Ben & Jerry's Now Has Vegan Ice Cream, And We Got To Taste It

Vegans, Ben & Jerry's heard your call.

The ice creamery that does what it wants turned to its hungry fan base for the company's next invention, its first-ever run of vegan-certified ice creams. Sorry: "non-dairy frozen desserts," technically speaking.

The flavors -- Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Chunky Monkey, Coffee Caramel Fudge, and P.B. & Cookies -- taste as rich as their creamy cousins, except without the eggs and milk. Instead, each gets its decadence from almond milk and coconut oil.

"For years, non-dairy fans have been forced to watch with envy as their friends enjoyed their one-of-a-kind Ben & Jerry's flavors," the company said in a statement. "But now the tables have turned."

Kirsten Schimoler, Ben & Jerry's principal food scientist who invented the flavors, told HuffPost that the new line was partially made as a response to a petition asking for Ben & Jerry's to make vegan flavors that got more than 28,000 signatures .

"For many, Ben & Jerry’s sets the ice cream agenda," the authors of the petition wrote . "They are in a position to lead the way and make non-dairy ice cream a mainstream choice, like meatless Mondays. Offering an ice cream for their vegan customers would signal their support for cutting back on animal products."

Schimoler said it took a few years to develop the right balance of ingredients (because there was no pre-existing process, she and her team had to come up with one) to make a creamy dairy-free mix that had the same mouthfeel and texture as ice cream -- the longest it's ever taken to make a new flavor. As a result, Ben & Jerry's is even making its own almond milk for the base.

So how does it taste?

Here's how we rank them, in order of creamiest and most delicious, to "thanks, but no thanks."

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