Review: Talenti Hazelnut Gelato (Only at Target) & Blogging While Falling Asleepzzzz
Junk Food Nation, this is your friendly neighborhood Junk Food Guy. And this is your Junk Food Guy on drugs. And by drugs I mean lots and lots of NyQuil. It’s 10:30pm on Sunday night, and I suppose it would make you laugh that I have had to go back and correct every other word because I am barely keeping my eyelids open as I type this post. THIS is what I do for you. Chromebook on lap, typing away…
…ok, now I’ve moved into that sideways lying down position that we are all familiar with. We assume this position when we are really tired but think, “Oh, I’m just resting my head. I can certainly still read my textbook/watch this movie/type a blog while lying down sideways.” I’m typing with one finger. This “paragraph” has taken 23 minutes to complete.
…
Pretty sure I dozed off there. I’m now in that phase where you are reading the same paragraph over and over but keep losing focus in the middle of it, forcing you to start over. Or when you’re watching the same fifteen minutes of TV repeatedly rewinding because you have no idea what is happening.
Ever have that moment when you’re watching TV, fighting sleep, and you think, “I’ll just close my eyes and listen to the TV program. Yeah, that’s the same. LISTENING! Listening is just as effective as watching, right? I mean, all people had back in the day were radios, right? They used to listen to radio programs without pictures all the timezzzzzzzzzzzz” I DO THAT ALL THE TIME. I do not know why I think that I will get the same pleasure listening to a TV program rather than JUST GOING TO BED.
Oh shoot. I can feel the eyelids finally drooping…so heavy. UCONN wins tonight. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
…
Good morning , Junk Food Nation. It’s a rainy morning here in DC on a Monday, and I just read over what I typed last night. Wow. That NyQuil did a number of me. At least I didn’t have too many spelling errors, although for some reason, as I was half conscious, I thought me typing a blog post as I fell asleep would be RIVETING. Yikes.
Anyways, just wanted to ask all of you out there to bear with me this week. As I recovered from this awful virus, the blog posts may be less frequent…hopefully just for this week. In the meantime, today’s junk food: Talenti Hazlenut Gelato!
Talenti Hazelnut Gelato: The Money Shot
So, you all know I love love LOVE Talenti, and I’ve reviewed plenty of their stuff on this blog. This year, Talenti has a new, Target-only flavor – Talenti Hazelnut Gelato!
Talenti Hazelnut Gelato: Labeled and EVERYTHING
Why sell Talenti Hazelnut Gelato only at Target? Not sure. Is straight up hazelnut flavor ENOUGH for mass consumers to go out of their way to Target to pick it up, thus keeping more customers in-store to buy other things? I don’t think so. But I do LOVE hazelnut, so of course I was one of the lemmings who bought into the exclusivity…
Talenti Hazelnut Gelato: 220 cal per half cup
Talenti Hazelnut Gelato: Simple ingredients
Talenti Hazelnut Gelato only contains eight ingredients, which is nice, and that the fourth ingredient is hazelnuts is even better.
It’s weird though – earlier I said I LOVE hazelnuts, but I think I meant I like Nutella and hazelnut coffee creamer. Otherwise, I tend to avoid hazelnuts…like, the actual nut. I avoid it in candy bars, in mixed nut mixes…hmmm. Maybe I DON’T like hazelnuts!
Talenti Hazelnut Gelato: Clean tub
When I unscrewed this tub/jar of Talenti Hazelnut Gelato and sniffed, I could smell a slight vanilla and hazelnut aroma. Oddly familiar. Time for a bite.
Talenti Hazelnut Gelato: Silky smooth
As alwasy, this Talenti Gelato was SILKY SILKY SMOOTH, and my spoon cut through it with ease. I placed a big bite of this Talenti Hazelnut Gelato in my mouth, and tasted IMMEDIATE hazelnut flavor – very very sweet and nutty!
Because the hazelnut flavor sat on vanilla, instead of chocolate, this did NOT taste like Nutella. “It tastes like my coffee creamer,” said the Junk Food Gal. EXACTLY ….and I LOVE my hazelnut coffee creamer! To be fair, this tasted a LOT better than coffee creamer, but it’s a fairly accurate comparison.
The smooth texture of this gelato (no chunks) contained an amazing vanilla plus hazelnut flavor. It was sweet, creamy, and plenty nutty. If you like hazelnuts, you will be very pleased with this flavor. I really enjoyed it – again, another example of Talenti tackling a very simple flavor and just doing it right.
My buddy Dubba over on OnSecondScoop found this to be good but a bit one note. I can see where he’s coming from…still, I find greatness in this simplicity.
PURCHASED AT: Target
COST: $4.49. No sale. Boo.
Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.
Sincerely,
Junk Food Guy
Discuss - 28 Comments
This would make a excellent coffee float. Instead of root beer using warm coffee then scoop on the hazelnut gelato.
It’s called affogato. And it would be good for that 🙂
@Jessica: +1
@Alek: GREAT COMBO! You think of some excellent ideas 🙂
Wishing you a quick, full recovery!
That gelato sounds really good, but I still think the flavor would be enhanced with at least a little bit of chocolate.
