SWRLIES, A New Froyo Pop-up in Los Angeles

Fro-yo girl here. SWRLIES just started their froyo pop-up this month in Los Angeles. They’ve popped up in Eagle Rock and Highland Park so far. They set up a trailer with a freezer filled with frozen fruit and frozen yogurt bars, a hand-churned machine that blends them together, and some toppings and sauces.

They call their frozen yogurt Jalisco style. It’s all-natural frozen yogurt (they made their own yogurt base and formed it into blocks; I was told the yogurt was not sweetened) blended to order with your choice of fruit. Choose your size (Small, $4.25 or Large, $5.00), your fruit (you can pick more than one kind), and your toppings and sauces. They use organic frozen fruit. If you’d like a sweeter treat, they can add sugar or Splenda before blending or you can choose a sweet sauce. The price includes toppings and sauces.

* Frozen yogurt blended with strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry topped with mixed nuts and granola ($4.25): The frozen fruit made the yogurt icy but it also gave it a thicker texture (seeds, skins) and flavor. Since it was freshly churned, the texture was softer. It’s a simple treat that tastes natural and healthy. However, I’ve made better froyo at home. If they used a higher fat yogurt, maybe the texture would be creamier? It’s less creamy than Yogen Fruz, Loving Cup and the other mix-in froyo places that I’ve tried.

I was curious about Jalisco style frozen yogurt. I looked at places serving frozen yogurt in Guadalajara, the largest city in Jalisco, Mexico. There were shops that serve soft serve frozen yogurt dispensed from soft serve machines (some were self-serve, some weren’t) and the mix-in style frozen yogurt. Interestingly, there were multiple Yogen Fruz locations in the area.

You can find Swrlies by following them on Instagram, @swrlies.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* SWRLIES FROYO: 4956 York Blvd, Los Angeles (Highland Park), CA 90042

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.

Humphrey Yogart Reopens in Sherman Oaks

Fro-yo girl here. Humphrey Yogart first opened in Sherman Oaks in February 1984. In March of this year, they closed their doors when they couldn't come to an agreement with their new landlord. Froyo fans were understandably devastated but this story has a happy ending. The owners, Jim and Paula Sheftel, looked for a new location and they found one in the same shopping center as their original shop. The two met and fell in love at the shop and they were both there on opening day, making yogart (so cute).

The new Humphrey Yogart is located inside Gelson’s grocery store. Thank you, Gelson’s! They started swirling at their new location today, November 18, 2016. Look for their kiosk at the front of Gelson’s.

The menu still provides many options but they no longer offer soups, sandwiches and coffee. The menu includes frozen yogurt, ice cream, shakes, sundaes, and acai bowls. Their most popular item is the blend-in style “yogart” where you choose the base of yogart (sweet vanilla, tart vanilla, chocolate), ice cream, organic soy (vegan), organic coconut (vegan) and low carb daily flavor, choose your blend in ingredients (fruit, peanut butter, nuts, green tea, cinnamon, espresso, chocolate chips, candy, cookie dough, cookie butter, brownies, cream cheese, etc.) and add a topping or cone. Your custom creation is placed in a machine and blended together.

I personally prefer the tart vanilla base because it is quite tart. It goes well with fruit and green tea.

Froyo prices: Non-fat yogart mini $3.05, small $4.05, medium $5.25, large $6.50, XL $8.05. Blend in prices start at 30 cents (the price goes up as the cup size increases).

The old stamp cards still work or ask for a new one. If you like blend-in style yogart, Humphrey’s is the place to go in the San Fernando Valley. It’s open daily from 11 AM – 11 PM.

I looked over at the old location. The building is still standing but it’s completely vacant and the façade/exterior has been removed. It looks like the entire building is being renovated. There was a sign for the Burger Lounge which must be moving in.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* HUMPHREY YOGART: 4520 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

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.

Yogurtland’s New Offering: Zoom, the All-New Way to Froyo

Fro-yo girl here. I recently noticed that Yogurtland Chino Hills, CA and West Covina, CA now offer Yogurtland Zoom. Zoom is a blended froyo product. You select the frozen yogurt flavor and the toppings and Yogurtland blends it together for you (similar to Dairy Queen’s Blizzard or McDonald’s McFlurry) using a machine.

I visited Yogurtland West Covina (1000 W Covina Pkwy). Zoom is priced by weight at the same price: 45 cents an ounce. There are taller Zoom cups, longer spoons, and signs with instructions and recipes.

