Shae and I have been to Vermont 3 times so far on our 5 year, 50 state road trip and there’s only one thing we’ve done each time we’ve been there – visited Ben & Jerry’s in Waterbury.
The first time we visited we did a full tour (you can read more about the Ben & Jerry’s Factory Tour here), then we just went for ice cream while doing a food and drink tour around central Vermont.
Most recently, Shae’s parents came to visit Vermont, so we took them on a tour of all our favorite things which, needless to say, included a visit to Ben & Jerry’s to go on a tour and get some ice cream. The last part of the visit was a tour of the Flavor Graveyard.
What’s the Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard?
The Flavor Graveyard is where past Ben & Jerry’s flavors that didn’t make it go to live out the rest of their lives be buried. Is there a flavor you once loved but is no longer sold in stores? There’s a good chance you’ll find it here, so come and pay your respects.
There’s a headstone dedicated to each of the flavors, with each one reminding you of what the ice cream was made of and an epitaph befitting each flavor.
How Many Flavors Are In The Flavor Graveyard?
At the time of our visit, there were 40 flavors. I’m not sure if newly retired deceased flavors are added to the existing flavors, or if they only have a maximum of 40 flavor headstones at a time.
Where Is The Flavor Graveyard?
The Flavor Graveyard can be found at the main Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury, Vermont. The address is 1281 Waterbury Stowe Rd Route 100, Waterbury, VT 05676.
When you arrive, head up the stairs from the parking lot towards the factory entrance. Head past the entrance and keep following the path. You’ll see signs for the Flavor Graveyard along the way and you’ll pass a playground just before you get there.
How Much Does It Cost To Visit The Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard?
Nothing! You can check it out for free even without going on a tour or buying ice cream. I highly recommend doing both of those though as they’re only ~$4 each.
What’s My Favorite Flavor In The Flavor Graveyard?
I’m almost certain you didn’t ask this in your head, but I’ll tell you anyway. I can’t stand the Dave Matthews Band – they’re one of the dullest bands that’s ever been inflicted on the planet – but their Ben & Jerry’s flavor sounded amazing. It was called Dave Matthews Band’s Magic Brownies and contained black raspberry ice cream swirled with sweet cream ice cream and fudgy brownies.
I’d never heard of it before visiting Ben & Jerry’s and so I’m a little relieved that I never got to try it – that way I don’t have to live in sorrow the rest of my life having tasted its amazingness but not being able to experience its sweet, sweet taste anymore.
What Flavors Are In The Flavor Graveyard?
You might not have asked this either, but I doubt you’d have read this far if you weren’t at least a little interested. As I mentioned earlier, there were 40 flavors in the graveyard when we visited, so here’s a list of what they all are.
The headstones have a description of their flavors. They’re a little hard to see in the photos below though, so I’ve typed those out, along with the epitaphs to the ice creams that appear on the headstones.
Flavor Description
A peanut butter caramel core surrounded by chocolate & peanut butter ice creams with fudge chips.
Epitaph
Since P.B. Me Up went under
Nobody seems to miss it.
Which is why it’s in this Graveyard,
Which everyone loves to visit
When It Was Available
2002-2003
Flavor Description
Cherry Garcia & Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice creams side by side.
Epitaph
Fans of the flick about a gawky high schooler
Thought the flavor we made could have been a lot cooler
Gosh! if we’d been quicker at reading their thoughts
We’d have realized they wanted a flavor with tots.
When It Was Available
2006-2010
Flavor Description
Chocolate ice cream with a classic Whoopie Pie mixture of marshmallow & devil’s food cookies.
Epitaph
Though we sure loved Makin’ Whoopie Pie,
And you loved eating the stuff,
After a while we all had to admit
It just wasn’t Whoopie enough.
When It Was Available
2002-2003
Flavor Description
Strawberry & blueberry ice creams with fudge-covered cracklin’ candy & a blueberry swirl.
Epitaph
Cracklin’ candies in our ice cream
What a blast! we thought,
Alas, instead of kabooming,
The flavor kabombed…a lot.
When It Was Available
2001
Flavor Description
Coconut ice cream with pineapple chunks.
Epitaph
You loved Pina Colada
More than a whole lotta,
We know that much is true.
Alas, not a whole lotta others
Loved it as much as you.
When It Was Available
2013
Flavor Description
Milk chocolate ice cream & white fudge cows swirled with white chocolate ice cream & dark chocolate cows.
Epitaph
Where do all the cows go
When heaven gives the word?
This flavor kicked the bucket
When angels took the herd.
When It Was Available
1998-2001
Flavor Description
Vanilla ice cream with chocolate-covered almonds.
Epitaph
In memory of nuts
And Green Mountain Boys,
Here history shuts
The pint lid on their joys.
