HY Probiotics Will Korean Yogurt Drink Review

 

Fro-yo girl here. It’s been hard to find Asian yogurt drinks that I like since Yakult is so popular there, and I don’t like Yakult. The drinks are often high in sugar. Luckily, I was able to sample Probiotics Will, a Korean yogurt drink, at HMART. Probiotics Will is imported from Korea.

Hy Probiotics Will is the No. 1 brand in Korea (highest sales, according to the sign inside the store and the text on the packaging). The sign features a Korean soccer star, Son Heung-min, holding a bottle of the drink. It has been available in South Korea for 20 years.

The drinks are sold in packs of four for $5.99 each. Available varieties: Plain No Sugar Added, Strawberry, Lowfat, Original. Each bottle contains billions of live and active probiotics.

Probiotics Will Plain – The drink is 5.07 fl oz. The main ingredient is milk. I really liked the drink. It’s like a plain yogurt smoothie. It was creamy, tangy, and sweet but not too sweet. It tasted like yogurt but did not taste like Yakult. One serving contains 117 calories, 3g total fat, 19g total carbohydrates, 2g of sugar, and 6g of protein. Will claims to contain a strain of probiotics that targets the helicobacter pylori bacteria that sometimes can lead to discomfort, gastritis, and stomach pain. 

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.

Lyfen Original Squeezable Yogurt Drink Review

 

Fro-yo girl here. I found Lyfen squeezable yogurt drinks at GW Supermarket in Temple City, CA. One 100g pouch was $1.49. The yogurt drinks are shelf-stable and do not need refrigeration. To drink, twist off the cap and squeeze the pouch. I only saw one flavor there, original, but it also comes in strawberry. The product is imported from China.

Original yogurt drink: The liquid is slightly thicker than milk. It’s made with water, milk powder, and apple juice concentrate. It’s sweet, tangy, and does taste like yogurt. But, it also tastes like something else, probably the apple juice. It’s not distinctive. The drink is good but on the sweeter side. 

One pouch is 80 calories, 2g total fat, 14g total carbs, 5g total sugars, 2g protein.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

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

* GW SUPERMARKET: 5665 Rosemead Blvd Ste 100, Temple City, CA 91780

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.

Yoghurppe Japanese Yogurt Drink Review

Fro-yo girl here. I spotted Yoghurppe yogurt drinks at Tokyo Central in Torrance, CA. The drinks were $1.28 each. One small carton is 200 ML and comes in a Tetra Pak with a wrapped plastic mini straw. The drinks are produced in Japan by Minami Nihon Rakuno.

Yoghurppe is “made from raw milk from dairy cows reared at the base of the Kirishima mountain range in Southern Kyushu. After being acquired, the milk undergoes mild lactic acid fermentation using bifidobacterium, acidophilus, and streptococcus thermophilus. This results in a smooth, mild-flavored drink without the sourness of yogurt.” It’s a beverage that’s recommended for children because of the calcium and protein content. It’s made with lactic acid bacteria from Europe.

Original Yoghurppe: I was hoping it would taste like yogurt but it tasted more like Yakult. And it’s very sweet but with little tang. It’s a thin consistency similar to milk. They added sugar and high fructose corn syrup. One serving is 120 calories, 0g fat, 27g total sugars and 2g protein. That's a lot of sugar for a small carton.

Apple Yoghurppe: The apple flavor masked that awful Yakult flavor, so I liked it better but it was still very sweet and didn’t have real yogurt flavor.

Hmm, I like the sourness of yogurt…it’s sad when the sourness is removed or masked.

2.5 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.

Purple Rice Yogurt Drinks in Los Angeles (Finally) at The Alley

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve been looking for purple rice yogurt drinks in Los Angeles for over a year now, with no luck. A new purple rice yogurt was about to open in Arcadia last spring and then the pandemic struck. I don’t think they ever opened? Then one of my Yelp friends mentioned ordering a purple rice yogurt drink from The Alley. I’ve actually been to The Alley’s Pasadena location but at the time, they did not have purple rice yogurt drinks.