I decided to mix Lucky Mint Crème froyo, Double Cookies & Cream froyo, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and Oreo cookies. I put everything in the cup (you don’t have to fill the cup) and handed it to the Yogurtland associate. The cup is placed into a blending machine and everything is mixed together. It doesn’t take long.

I liked what I blended together – the flavors were complementary. However, I noticed the add ins weren’t blended in well. The chocolate chips still seemed to be intact and there were big cookie chunks too. Other places do a better job blending the yogurt and toppings. The frozen yogurt comes out softer too. I like unblended frozen yogurt and toppings better.

Yogen Fruz is the leader in the mixed/blended froyo category. In Southern California, you can get custom blended frozen yogurt at Yogen Fruz in Tarzana, Humphrey Yogart in Sherman Oaks, 21 Choices in Pasadena and Claremont, and CDM Yogurt in Newport Beach (Orange County). You can also find custom blended frozen yogurt at Blush in Burlingame, CA, Tucker’s in Alameda, CA, Sweet Retreat in San Jose, CA, Oregon Frozen Yogurt in Oregon, WI, Angora Café in Boston and Loving Cup in San Francisco. Frozen Peaks, with locations in New Jersey and New York, offers FP Swirl, their custom blended frozen yogurt.

While a custom blended frozen yogurt can be tasty as it more evenly distributes the toppings so that there are toppings in every bite, it does change the flavor of the frozen yogurt (which can be good or bad). Some toppings don’t taste as good when they’re blended – for example, graham cracker crumbs become gritty when blended into the frozen yogurt, and mochi isn’t transformed, it just becomes smaller. The seeds get separated from the berry flesh. Cookies, candy and sauces make the best add ins. I’ve also noticed that on more than one occasion when a machine is used to blend the yogurt and toppings, sometimes the previous mix contaminates the next mix. The water flushing doesn’t remove all of the previous mix. The texture is also less smooth after toppings are blended in. Getting the right mix of frozen yogurt and toppings including the correct proportions can be tricky. 

Here are some of my recipes:

• Fresh strawberry froyo + frosted animal cookies + sprinkles + white chocolate chips
• Sumatra coffee froyo + crushed Butterfingers + Oreos
• Peanut butter froyo + Nutter Butter bites + peanuts + chocolate chips
• Matcha green tea froyo + Plain tart froyo + Fruity Pebbles 
• Coconut froyo + mango froyo + pineapple sorbet + coconut + fresh pineapple

Do you like custom blended frozen yogurt? Have you tried it? Would you be willing to try it?

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

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.

Historic Froyo Shops: Humphrey Yogart

Fro-yo girl here. Tucked in an older strip mall in the San Fernando Valley you’ll find a blast from the froyo past; Humphrey Yogart has been serving up froyo and staying true to the low carb / yog-art lifestyle since 1984 (it turned 30 this year). It’s not self-serve and it’s not your usual soft serve froyo with toppings. Sure the toppings are similar (popping boba, fruit, candy, sprinkles, chocolate chips, cereal, brownies, cookies, mochi) but Humphrey Yogart specializes in super creamy, thick blended or mix in style froyo.

At Humphrey Yogart, yogurt is yog-art. You’re invited to create your own frozen yogurt flavor by choosing a base (tart vanilla, sweet vanilla, chocolate, soy, organic tart or their low carb froyo flavors), choosing your blend ins and/or toppings (fruit, candy, cookies, cream cheese, nuts), and choosing your size. Your froyo & blend ins are mixed together in a blending machine. You can get your froyo in a cup or cone and top it with hot fudge or whipped cream. Portions are generous.I tried the organic tart base which was icier and less flavorful than their tart vanilla.

Froyo prices: Child ($2.55) + 30 cents each blend in, Regular ($3.35) + 40 cents each blend in, Large ($4.25) + 50 cents each blend in, X-Large ($6.65) + 90 cents each blend in.

Interesting blend ins include pumpkin, espresso, malt powder, butterscotch, pistachios, peanut butter, and cinnamon. Recommended combinations include Raspberry Cream Cheese, GramCracker Pumpkin, and Chocolate Coconut Almond. It’s like Yogen Fruz but with many more options.

Almost everyone who stops in gets the froyo but they also have Cascade Glacier ice cream, coffee, shakes, smoothies, soups, salads and sandwiches. Also, the shop carries low carb health food items like low carb bread, cookies, chips, etc. And there’s free wi-fi.

The low carb froyo flavor calendar is accessible on their website: http://www.humphreyyogart.com/calendar

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* HUMPHREY YOGART: 4574 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

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.