Is That Bourbon in My Häagen-Dazs?

From the Department of Why Didn’t Someone Think of This Before, ice-cream maker Häagen-Dazs has added six booze-infused flavors to a new product line called “Häagen-Dazs Spirits.” (Actually, other small brands have.) The company already has begun rolling out the new flavors and expects them to be available widely by April.

Häagen-Dazs products are owned by Swiss-based food giant Nestlé, and the brand is owned by General Mills Co. (NYSE: GIS). There are more than 900 Häagen-Dazs ice-cream shops globally. For consumers lucky enough to live near a Häagen-Dazs shop, the Spirits ice cream is expected to be available on around March 1, according to Food & Wine magazine.

The alcohol content of the Spirits flavors is less than 0.5% by volume, and that means consumers of any age can buy a 14-ounce carton of Irish Cream Brownie, Rum Tres Leches, Bourbon Vanilla Bean Truffle, Stout Chocolate Pretzel Crunch, Bourbon Praline Pecan, or non-dairy Amaretto Black Cherry Almond Toffee for just $5.29. The new product line also includes Irish Cream Cookie Squares, a combination chocolate cookie and Irish Cream-infused ice cream covered in dark chocolate.

The low alcohol content also means that you’d have to eat a truckload in order to get even slightly tipsy. There are cheaper — and less caloric — ways of doing that.

If getting a buzz is your goal, however, and you live in a state where recreational cannabis use is legal, marijuana-infused ice cream may already be on your shopping list. The only type of commercially available cannabis-infused ice-cream available we found uses cannabidiol oil, the non-psychoactive variety, and is sold as a medical marijuana product.

However, sauces containing THC are available and there are several recipes for making your own. One recipe recommends using five grams of weed “to keep it light.” In Colorado, high-quality weed averages $241.80 per ounce and 5 grams is about 0.18 of an ounce, or around $43.50.

Can alcohol-infused ice cream compete with a THC-laced brand? That all depends ultimately on whether consumers want the flavor or the buzz.

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