Paco Magsaysay, founder of local ice cream brand Carmen’s Best, recently held a tasting session for its most popular flavors.

“Our ice cream products are made from fresh milk from our own cows in our own farm,” Magsaysay said. “We are the only ones here who have a fresh-milk processing facility. Because of this, I know that the ingredients I use in my ice cream are of the highest quality. There’s simply no other way of guaranteeing it, other than having your own farm.”

He noted that many Filipinos are now well-traveled abroad due to affordability of airfare.

Consequently, the Pinoy palate is becoming more sophisticated. “Carmen’s Best captures those flavors that they have tasted when traveling,” Magsaysay noted. “Since we started five years ago, sales have been picking up. It’s now available in many supermarkets nationwide.”

The tasting session focused on three of the brand’s well-loved flavors, plus two new ones.

Vietnamese Coffee

Vietnamese Coffee, one of the two new flavors, captures the taste of authentic Vietnamese coffee, with flavors of condensed milk and dark coffee prevalent.

The staff members at Carmen’s Best were trained by a Vietnamese national on how to prepare this kind of flavor in ice cream form.

Milk Tea

Another new flavor, Milk Tea, has the subtle, brisk taste of black tea mixed with milk.

Turkish Baklava

This flavor has been very popular and available for the past two years, Magsaysay said. The Turkish Baklava is a sweet pastry made of layers of filo (a thin layer of unleavened dough) with chopped nuts and sweetened with honey.

The taste was translated perfectly into the ice cream with its nuts, honey and creamy texture. It’s like eating an authentic Turkish Baklava, a la mode!

Secret Breakfast

Inspired by the top-selling flavor of Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream Parlor in San Francisco, this treat is a concoction of vanilla ice cream, bourbon and cornflakes. For those who want their dessert to have a slight pick-me-up effect, this flavor is for you.

‘He’s Not Worth It’

Created by Magsaysay for the distraught and the emotional (which is to say, most Filipinos), the flavor dubbed “He’s Not Worth It” is meant to wash away dark thoughts and feelings of self-loathing.

Dark chocolate, Mississippi mud pie (a chocolate-based pie with a crumbly chocolate crust often served with gooey chocolate sauce and ice cream), and nuts make up this ice cream.

The heavy, indulgent, chocolate-on-chocolate flavor is a surefire way to satisfy the cravings of even the most depressed individual.