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.

Sunscoop Vanilla Bean Cream Review

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve seen Sunscoop before but I thought it was just vegan ice cream, not froyo. Turns out that it’s a lot of other things – including all-natural, allergen-friendly, and with no refined sugar. Their organic coconut cream-based ice creams are soy-free, nut-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free. The vanilla bean cream flavor is even cultured, but it’s the only cultured flavor in their current line-up.

Vanilla Bean Cream: They describe it as a “simple blend of cultured coconut cream and vanilla is brought together with a hint of lemon. It’s so creamy (and dreamy) you won’t believe it’s dairy-free or that it packs an extra probiotic boost.” It has lactic acid culture, so I wouldn’t call it frozen yogurt (because it doesn’t have Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilis). In terms of the taste and texture, Vanilla Bean Cream was dense and smooth with an icy edge. It was tangy but different from your typical tart froyo because of the strong flavor of coconut cream and a more lemony finish. I liked it but I don’t love coconut, so the coconut flavor was a bit much for me.

One serving is ½ a cup, 150 calories, 8g total fat, 19g total carbs, 14g sugars, and 1g protein. I found Sunscoop at Gelson’s. One pint was $7.99 (regular price). They’re based in Brooklyn. 

4 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.

New at Pressed Juicery: Frozen Non-Dairy Dessert (No, It’s Not Freeze)

Fro-yo girl here. I was at Pressed Juicery in Old Town Pasadena picking up a green juice this week when I spotted a new product that Pressed hasn’t mentioned on social media yet. It’s their new plant-based ice cream, aka frozen non-dairy dessert. They describe it as “a creamy plant-based blend of coconut cream and almonds.” There are three flavors: Vanilla, Strawberry, and Matcha, and two sizes, large/ pints (16 oz) and small/ single serve (5.3 fl oz). They’re stored in the store’s freezer. A small size was $5 with membership. A pint is $8 with membership.

* Vanilla Frozen Non-Dairy Dessert: Unlike Pressed Juicery Freeze, the non-dairy has coconut cream and it’s sweetened with maple syrup instead of dates. Also, it has thickeners (natural ones): tapioca and xanthan gum. And, it's not soft serve. However, the list of ingredients is still short and it’s all natural. While water is the main ingredient, the frozen dessert was not icy or watery. This is due to the richness of the coconut cream. The coconut cream flavor dominated the other flavors but it also made the product rich and creamy. The coconut cream flavor lingers on the palate. I thought it was very good though I found it sweeter than necessary. I still prefer the lightness of Freeze. The frozen non-dairy dessert is richer and heavier.

Ingredients (Vanilla): Water, coconut cream, maple syrup, tapioca, coconut oil, ground almonds, vanilla extract, salt, xanthan gum.

One serving is 250 calories, 12g total fat, 35 total carbs, and 21g sugars.

I wonder what the frozen non-dairy dessert would be like as a soft serve? Anyway, it’s definitely worth trying. If they put Freeze in the freezer, I’m sure it would be too hard and icy.

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

* PRESSED JUICERY: 59 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91105

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.