When It Was Available
1988
Flavor Description
Caramel ice cream with white fudge covered-caramel popcorn, toffee-covered peanuts & a caramel swirl.
Epitaph
Peanuts, Popcorn!
Mix ’em in a pot!
Plop ’em in your ice cream!
Well, maybe not.
When It Was Available
2000
Flavor Description
Sweet cream cinnamon ice cream with oatmeal cookies & fudge chunks.
Epitaph
From the moment Oatmeal went,
There’s been no end to the lament.
If you’d sowed more Oatmeal before the reap,
We wouldn’t have buried it so deep.
When It Was Available
2004-2012
Flavor Description
Peanut butter ice cream with peanut butter bits and a strawberry jelly swirl.
Epitaph
An unbeatable duo!
Yet somehow it managed
To flop in a cone,
So we stuck to the sammich.
When It Was Available
1989-1990
Flavor Description
Vanilla ice cream with a hint of rum & loaded with fudge-covered rum & malt balls.
Epitaph
Inspired by the classic SNL sketch that dished
The Schweddy family recipe you can’t resist
Our rum-&-malt-ball-filled creation
Fueled a Schweddy frenzy across the nation.
When It Was Available
2011
Flavor Description
Vanilla ice cream with strawberries and fudge-covered shortbread.
Epitaph
A flavor so smashing – & yet it fouled out;
Strawberries & shortbread – a love match devout
But sadly it missed all the fame it deserved
A bit too much English put into the serve.
When It Was Available
1989-1990
Flavor Description
Chewy chocolate chunk cookies with vanilla & chocolatey chip ice cream.
Epitaph
The Wich that was,
Was wicked good,
And all was well
For quite a spell.
However it was,
The Wich that was
Was ditched…because.
When It Was Available
2004-2006
Flavor Description
Ginger ice cream with a fudge swirl.
Epitaph
One potato, two potato,
Sweet Potato Pie,
No one could appreciate it
So we had to let it die
When It Was Available
1992-1993
Flavor Description
Coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl & fudge cows.
Epitaph
Right, then…is it dead or isn’t it?
No it isn’t…
Yes it is…
No it isn’t…
Rubbish! You’re a loony!
No I’m not…
When It Was Available
2006-2008
Flavor Description
Chocolate ice cream with pecans, almonds, raisins & chocolate chips.
Epitaph
Here the brazen
DASTARDLY lies.
Some say that raisin,
Caused its demise.
When It Was Available
1979-1991* (The headstone says 1976, but it was 1979)
Flavor Description
Vanilla ice cream with fudge & caramel cashews & a caramel swirl.
Epitaph
Slow and Steady wins the race,
Turtle Soup kept up the pace.
You may protest, but we suggest
Turtle Soup deserves a rest.
When It Was Available
2006-2010
Flavor Description
Sweet custard ice cream with a caramelized sugar swirl.
Epitaph
Pardon our French, but we still swear
Our Crème Brûlée is beyond compare,
So it may not be beaucoup too late to save
Crème Brûlée from beyond the grace.
When It Was Available
2007-2012
Flavor Description
Coconut almond fudge chip meets New York super fudge chunk. A swirling safari of chocolate ice cream & coconut ice cream mixed with white & dark chocolatey chunks, pecans & roasted almonds.
Epitaph
The chaos & cacophony
Of busy city life
Lies peaceful now under a maple tree
This flavor lost its strife.
When It Was Available
2000-2001
Flavor Description
Chocolate truffle low fat ice cream swirled with white chocolate low fat ice cream.
Epitaph
It’s curtains for the chocolate pair
I ate alone in the comfy chair,
One pint per night it might have been
But ’twas low fat so it weren’t no sin.
When It Was Available
1999
Flavor Description
A caramel & cashew Brazil nut ice cream with a chocolate hazelnut fudge swirl & roasted almonds.
Epitaph
Just to there’s no confusion
We thought we oughtta warn ya:
Wavy Gravy isn’t dead –
He lives in California.
No such luck for Wavy’s flavor,
But we’ve been wrong before,
We won’t give up the ghost if you won’t,
So what’re you waiting for?
When It Was Available
1993-2001
Flavor Description
Vanilla ice cream with Rainforest Crunch, a cashew and Brazil nut butter crunch.
Epitaph
With aching heart & heavy sigh
We bid Rainforest Crunch goodbye.
That nutty brittle from exotic places
Got sticky in between our braces.
When It Was Available
1989-1999
Flavor Description
Blueberry ice cream with Maine blueberry purée and wild Maine blueberries.
Epitaph
Wild Maine Blueberry
From the land of the puffin,
Now when we crave you
We turn to the muffin.
When It Was Available
1992-1993
Flavor Description
Sweet cream ice cream with chocolate cookie pieces, fudge dinosaurs & a fudge swirl.
