Chinese Chrysanthemum Blossoms simmered in Sebastian's Ice Cream's dairy base, steeped overnight for that concentrated yet mild hints of floral tea notes.  

The smooth, rounded and well-balanced flavors drapes the palate with a lingering richness. The floral notes of the Chinese Chrysanthemum Tea also adds a calming and soothing finish with each spoonful, making this the perfect scoop for those looking for peace this Valentine's. There's a whole lot of good vibes with this ice cream creation and for those looking for some sort of Closure on Valentine's, this is the next best thing. 

Sebastian's Ice Cream incorporates a fruit element in its newest creation with a lavish Orange Ice Cream garnished with Candied Orange Peel and chunks of Orange Almond Butter Cake. Sebastian's Ice Cream portrays the perfect find transformed into ice cream with bold and vibrant citrus notes. And it works.  

Made with loads of fresh orange juice slowly churned into a creamy custard base, Sebastian's Ice Cream pulls all the stops adding Candied Orange Peel and chunks of fresh-baked Butter Cake infused with Orange Zest and Roasted Diced Almonds for good measure. 

The zesty orange hints from the Candied Orange Peel, chunks of Orange Almond Butter Cake and the creamy Orange Ice Cream base combine for solid bursts of flavors replicating the very same feeling when you finally find the one. 

Probably one of the more intense, flavor-forward fruit-based creations of Sebastian's Ice Cream yet, the Matinong Boyfriend is also good for you loaded with Vitamin C. Just like a good relationship. 

This unique flavor has remained a popular staple in Sebastian's Ice Cream's growing stable of ice cream creations. Made with fresh Bitter Melon or ampalaya, Unresolved Issues is one of those flavors you can only expect from Sebastian's Ice Cream. A Bitter Melon Tea is transformed into a smooth sorbet, infused with fresh ampalaya and Candied Ampalaya Bits for both color and texture. The result? A unique flavor unlike any you've tried before. Sebastian's Ice Cream has somehow literally recreated that bitter feeling of not being able to move on in an elegant sorbet.

The mild bitter hints from the ampalaya are tempered by the indulgent sweetness of the sorbet for a balanced finish, a combination loved by countless loyal fans and remains the only flavor unchanged through the years.

The sweetness lulls the palate while hints of mild bitter notes come through at that very last moment to complete the flavors. In a literal culinary embodiment of being unable to move on, Sebastian's Ice Cream showcases its creative chops and brilliance with Unresolved Issues. One more spoonful becomes a reminder that with every bitter episode comes a sweet finish. Not all the time in real life, but guaranteed in a pint at least of Unresolved Issues by Sebastian's Ice Cream.

The newest variant from the Matinong Girlfriend series brings a maximalist, male-oriented and more-is-more approach to flavor with its robust salty, sweet and crunchy highlights. The latest in the Matinong Girlfriend series features a malty Dark Beer Caramel Ice Cream with Dark Beer Caramel Ripple and Dark Beer Peanut Brittle spun and layered into another masterful ice cream creation. Dark beer? Love this already.

The new variant offers complex flavors. And the equally tedious process in creating it is no surprise. Sebastian's Ice Cream takes its classic Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream recipe and replaced water with Dark Beer, slowly cooked and simmered with sugar and mixed into an ice cream base. The result isn't just a dark beer ice cream or even a salted caramel ice cream, but something entirely new built on a base of sweet and salty notes with the subtle bitter hints from the dark beer tempered by the caramel's sweetness while the malt and hops add layers of complexity to its profile. And this one's my jam. And my personal pick. 

Loyal fans of Sebastian's Ice Cream say you can find the right and appropriate flavor to fit your current status. They may be right. But I think I can say I found the right girlfriend from the new 2023 Valentine's Collection by Sebastian's Ice Cream. Now it's your turn to find your flavor...

The new 2023 Valentine's Collection by Sebastian's Ice Cream is available at their flagship store in The Podium and online store (see links below).