Combining pop culture and favorite foods is a feat reserved for both serious fans and serious foodies. Ben & Jerry’s has cornered the ice cream market when it comes to combining the best of pop culture and sweet treats. Among the many fan-favorite flavors available, you might be surprised to find out that neither Cherry Garcia nor Phish Food took the top spot in Tasting Table’s rankings of Ben & Jerry’s pop culture flavors. Rather, this prestigious honor goes to the Stephen Colbert-themed offering, Americone Dream.
Per Tasting Table’s assessment, this pint of vanilla ice cream, laden with fudge-covered waffle cones and caramel swirls, easily took first place for its innovative reimagining of a classic ice cream cone in a spoonable format. Both Cherry Garcia and Phish Food made a good showing, with the former placing third and the latter coming in sixth overall, but neither seemed to achieve the sort of effortless simplicity of Americone Dream. The writer even notes that this concoction seems unusually basic for Ben & Jerry’s, given the brand‘s penchant for fanciful flavors, yet this is its greatest strength.
Notably, when compared to the entire breadth of Ben & Jerry’s repertoire, these pop culture varieties perform somewhat differently. Looking at Tasting Table’s rankings of every Ben & Jerry’s flavor, Americone Dream came in 49th place, Cherry Garcia in 23rd, with Phish Food placing third. Still, there’s something about the versatility of such a simple and delicious ice cream flavor.
Living (and loving) the Americone Dream
Kourtney Paranteau/Tasting Table
Fans of this pop culture ice cream flavor consider it the best for a number of reasons. For one, if your diet doesn’t include dairy, you’ll be pleased to know that there is a version offered among Ben & Jerry’s dairy-free ice cream flavors. What’s more, the proceeds from sales of this ice cream go to benefit Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream Fund charity.
Whether you visit a Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop or prefer to relax with a pint at home, this is an ice cream that simply satisfies. Fans across the internet rave about the flavor. One Redditor calls it, “literally the best flavor ever,” continuing, “I tried it for the first time like a month ago and I couldn’t believe how good it was.” Others compare it to Häagen-Dazs’ Caramel Cone or a classic Drumstick in terms of taste and texture.
Some fans expressed concern that their favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor would be discontinued with the end of Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show; however, both Ben and Jerry appeared on the talk show in December of 2025 to assure consumers that the Americone Dream would endure, noting that proceeds from the sales since its 2007 debut have reached over $7.4 million. Now sporting new packaging, this pop culture flavor shows no signs of slowing.
