Fro-yo girl here. Bi-Rite is such an amazing market filled with hard to find products. During a recent visit, I spotted Kayak Greek Frozen Yogurt. They had two flavors: Madagascar Vanilla and Pure (no added sugar). I’d seen pictures of Kayak, which is made in Greece with real Greek yogurt, before, but I had never encountered the product in person. Bi-Rite was selling Kayak frozen yogurt for $6.99 each. The container is 500 ml (16.9 fl oz).
I was intrigued by the no sugar added Pure (plain flavor) and expected it to have a strong yogurt flavor.
* Pure Greek frozen yogurt: The frozen yogurt was creamy and thick, easily scoopable. It didn’t have a sour yogurt flavor or yogurt tang. It tasted like plain milk ice cream, sweet, with a cream aftertaste. It wasn’t unpleasant but it was very mild, to the point of being bland. It was sweeter than I expected.
One serving (1/2 a cup) of Pure frozen yogurt has 6g total fat, 5g sugars, and 4g protein.
Ingredients: Milk, Greek strained yogurt (skim milk, condensed skim milk, cream, milk proteins, bacterial culture), isomalt, cream, skim milk, sorbitol syrup, less than 0.5% of mono and diglycerides of fatty acids, guar gum, cellulose gum, carrageenan, steviol glycosides. The ingredients are non GMO.
Isomalt is a sugar substitute. Steviol glycosides are another term for stevia. Sorbitol syrup is also a sweetener. It’s too bad that they added so many sugar substitutes to their frozen yogurt.
3 out of 5 stars.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* BI-RITE MARKET: 550 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117
Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.
Fro-yo girl here. Icelandic Provisions, Smari, Siggi’s and now Norr Skyr specialize in Icelandic/Nordic style yogurt, known as skyr. I stumbled upon Norr Skyr at Bi-Rite in San Francisco. It’s a San Francisco based company founded by two Scandinavians who value foods “that are authentic, clean and simple.” Norr Skyr is made with organic, grassfed milk from small American farms with curative Nordic botanicals.
All the skyr brands offer all-natural products and they all claim to have less sugar. Icelandic Provisions skyr is not certified organic but their milk is sourced from family run farms in New York which do not use growth hormones. They are the only brand to use heirloom skyr cultures from Iceland. Norr and Smari are certified organic. Norr and Icelandic Provisions focus on providing Nordic flavors, using Nordic fruits and flavors.
Siggi’s, the original brand of skyr in the US, is not certified organic but it uses milk from grassfed cows and is free of growth hormones and is all natural and non-GMO. It has more flavors, including some Nordic and some American flavors. Smari is made with organic milk from grassfed cows in Wisconsin. Their flavors are more American (key lime, strawberry, coffee) than Nordic.
Bi-Rite had four varieties of Norr for $2.49 each: plain non-fat, plain whole milk, gooseberries and elderflower. They recently introduced a new flavor, Sea Buckthorn, but I didn’t see it at Bi-Rite.
* Organic elderflower skyr: The yogurt smelled potent. I was surprised that it wasn’t as thick as the others but more like a thick soup. The texture was creamy but it did have a few small lumps. The lid said to stir before eating. The flavor was extra tart/sour and also tangy. I liked the elderflower; it was fragrant but not too floral. The yogurt definitely has less sugar and I liked the flavor but I wish it were thicker.
One serving is 5.3 oz, 100 calories, 0g of fat, 10g sugars, and 15g of protein.
Ingredients: Organic pasteurized skim milk, organic elderflower extract (water, organic elderflowers, organic lemon juice, Vitamin C), organic cane sugar, live active probiotic cultures
* Organic gooseberries skyr: The fruit was on the bottom of this one. The yogurt was thicker than the elderflower version but not as thick as Smari or Siggi’s (less straining, perhaps?). The gooseberries didn’t have a strong flavor though I could taste them. They tasted vaguely like grapes. I didn’t like the texture of the product; it was very grainy and clumpy. I think they kept the gooseberry skins. Also, the flavor wasn’t pleasant like the elderflower. I wouldn’t get it again.
One serving is 5.3 oz, 100 calories, 0g of fat, 15g of protein, and 8g of sugars.
Ingredients: Organic pasteurized skim milk, organic gooseberries, organic cane sugar, water, apple pectin, organic vanilla extract, live active probiotic cultures
Use the store locator feature on Norr’s website if you’d like to find the nearest retailer that carries their products.
3 out of 5 stars.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* BI-RITE: 3639 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94110
Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.
