Polar’s Raffinato ice cream: Refined or rubbish? 

When it comes to ice cream, we Bangladeshis like it simple and considerably priced. 

With Igloo churning out their Machos, Megas and Cornellis, and delivering hit after hit, Polar - its long time rival - is trying to make up on lost ground with its new premium range of ice cream called Raffinato.

Raffinato, which translates to "refined" in Italian, comes in three flavours - Mint Chocolate, Mocha and Natural Vanilla.

Each flavour can be found in one-litre tubs and costs Tk500 per tub. You can either buy the ice cream from select stores in Dhaka or you can order it from their website.

While delivery is free, there are still many areas in Dhaka where delivery is not available. For a full list of delivery locations and stores which sell the ice cream, you can visit their website: raffinato.com.bd. 

We decided to order all three flavours to taste them and see if it's worth the price.

Mint chocolate
5/10

Now, this is a flavour that has been very controversial. No other local ice cream company  currently makes mint flavoured ice cream. 

Previously Baskin-Robbins had mint flavoured ice cream but this ice-cream chain isn't here anymore. 

There are those who will find the taste of mint being too strong and find it similar to toothpaste and not like it at all. And then there are those who will love the taste of toothpaste and probably gulp down half a tub at one go. 

Natural vanilla
8/10

This is probably that one flavour most people will like - it is vanilla ice cream with cocoa bits inside. 

This ice cream is rich and smooth, and the bits of chocolate really elevate things to the next level.

Another good thing is the amount of sweetness, which is not overwhelming and this is a flavour we can wholeheartedly recommend. 

The issue still may be that everyone may not want to pay Tk500 for a tub of vanilla ice cream but we still feel this is the safest option to pick. 

Mocha
6/10

This is probably the most interesting flavour of the three.

This is the flavour that most people should like but it does have certain aspects that many may not find pleasant.

The ice cream is rich and creamy and has bits of cacao in it like the rest, and has a strong mocha flavour, which can be a bit too strong for many with it having a slightly bitter aftertaste and that might not be something everyone will like.
 
Overall we feel that these three new flavours are interesting and have gotten people talking, but for the price, many may not be interested in paying a premium. 

Polar has tried here but the effort probably will not be enough to gain lost ground over the likes of Igloo.