Riding the coat-tails of the flavored spread craze (peach/black cherry/smoked salmon/bacon/olive/honey-pecan cream cheese, anyone?), Cool Whip is launching some brand new bold whipped-topping flavors, and TODAY Food got a hold of the first tubs of nouveau creamy goodness.
First up: Peppermint Cool Whip, just in time for the holidays. Honestly I was expecting an overwhelming candy cane flavor. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised that it has just a hint of mint. With its subtle minty essence, I can imagine a million seasonal applications for this one, from a dollop on top of hot chocolate (who doesn't love mint hot chocolate? Mmmmm) to a sandwich cookie filling (think holiday moon pies). Bonus: Its velvety texture and very pretty soft pink color, because everyone loves a pink pastry, amiright? The flavor will be available in October 2016.
RELATED: We tried Swedish Fish Oreos, and here's what we thought
TODAY Food also got a preview of a new crowdsourced flavor that will debut February 2017. Fans of the creamy dessert topping cast their votes among blueberry, cheesecake and strawberry-banana flavors.
Here, now, we can reveal the winner...it's cheesecake, hands down! Although this flavor will not be available in stores for a few months, the folks at the Cool Whip lab "whipped" up a special sample so we could try it.
RELATED: Oreo reveals new choco-chip cookie and it's amazing
The verdict: If I didn't know it was cheesecake, I would have guessed butterscotch. The flavor was mild enough that it accented the creamy flavor of the whipped topping rather than dominating it. I think it would go great with anything that has a toffee or caramel flavor profile. Or anything chocolate, such as piled atop a chocolate cream pie. Of course, there's another option that's always great too: spooning it straight from tub to mouth.