With over hundreds of ice cream flavors, which one is the best? The answer is personal preference, of course, but within a group of 30 people, what will be the winning ice cream flavor? This experiment was put to the test at ERHS.

To make the results less complicated, the choices were more limited, so the 30 people could only choose flavors that most ice cream shops would offer. Out of the 30 random people who were asked the same question, “What’s the best ice cream flavor?” 13 said theirs is vanilla, which received the most votes. Mint chocolate chip is second, with seven votes. Third place is strawberry, with three votes. Two ice cream flavors both had two votes, which are birthday cake and chocolate. With only one vote, Cherry is the least chosen.

Grace Beltran, a freshman at ERHS, was one of the many who said vanilla is their favorite ice cream flavor, and explained her choice.

“Vanilla is the best because it’s a sweet yet plain flavor,” Beltran says. “There’s just so much you can do with it, like adding many toppings or having the ice cream with cookies or cake.”

Meanwhile, Esmeralda Hernandez, a freshman at ERHS and the only person who said cherry is their favorite ice cream flavor, explained why they enjoy this flavor.

“It’s delicious, especially with chocolate chunks,” Hernandez says. “Not many people like or prefer it, but it’s a nice, not too sweet flavor that I can enjoy a whole cup of.”

These results are similar to what the rest of the U.S. thinks. With surveys by the International Dairy Foods Association and other groups, vanilla consistently is ranked as number one, with chocolate in number two. Additionally, the reason why vanilla is always ranked so high is because of what you can do with it. Since it is a classic and basic flavor, you can add many toppings to it, like chocolate drizzle and sprinkles.

Personally, I think the best ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip, like many, with cookie dough a close second. Mint chip ice cream is delicious, and not too sweet as the chocolate and mint balance together. Cookie dough is also really good, because the raw cookie dough pieces inside of it add to the sweet flavor.

In the end, the best ice cream flavor is obviously subjective. However, there are just some that have more support than other ice cream flavors. So, enjoy your favorite ice cream, which could be vanilla!