The Alley Pasadena has original purple rice yogurt, matcha purple rice yogurt, peach oolong purple rice yogurt and a create your own yogurt (drink) option. The drinks are $5.95 each and feature fresh yogurt (not made in-house) and sweet glutinous purple rice, aka forbidden rice. You can specify your desired sweetness level. It’s a cold, tangy yogurt shake with chewy bits of sweet rice.

Original Purple Rice Yogurt: I was a fan since I obviously love yogurt and I appreciated the simplicity of the yogurt flavor with the chewy sweet rice bits. I’m sure they added ice too, because I encountered some icy bits. The yogurt is plain and sweetened (I asked for 25% sweetness and it was plenty sweet for me) but not super thick. It tastes like lightly sweetened plain yogurt that’s mildly tangy. While the basic purple rice yogurt might be too simple for some but it’s also healthier than boba drinks (apparently). And they have variations in case you’re looking for more flavor. I think I’ll try another one soon.

For a history of purple rice yogurt drinks and health benefits, see IFYA’s post, Now Trending: Purple Rice Yogurt Drinks.

The Alley, a Taiwanese chain, has locations in Southern California, Las Vegas, New York, Hawaii, Taiwan, China, Japan, Canada, France, and Australia.

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.

SLW Yogurt Drink Review

Fro-yo girl here. I was shopping at Good Fortune Supermarket in Monrovia, CA when I spotted bottled yogurt drinks. They looked like glass baby bottles and were priced at $2.99 each for a 280ml drink. The drinks are from Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, China.

The original drink was creamy, tangy, and sweet. It reminded me of Beijing Yogurt. It was sweet but not crazy sweet and tasted more natural and more like yogurt than Yakult. Surprisingly, it wasn’t refrigerated.

One bottle is 200 calories, 4.5g total fat, 37g total carbs, 36g total sugars and 3g protein. The ingredient list is longish (it’s not just yogurt and water).

Available flavors: Mango, original, strawberry

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.

Tadashizen Nomu Yogurto Japanese Yogurt Drink Review

Fro-yo girl here. It’s been a year since my trip to Japan and one of my fond memories of the trip was the delicious tiny Japanese yogurt drink I found at the rest stop. I found something similar at Mitsuwa in San Gabriel, CA. Tiny Japanese yogurt drinks! These were called Tadashizen Nomu and they were imported from Japan, flash frozen to extend shelf life. 

One bottle was 150 ml, 90 calories, 4g fat, 10g sugars. There was one flavor, plain, and the plastic bottle looked like an old-fashioned milk pail. One bottle was $2.59.

Tadashizen Nomu yogurt drink: It’s a thinner yogurt drink, but thicker than milk. I really like the tang – it tastes like real yogurt and it’s even sour, but not overwhelmingly so. It doesn’t taste like Yakult (yay!)

Mitsuwa also had yogurt and cheesecake from the same Japanese farm.

Ingredients: Milk, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, isomaltooligosaccharides, milk product, lactic acid

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

4 out of 5 stars.

* MITSUWA MARKETPLACE: 515 W Las Tunas Dr., San Gabriel, CA 91776

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.

Café More Yogurt Ade Review

Fro-yo girl here. I found a new yogurt product on a recent shopping trip to Hmart in Arcadia, CA. Hmart had quite a few refrigerated pouch drinks. Most were coffee flavored, but there was a yogurt one called Yogurt Ade. Yogurt Ade is imported from Korea. One pouch was $1.29. A pouch is 7.77 fl oz, 130 calories and 29g of sugar. Whoa.

The pouch has the image of a giant yogurt bottle that reminds me of Yakult. What is it with Asians and Yakult? I don’t like Yakult at all. It’s too sweet and doesn’t really taste like yogurt.

Yogurt Ade: The beverage smells like Yakult. It’s milky and a pale peach color. It’s non-carbonated. Not surprisingly, it tastes like Yakult. It’s way too sweet to be refreshing. Ugh. I could not finish this drink.

Ingredients: Water, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, lactic acid culture base, milk powder, citric acid, mixed formulation (carboxymethyl, cellulose, glycerin fatty acid ester, gellan gum, dextrin), artificial flavor (yogurt), trisodium citrirate, vitamin C, sucralose.

2 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.

