AWAN Plant-Based Ice Cream

Fro-yo girl here. It feels weird to be writing about ice cream but AWAN is something special. AWAN is a vegan, plant-based ice cream made with Indonesian coconut cream and coconut water. It manages to taste even more decadent than dairy-based ice cream. When it comes to developing flavors, Chef Zen Ong is inspired by the best seasonal produce at farmer’s markets as well as collabs with chefs. They’ve made some of the most inventive flavors like strawberries & caviar, blue corn tortilla, and Nicole Rucker’s rhubarb pie. 

AWAN opened a walk-up window in late 2021, next to Dayglow Coffee. The founder of Dayglow, Tohm Ifergan, became a founder of Ong’s business partner and investor. They serve scoops ($5 - $9 per scoop) and sell pints from the window. AWAN is also available at specialty grocers like Sesame LA, Cookbook Market, LA Farmhome, and Wine + Eggs.

When I visited I encountered the following flavors:

• Balinese vanilla bean
• Chocolate mint chip
• Valencia orange: Super rich, dense, and creamy with bright fresh orange flavor and a coconut cream finish, like creamsicle but better
• Strawberry Meyer lemon & graham: Made with Harry’s Berries. Tasted like juicy, tangy, sweet strawberries with a bit of coconut. I didn’t notice the graham though.
• Black sesame & coffee
• Dayglow coffee
• Gaviota strawberry

The service was super friendly. The scoops are lovely and topped with a piece of freeze-dried fruit. Parking in this part of town is just about impossible unless you have a permit or the business you visit has parking.

It's not uncommon for them to sell out of flavors, so follow @enjoyawan on Instagram for flavor drops and sign up for the mailing list to get early access codes for the online store. You can also schedule a pickup, delivery, or shipment from the website.

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

5 out of 5 stars.

* AWAN: 866 Huntley Dr, West Hollywood, CA 90069

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.

Trader Joe’s Black Tea & Boba Coconut Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert Review

Fro-yo girl here. Last summer, Trader Joe’s introduced their first boba ice cream: Cold Brew Coffee & Boba Coconut Frozen Dessert. Their frozen dessert is vegan and available in pints. On a recent trip to Trader Joe’s (I go every week), I noticed a new boba ice cream there: Black Tea and Boba Coconut Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert. A pint was $4.49.

On the side of the pint, TJ’s describes how boba is found in Taiwanese bubble tea. They also say that “in this Black Tea & Boba coconut non-dairy frozen dessert, you’ll find the pearls throughout, intertwined with a sweet brown sugar swirl.”

Black Tea & Boba Coconut Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert: I liked the dense, creamy, smooth texture – very ice cream like. The brown sugar swirl overwhelms the other flavors, the way the coffee overwhelmed the other flavors in TJ’s Cold Brew Coffee & Boba Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert. Plus, the ice cream is far too sweet. The tapioca pearls were firm, sweet, and chewy.

One 2/3 cup serving is 240 calories, 5g total fat, 47g total carbs, and 31g of total sugars. The Cold Brew Coffee & Boba Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert had 24g total sugars per serving.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

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.