@Liz S: Agree – I need to try this with some chocolate sauce
JunkFoodGuy, it’s okay to take a day or week off when you’re sick – even Cal Ripken Jr did – oh wait, he didn’t! 😛
Tho seriously, feel better, JFG. I’ve never had gelato or coffee creamer, actually.
@MP: Thanks man. I think I should be back to normal tomorrow.
Thanks for posting, we appreciate it! Feel better soon! Same thing going around down here….maybe the change of season!
@Sarah: Thanks – I should be back to normal tomorrow.
The simplest Talenti’s are the best imo, and this shot to the top of the list for me immediately. I’m German, so I know Hazelnut. It is the best nut, period, and I was extremely excited to see this coming out. This, and Egg Nog, another simple but excellent flavor, are the two best Talenti’s out there.
@Sascha: Ah, a true expert! Glad you enjoyed it too!
I went to Target over the weekend specifically to pick some of this up. I don’t usually buy my ice cream at Target. Honestly, I didn’t know they carried Talenti.
Anyway … I FORGOT to pick it up, because I never go through the frozen aisles.
I really wanted to taste this, as I do like their chocolate flavors (not the salted caramel though).
@Cybele: I wonder if that’s their play? Make an exclusive flavor to announce the fact they are going to carry Talenti nationwide?
I keep trying to pick this up but it’s always sold out! Which gives me hope, as I would LOOOOOVE a permanent, pure hazelnut flavor out there, especially by Talenti.
@Allison: Yeah, if you get a chance to try it, let me know what you think!
I love Talenti’s gelato! One of the reasons I like this particular gelato over other brands is simply because it is made with no added hormones, which I like! I know to some others it probably doesn’t make a difference either way, but for someone like me who is very sensitive to any added hormones, that would usually be one of the deciding factors as to whether I will be able to get it or not. Also another one is chocolate. Even though I do love the stuff tremendously, for some reason I also have an adverse reaction to it also 🙁 I have yet to try the Hazelnut version, but it looks really good and it gives me another choice to choose from without the chocolate. So even though it might be simple, maybe simplicity is sometimes good too! 🙂
@Julieanne – I love meeting people who love Talenti as much as I do 🙂
How does anyone like any gelato from this brand. I’ve tried it so many times and so far i liked one flavor. I had other brands with the same flavors and loved them. I just had the caramel cookie which i couldn’t imagine disliking. I threw it out! It was vile! It tasted like I was licking someones sweaty arm pits! Hagen daz tastes fine but talenti is disgusting. You guys must be brainwashed into liking it. It seems like when a high number of people say they like something people become scared to say otherwise. It’s kinda like Jimi Hendrix people will say he’s there favorite guitarist even though they rarely ever listen to his music. People are scared to say otherwise. I can’t think of one reason someone would want to suffer through a bowl of talenti. talenti doesn’t even deserve a capitol t so i spelled it with a lower case. Bleh Nasty!!!
@Edward: Awh, I’m sorry you don’t like Talenti! You should check out my friend onsecondscoop’s blog – all ice cream all the time: http://www.onsecondscoop.com. I’d be curious to see what you think of some of his reviews
I LOVE Talenti’s Hazulnut Gelato–as in adore it! 🙂 And I agree with Sascha above–Eggnog is my other Talenti favorite. While I’m sure that chocolate would be a tasty addition, I personally am allergic to chocolate and so I’m grateful for a full-flavored and truly tasty hazelnut ice cream that does not contain any chocolate! It’s harder to find than you might think…
@Jen: I went back to Target today and it was gone! Sad face
Agree chocolate ruins the pure hazelnut taste.
Target discontinued Hazelnut Gelato and Talenti stopped making it! :-(((
So if you like Nocciola Gelato or Hazelnut Ice Cream from Talenti,
CALL them, WRITE them and demand that they reintroduce it EVERYWHERE since Target does not appreciate it.
Thanks for this review. I needed an alternative hazelnut ice cream source for this cool new holiday drink, and I’m hoping Talenti will be the answer.
http://foodanddrinkchicago.com/new-holiday-drink-tradition/
Why is it green ?
@Jes: Bc my camera is bad, heh. It’s not green
Finally the best Italian gelato is making headways in US, where it is pretty much unknown.
Some people even think they need to spoil it with chocolate! Yuk!
This ice cream (called Nocciola in Italy) should be indulged pure WITHOUT any chocolate!
Now the bad news: Target discontinued it! They still have price tags for it in their freezer, but it had been hopelessly sold out, unlike all the other flavors. And yes, they have one now WITH chocolate too, but it is awful.
So if you like Nocciola Gelato or Hazelnut Ice Cream from Talenti, call them, write them and demand that they reintroduce it EVERYWHERE since Target does not appreciate it.
Talenti! Bring pure Hazelnut Gelato BACK, pleeeeaaase!
Apparently … they no longer carry it. I have bought out all the surrounding Targets & am NOT HAPPY. This is the BEST, SMOOTHEST …
Gellato “Hazelnut” that I have ever had … Now, seemingly gone, I am ready to ask: WTH to Tallenti ?
Anyone have any info. for me ? I am HEARTBROKEN 🙁
Thanks … elinor