Baskin-Robbins x IF Menu review: The movie-inspired flavors will spark your imagination

Movie tie-ins can be a mixed bag. Some are weird cash-ins that only serve to fuel “hey remember this Jar-Jar Binks tongue lollipop?” articles years later. Others toss a picture of the movie on the bag and leave it at that. But Baskin-Robbins' new menu inspired by IF, the upcoming feature film from director John Krasinski, is anything but. Two new flavors, a bunch of add-ons, and some surprising combinations that will spark your imagination.

Let’s give a brief recap of what to expect, first. The main event is not one, but two Flavors of the Month: Blue’s Boardwalk Bash, and Blossom’s Berry Twirl. The former is inspired by Steve Carrell’s imaginary friend character, a big fuzzball named Blue, and is described as, “A carnival in a cup, the new flavor combines blue raspberry-flavored ice cream with crunchy OREO Cookie Pieces and cotton candy swirls.” The latter is inspired by Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character, a human-shaped ladybug named Blossom, and, “combines strawberry and sweet cream ice creams with rainbow sprinkles and pink sugar cookie dough flowers.”

Beyond that, you can get either flavor as a Creature Creation, which adds a character cup, sprinkles, and a cute little topper made of white chocolate with a print of the character’s hair or antennae, respectively. There’s also the What IF Sundae, which adds two scoops of Blossom’s Berry Twirl, strawberry topping, rainbow sprinkles, whipped cream, and a cherry on top of a piece of confetti cake.

Setup out of the way, how were these flavors? I went to try them with my son, who loves blue raspberry, OREOs, and cotton candy, so he seemed a clear mark for the Blue’s Boardwalk Bash. We got both flavors as Creature Creations, which are whimsical and cute, but perhaps not worth the extra cash unless you’re a big fan of sprinkles or white chocolate.

In fact, we both expected to like the Blue’s flavor better, but… Shocking twist… Blossom’s Berry Twirl is easily the better of the two, and in fact a pretty delicious summer ice cream flavor.

Let’s talk Blue, though. There’s a lot going on in this scoop, and it all ends up clashing with each other, flavorwise. The Blue Raspberry ice cream is the weak point… It’s a strange flavor for ice cream, versus a sorbet or slush; and doesn’t quite gel with the creaminess of ice cream. The OREOs provide some nice crunch and texture but don’t mix well with the Blue Raspberry. By far the most intriguing part of the scoop was the cotton candy swirls, which have the consistency of thick syrup or extremely melty taffy… There’s a pull to them and flavor that’s nice and subtle in a way you wouldn’t expect from cotton candy, but it works. There’s just way more Blue Raspberry ice cream, and it ends up getting overwhelmed.

On the other hand, the Blossom’s Berry Twirl is fantastic. Even my son who professed to not like strawberry loved this flavor. It’s fresh, bright, creamy, and the sprinkles provide a pop of color. Every once in a while you get the pink sugar cookie dough, which is also a welcome textural change. I’d be hard-pressed to identify them as flowers, but I do identify them as delicious.

So overall, while I was mixed/negative on the Blue’s, as was my son, the Blossom’s Berry Twirl is well worth the trip to Baskin-Robbins. And maybe get a second scoop while you’re there. You know, for your imaginary friend.

Baskin-Robbins provided a gift card to Guilty Eats in order to try the IF flavors.