Ildong She’s Pro (Calpis) Review

Fro-yo girl here. I spotted Ildong She’s Pro drinks at California Market in Koreatown. It’s a yogurt flavored drink imported from Korea and made by ILDONG Pharmaceutical Co. The bottle says Probiotics in a large font. A bottle is 450ml, 210 calories, 0g fat and 43g sugars. The regular price was $2.49.

Calpis is a Japanese milk based beverage. It’s made with milk that is skimmed. Yeast and lactic acid are added and the mixture is allowed to ferment. Sugar is added and the mixture ferments further until it becomes Calpis.

The drink is sweet, lightly tangy, light and refreshing. The grapefruit helps by adding a subtle fruity flavor. The liquid is clear and milky. It was better than I expected though I wouldn’t drink it regularly because of the amount of sugar. The Japanese Calpis has a milder flavor that I find more pleasant.

Ingredients: Lactobacillus rhamnosus culture fluid, concentrated grapefruit, fructooligosaccharide, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, powdered skim milk, soybean polysaccharide, citric acid anhydrous, sodium citrate, indigestible maltodextrin, yogurt flavor, grapefruit flavor, water

3 out of 5 stars.

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

* CALIFORNIA MARKET: 450 S Western Ave., Los Angeles (Koreatown), CA 90020

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.

Shingomura Nomu Yogurt Drink Review

Fro-yo girl here. I recently spotted an imported Japanese yogurt drink while shopping at Mitsuwa in Costa Mesa, CA. They only had one flavor, plain. It was frozen and sold in little plastic bottles. One bottle was $2.99, 150ml, with 90 calories and 4g of fat.

I defrosted the drink and tried it. It was a lot better than Yakult. It didn’t that Yakult flavor at all but it tasted more like lightly sweetened plain yogurt. It was sweet, thick and a little tangy. The flavor was more mild than the other yogurt drinks I’ve had.

The bottle didn’t say anything about live and active cultures.

Ingredients: milk, oligosaccharide, milk product

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

4 out of 5 stars.

* MITSUWA MARKETPLACE: 665 Paularino Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626

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.

Yogurt Powder Review: Yogurty by Damtuh Food Co.

Fro-yo girl here. My sharp eye for froyo found a new yogurt/froyo product during a recent shopping trip to 99 Ranch Market. Damtuh Food Co. produces a product called Yogurty that’s imported from Korea. “Yogurty is Damtuh's premium yogurt drink made of milk powders from Italy and France, which gives this drink a smooth, homemade flavor. Just add cold milk for a smooth yogurt drink, or blend all together with ice for instant frozen yogurt and smoothies!”

The box comes with a sports bottle and 20 sticks (packets) of Yogurty powder. The sports bottle comes in handy because it has ml markings for 100, 200 and 300 mls and you can shake your Yogurty with milk in the bottle, and drink from it.

I spotted two flavors, plain and mango. A box was $7.99 at 99 Ranch. They have two other flavors: acai berry and green apple.

To make the yogurt drink, add one stick packet to a cup of cold milk and stir well. The directions are only in Korean on the box but I found an English translation.

• To make a yogurt drink: Add 1 stick to 100 ml of milk, mix well
• To make a yogurt smoothie: Blend 60 ml of milk with 1 stick and 100g of ice cubes in a mixer, try blending with your favorite fruits
• To make frozen yogurt popsicles: Add 1 stick to 100 ml of milk, mix well, pour into a popsicle mold
• To make salad dressing: Use 50 ml of milk and 50 ml of water with 1 stick, mix well

One stick is 18g with 70 calories, no fat and 16g of carbs. It 3 kinds of live probiotics.
Ingredients: Sugar, glucose powder, skim milk powder, pineapple concentrate powder, yogurt powder, yogurt mixed powder, yogo C, Xylitol, L-ascorbic acid, citric acid, DL-malic acid, salt, yogurt cultures.

* Plain Yogurty with milk: It’s thick and quite foamy. The smell is enticing like yogurt. Flavor wise it’s quite tangy thanks to the citric acid plus pineapple with a sweet aftertaste. It tastes powdery though. I’m not a fan of yogurt drinks but this one was flavorful and better than the Yakult style drinks. I liked it better with twice the amount of recommended milk. I also froze the mixture and it remained frothy.

