(jessicafm/Flickr)

Talia Ralph, Guest Contributor

If there’s one thing in this world we can all agree on, it’s the awesomeness of ice cream.

Everyone — from my 14-year-old brother to Steve Grossman, the Democratic candidate for Massachusetts treasurer — has found joy in an icy, creamy treat on a hot summer day. (Maybe no one more than Grossman, actually, who has been conducting a state-wide ice cream tour throughout his campaign.)

But there’s a point at which we all diverge – which flavor is the best?

At WBUR’s Radio Boston, we’ve been on a slightly different quest. “Best” is relative, but on Friday’s show, we’re trying out some of the wildest, wackiest flavors Boston has to offer. On the menu?

• Tobacco, from TW Food
• Black Pepper, from Hungry Mother
• Basil, also from Hungry Mother
• Blueberry Pancake, from Toscanini’s
• Cinammon, from Picco
• Adzuki Bean, from Christina’s

In the name of journalism (I know, my life is really hard), I raided the freezer for the few flavors we’ve got left lying around from our taste-test: Basil, Blueberry Pancake and Adzuki Bean.

I had low expectations for Basil, though it’s one of my favorite herbs to cook with. I was waiting for the ice-cream to taste like a pasta dish in icy form, but it was surprisingly sweet and refreshing, with an almost sorbet-like consistency.

Adzuki bean (yea, I had to google it: it’s a small red bean with a sweet flavor used widely in Japanese cooking) was more subdued than I expected, and the little adzuki bean flakes didn’t do much for me.

Toscanini’s blueberry pancake was my favorite of the bunch. I’m a sucker for anything blueberry, especially when the summer berries are embedded in an ultra-creamy, cake-batter-esque sea of icy goodness. My only qualm? The blueberries are dried, which adds a nice chewy consistency, but doesn’t pack as much berry-tastic flavor as I wanted (though its admittedly hard to recreate biting into a delicious, hot blueberry pancake with the whole icy, cold thing happening). I think a blueberry swirl of some kind would have been a solid addition.

What about you guys – what are your favorite flavors? Do you go for crazy or classic? I’m always up for a little more taste-testing – for research, of course.

And don’t forget to listen in to Radio Boston’s segment Friday at 3 pm for more.