Make Room in Your Freezer for Ciao Bella

We all have our sweet-treat weaknesses, and mine can be found in the frozen section. Pie is fine, cake is okay and sure, of course I like cookies, but in my mind, cold, creamy, flavorful ice cream-type delicacies are the end all, be all.
But lately, my local TCBY has been seeing a lot less of me because my freezer is stocked with gelato and sorbetto from Ciao Bella, and holy moly, you guys, is it ever delicious.
With flavors like Bourbon Caramel Chocolate gelato and Barlett Pear Hibiscus sorbetto, that “delicious” statement could probably have gone without saying, but what’s important to note is that each flavor is clearly discernible, even to the untrained palate. I could taste the pear in the aforementioned sorbetto, and even the hibiscus (and having used roselle in the past, I sort of knew what I was tasting for). In addition to a short and easy-to-understand ingredient list, each flavor has a short description, some of which are pretty entertaining. For example, on the Alba Hazelnut Caffe, it says:

Sometimes our Italian chef can be a bit difficult to understand. But when he sent us a batch of something he called Nocciola al Caffe, no translations were needed. It was that amazing. So good that it was put under 24-hour office security. We later found out that it roughly translates to “nutty Alba Hazelnut gelato made with hazelnuts from the Piemonte region of Italy combined with dark chocolate espresso chunks.” Now we know.

Cute, right? After snacking on that flavor, I can totally see why security might be necessary.
While both the gelato and sorbetto are, like, almost literally bursting with flavor, they are distinctly different.
The gelato was thicker, richer and a bit creamier, and were also considerably higher in calories and fat than the sorbettos. For example, the Alba Hazelnut Caffe clocks 250 calories, 17 grams of fat, 21 grams of sugar and 4 grams of protein per serving, while the Bartlett Pear Hibiscus sorbetto comes in at 130 calories, 0 fat, 26 grams of sugar and no protein.
Additionally, in general, the gelato has more traditionally decadent flavors (think chocolate, caramel, vanilla, espresso, etc.) while the sorbetto leans toward fruity flavors (strawberry lemonade, peach sangria, etc.).
But not always! The sorbetto also comes in an extremely tasty Dark Cocoa flavor that would be the absolute perfect — PERFECT — dessert for chocolate ice cream lovers who are avoiding dairy. It melts maybe a bit faster than gelato or regular ice cream, but that’s a small price to pay for such rich dark chocolate flavor in a frozen, dairy-free delight.
Oh, and also? Ciao Bella has actual cocktail recipe suggestions for their sorbettos, like a Frosted Italian Strawberry Limonata made with the Ciao Bella Wild Italian Strawberry Limonata sorbetto, vodka or white rum, San Pellegrino Limonata, frozen and fresh strawberries, and a blender. I kind of can’t help but love a company that knows we sometimes like to drink our dessert, you know?
Ciao Bella has all-new packaging, so if you’ve enjoyed it in the past, be aware that it might look a little different with the new look and new flavors. But, it’s in stores now, so you, too, can have a freezer full of deliciousness!
(Disclaimer: After writing this post, mine is now slightly less full. I finished off the last bit of the Bartlett Pear and Hibiscus because, you know, research.)
Are you more of a gelato or sorbetto fan? Or do you not really care as long as the flavor is there? —Kristen