You can buy this product on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Acai-Berry-Yogurty-Sticks-Sports/dp/B00NJ7Z8XU

3.5 out of 5 stars

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

* 99 RANCH MARKET: 140 W Valley Blvd., San Gabriel, CA 91776

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.

Lotte Samkang Cider and Yogurt Flavored Ice Bar Review

Fro-yo girl here. I found another Korean fro-yo popsicle, Lotte Samkang Cider & Yogurt Flavored Ice Bar. The flavor sounded strange (cider & yogurt). A bag of six individually wrapped popsicles was $4.99. The popsicles are imported from Korea. Each bar is 80 calories and doesn’t have live and active cultures.









The popsicle looks like a pale white square bar and it’s very icy and hard. It tastes like those very sugary yogurt drinks only not as good because it isn’t tangy. It’s way sweet and tastes a bit like bubblegum. Very artificial. There are yellow and pink bits and they’re just like hard pieces of ice with no flavor. It’s refreshing but tastes awful.

Ingredients: water, skimmed milk powder, whey powder, refined salt, coconut oil, artificial flavor, stabilizer, emulsifier, food coloring

2 out of 5 stars.

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

* NIJIYA MARKET:1737 Post St #333, San Francisco, CA

Yogurt Drinks: Lifeway Kefir, Evergreen, Promise Activ Supershots, Vita

Fro-yo girl here. A few months ago I started buying various yogurt drinks to see if I would like any of them. I’m officially sick of yogurt drinks now and the only ones I like are Lifeway Kefir and Dannon DanActive.

LIFEWAY PLAIN KEFIR: It tastes the most like real plain yogurt only not as thick. Kefir is thicker than milk, creamy and quite sour. The plain flavor is unsweetened with 10 types of live and active kefir cultures with inulin which helps boost calcium absorption. Since it has the N.V. Perricone MD seal of approval, it must be ultra healthy.

Kefir would make a good dip or salad dressing. I enjoyed kefir in parfaits with fresh berries and granola.

* Flavors: Plain, strawberry, raspberry, strawberry banana, peach, cherry, blueberry, vanilla, cappuccino, pomegranate
* Ingredients: cultured pasteurized milk, nonfat milk, inulin
* $3.99, 32 fl. Oz. Purchased from Safeway, plastic bottle
* 4.5 out of 5 stars

EVERGREEN YOGURT DRINK: This is a Korean product that looks and tastes like Yakult (thin, milky, tangy, sweet) but is targeted towards kids (the plastic wrapper has a picture of a kid kicking a soccer ball). It comes in tiny plastic bottles and it’s labeled as a frozen dessert. The small size is nice because I didn’t feel like drinking much of it.

* 5 bottles, 2.10 fluid ounces
* Ingredients: Filtered water, high fructose corn syrup, cultured grade A pasteurized nonfat milk, sugar, dextrose, natural & artificial flavors, potassium sorbate, aspartame, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3
* 3 out of 5 stars

PROMISE ACTIV SUPERSHOTS: This product is much thicker than DanActive and claims that it can remove cholesterol as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Of course you’ll need to drink it at least once a day to enjoy those benefits. There was no mention of live and active cultures on the product packaging. The sweet, tangy flavor was okay but I found it a bit too sweet. It did taste like it was made with yogurt though. I didn’t like how it was chalky. It reminded me of Ensure (not that I’ve ever tried Ensure).

* Flavors: Vanilla, Peach, Raspberry, Strawberry
* 3.3 fluid ounces per serving
* Ingredients: water, cultured nonfat milk, sugar, plant sterol esters, pear juice concentrate, canola oil, pectin, natural and artificial flavor, phosphoric acid, mixed tocopherols, guar gum, caramel color, carrageenan gum, xanthan gum, maltodextrin, sucralose, tocopheryl acetate, molasses, vitamin A
* Tagline: A simply amazing way to lower cholesterol
* 3.5 out of 5 stars

VITA YOGHURT FLAVORED DRINK: Made in China, these yogurt drinks come in a pack of 4 boxes with attached straws and are meant for kids. The thin, somewhat milky, refreshing drink seemed tangier and sweeter than Yakult. I found it too sweet but it wasn’t bad. I didn’t see any mention of live and active cultures.