Epitaph
Fudgy dinosaurs galore
Got all dug up til there were no more.
A flavor re-design might be do-able
But Fossil Fuel is non-renewable.
When It Was Available
2005-2010
Flavor Description
A nutty mix of chocolate & pistachio ice creams with fudge-covered almonds & lightly roasted pistachios.
Epitaph
The name was meant to say it all
Without the pompous prose
Was it nuts we chose to say so,
or was it the nuts we chose?
When It Was Available
2001-2002
Flavor Description
Coffee ice cream with Amaretto, Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey and roasted slivered almonds.
Epitaph
The bottle is empty,
The cup, and the glass.
Mud with Jack Daniels
Was not meant to last.
When It Was Available
1988-1989
Flavor Description
Swirls of raspberry-blackberry & passion fruit sorbet with other natural flavors.
Epitaph
We kept the passion going
’til all efforts were in vain.
Now Purple Passion’s majesty’s
Beneath the fruited plain.
When It Was Available
1996-2001
Flavor Description
Fresh pear ice cream with a hint of almond and a light fudge swirl.
Epitaph
Oh Pear, Oh Pear,
A mixture of mirth
All nannies did weep
When you left of this earth.
When It Was Available
1997
Flavor Description
Plum ice cream with a caramel swirl.
Epitaph
It swirled in our heads,
It danced in our dreams,
It proved not to be though,
The best of ice creams.
When It Was Available
1989-1990
Flavor Description
Swirls of light chocolate & dark chocolate sorbet.
Epitaph
The Devil took the blame
For all the rich indulgence.
Now watch him fan the flame,
Melting puddles of wicked succulence.
When It Was Available
1996-2001
Flavor Description
Vanilla ice cream with fresh Georgia peaches.
Epitaph
Fresh-picked peaches trucked from Georgia
Tasted great but couldn’t last
‘Cuz Georgia’s quite a-ways away
& trucks don’t go that fast.
When It Was Available
1986-1991
Flavor Description
Rich milk chocolate cashew Brazil-nut butter ice cream with macadamia nuts covered in white & dark fudge & a milk chocolatey swirl.
Epitaph
We won’t blame the macadamia
But we were kinda in denial
The Marketplace had spoken:
Mac got aloha’ed off the aisle.
When It Was Available
2001-2002
Flavor Description
Vanilla frozen yogurt with gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough.
Epitaph
So now we know: our dough Fro Yo
Just wasn’t as great as expected.
Folks who love Dough as well as Fro Yo
Love ’em separate, not interconnected,
When It Was Available
1994-2001
Flavor Description
Coffee ice cream with Kahlua coffee liqueur.
Epitaph
Bid adieu to ol’ White Russian,
Our tears, they are a-gushin’
But in our scoop shops, please don’t forget,
Dead it’s not, oh no, not nyet.
When It Was Available
1986-1996
Flavor Description
Raspberry & chocolate ice creams with chocolatey chunks & raspberry core.
Epitaph
This core concoction was a’rockin,
’til the Reaper came a’knockin.
Maybe someday who-knows-when,
More fans’ll give a jam again.
When It Was Available
2014-2015
Flavor Description
Coconut ice cream with fudge chips & roasted almonds.
Epitaph
This coconutty contender
May never surrender.
Of the Graveyard’s legendariest,
It’s among the temporariest.
When It Was Available
1993-1996
1998-1999
2001-2006
Flavor Description
Honey vanilla ice cream & fudge-covered honeycomb candy nuggets.
Epitaph
It was a honey of a flavor,
But all too brief a love affair.
Honey ran away from home,
To new digs you-know-where.
When It Was Available
2002
Flavor Description
Black raspberry ice cream swirled with sweet cream ice cream & fudgy brownies.
Epitaph
The first edition was “too vanilla”,
So we more or less re-mixed it.
The encore was raspberrier,
But not enough, so we deep-sixed it.
When It Was Available
2007-2011
Flavor Description
Peanut butter ice cream with caramel cluster pieces, marshmallow swirls & peanut buttery swirls.
Epitaph
Gooey marshmallow, caramel and p.b.
What a Cluster it was, but inevitably
Stuff happens, so for better or worse,
What a Cluster was trucked away in the hearse.
When It Was Available
2011-2014
Flavor Description
Vanilla with chocolate covered almond, pecans and walnuts.
Epitaph
A delightful mash,
This flavor we remember
For the stock market crash
On the sixth of November.
When It Was Available
1987
Question
My favorite flavor was the Dave Matthews Band’s Magic Brownies, but how about you? What’s your favorite flavor that’s now in the Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard? Let us know in the comments below.
Didn’t have to dog DMB. Different tastes. I do appreciate the photos though – well done on that!