So the 4th of July weekend pretty much alternated between downpours of rain, and somewhat-hot temperatures and enough humidity to make everything sticky and lazy feeling outside.  Not exactly festive.  The solution!

For us, it was heading over to Rita’s in South Windsor, CT, admittedly, with a Buy-2-Get-1-Free coupon in hand.  Will we be willing to return for another visit, sans coupon?

Based on the Peach Italian Ice alone, yes.  Smoother than a snow cone, thicker than a Slurpee or an Icee, yet softer than straight up sorbet, my hope was that the flavor would be intense and super-fruity, more peach-like than any peach in nature.  This was pretty close to perfect.  The peach flavor tasted very accurate and clear, yet also very sweet and strong.  Each spoonful ended with flowery, almost perfume-y notes which ended up tasting a bit artificial, my only complaint.  Rita’s allows layer and mixing of flavors, this cup of peach had blueberry on the bottom which was good, but paled in comparison to the peach on top.

The Banana Strawberry was creamier than the peach, but not at all heavy and still refreshing.  Unfortunately the label on the freezer said it had chunks of banana in there and while I did get a few, I wanted MORE.  When ordering it had me thinking of the Hawaiian Blizzard at Dairy Queen, and my favorite part of that is the chunks of cold, dense, chewy banana mixed in with the soft-serve.  If only this was a bit more chunky it would have been right up there with the peach for me.

Others on the Tasty New England team ventured into mixtures I dared-not-tread.  I’m into ice cream, and I’m into Italian Ice, but when multiple textures and flavors start getting into the mix I freak out a little.  However, everybody reported that theirs was tasty and the soft-serve seemed quite typical and appropriately smooth and creamy.  It’s not anyone’s fault, it’s just when I take a bit of something with vanilla and chocolate and peach and blackberry in the same cup my eyes just kinda glaze over and I can’t process anything.

We’ll be back at Rita’s in South Windsor, as it’s a nice short trip for us out to the whole Manchester/South Windsor/Buckland area, the ice is yummy, and they do have benches outside for people watching.  Not a bad way to get out of the house on a sticky summer evening.