* Pack of four, 4.2 fluid ounces each
* Ingredients: Water, sugar, skim milk powder, whole milk powder, citric acid, pectin, artificial flavor, lactic acid, cellulose gum, salt – okay
* 3.5 out of 5 stars

It’s going to be a loooong time before I feel like having another yogurt drink.

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

Yogurt Drinks: Yogo Review

Fro-yo girl here. I found Assi Yogo at Oceanview Market and purchased a pack of the Original flavor. It’s a refrigerated Korean yogurt drink.

A bottle of Yogo is three times the size of Yakult. The bottle says it has live and active cultures. It tastes more like Yakult than Yogu Time, meaning it is more like a milky yogurt beverage than a yogurt soda. The flavor is quite tart but also very sweet at the same time. It has a stronger flavor than Yakult and smells slightly like candy. It’s quite drinkable though I think the bottle is a bit too large.

Details: 6.6 ounces per drink, comes in a pack of four, plastic bottle, $2.89

Ingredients: filtered water, cultured nonfat milk, sugar, dextrose, high fructose corn syrup, natural & artificial flavors, potassium sorbate, aspartame, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D

Flavors: Original, Peach, Pineapple

The bottle says that Assi Yogo is refreshing, made with cultured grade A non fat yogurt, it’s good for your body, fat free, cholesterol free and has as much vitamin A and D as half a pint of milk.

3 stars (out of 5)

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

* OCEANVIEW SUPERMARKET: 3911 Alemany Blvd., San Francisco, CA 94132

Yogurt Drinks: Dannon DanActive Review

Fro-yo girl here. While Yogu Time is too sugary and sweet, DanActive is a much better tasting yogurt drink. DanActive isn’t as watery as Yogu Time; rather, it’s more like milk with a stronger,sour yogurt flavor. I think the plain flavor would be better but I can’t find seem to find it. So far it’s my favorite yogurt drink. Even better, it seems to be good for you with probiotics that promise to strengthen your immune system and improves digestion.

Details: 3.3 ounces per drink, comes in a pack of four, plastic bottle

Ingredients: cultured reduced fat milk, water, sugar, natural vanilla flavor, dextrose, modified corn starch, citric acid, sodium citrate, active cultures

Flavors: Plain (limited edition, I haven’t seen it), Vanilla, Strawberry, Blueberry, Cranberry Raspberry

Tagline: “Helps Strengthen Your Body’s Defenses”

4 stars (out of 5)

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

Yogurt Drinks: Yakult Review

Fro-yo girl here. Yakult the original yogurt drink has been available in Japan since 1935. In terms of taste, it’s lighter and sweeter than DanActive but not as sweet and watery as Yogu Time. Yakult is a bit sour, slightly citrusy, with a sweet aftertaste. It’s a bit too sweet to be refreshing but they claim that with daily consumption, it will help your digestive system.

Details: 2.7 ounces per drink, comes in a pack of five, plastic bottle, $2.99

Ingredients: water, sugar, skim milk powder, glucose, natural and artificial flavors, lactobacillus casei shirota

Tagline: “Cultured Drink with Dairy”

3 stars (out of 5)

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

Yogurt Drinks: Yogu Time Review

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve seen bottled yogurt drinks at Asian supermarkets for years and I finally purchased one to try from Sunset Super. It’s called Yogu Time and I opted for the Original flavor.

The beverage is non-carbonated and looks like milky colored water. It tastes like the Yoggi drink you can get a Tuttimelon but sweeter. It was okay – light, somewhat refreshing, a little tangy. I’m going to pass on it because it doesn’t have enough natural yogurt flavor (it tastes a bit like candy) and I don’t need the extra high fructose corn syrup. Nothing about live active cultures is mentioned on the packaging.

* Details: 10 ounces, glass bottle, 99 cents
* Ingredients: Water, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, nonfat yogurt, pectin, citric acid, lactic acid, natural and artificial flavor, sodium citrate
* Flavors: Original, White peach, Lychee, Strawberry, Orange, Melon
* Tagline: “Any Time is Yogu Time”

2.5 stars (out of 5)

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