Popping Boba vs. Mochi Poll Results

Fro-yo girl here. I recently asked readers, which do you prefer as a fro-yo topping: mochi or popping boba? The poll results are in and mochi won easily, with 54% preferring mochi, 26% preferring popping boba and 18% that hadn’t tried both.

Good choice, readers. The chewiness of mochi and the sweetness complements fruit and tart fro-yo so well. Mochi goes well with sweet fro-yo too.

Popping boba are thin skinned spheres filled with flavored liquid. When you bite into one, the juice “explodes.” Popping boba look like fish eggs and come in flavors like mango, lychee, yogurt, strawberry, passionfruit. This new type of boba appeared first in boba/bubble drinks and then gained popularity in fro-yo shops. I haven’t seen them for sale at grocery stores, though you can buy them online at Amazon (but it seems like the smallest size is a 7 pound tub).

I’m not a fan of exploding food (except for Pop Rocks) and prefer the jellies that also crossed over from the boba drinks world to the popping boba. Or I’d prefer tapioca pearls on fro-yo to popping boba.

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

Yogurtland's New Flavors: Blackberry Lemon Mint Tart & Oatmeal Cookies

Fro-yo girl here. Yogurtland recently introduced three new fro-yo flavors. I talked about their new PB+J flavor in my last post. Here’s what I think about the other new flavors:

* Blackberry lemon mint tart: There’s a lot going on, so it’s certainly an interesting flavor. However, I find that fro-yo flavors that try to blend three flavors in one have too much going on. Mint is also a difficult flavor to pull off, especially for a tart fro-yo. It’s a unique flavor but I can’t say that it’s one that I like much.




* Oatmeal cookies: Highly recommended. It’s creamy, smooth, rich and comforting. The spices (cinnamon and ?) remind me of their pumpkin pie fro-yo only without pumpkin. Don’t miss this one. Make it even better by topping it with cookies (I like the mini Nutter Butters).

Yogurtland is currently making the best cookie inspired flavors out there (Chocolate Mint Cookies! Oatmeal Cookies!). They put real cookies in their cookie flavored fro-yo.

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

PB+J Fro-yo

Fro-yo girl here. Back to school time has inspired the creation of pb & j fro-yo. Pinkberry was the first to introduce this quintessential back to school flavor. Their peanut butter fro-yo can be paired with organic strawberry jam and toasted breadcrumbs. The new luxe topping, peanut butter crunch, would be a good choice as well. Yogurtland's PB+J fro-yo features jelly in the fro-yo and real peanut butter.

Both Pinkberry and Yogurtland have captured the flavor of real peanuts and produced creamy, smooth, tasty fro-yo that's sure to please kids and those who like peanut butter flavored desserts. Yogurtland's PB+J has a more interesting flavor because it's saltier than Pinkberry's. I didn't notice the jelly but it's probably responsible for the pretty pinkish color of Yogurtland's PB+J fro-yo. Pinkberry's PB is sweeter, more of an indulgent flavor than Yogurtland's. Pinkberry has better toppings (loved the toasted breadcrumbs), including toppings chosen to complement their peanut butter fro-yo but when it comes to the fro-yo only, I'd pick Yogurtland's version.

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

Jamba Juice Whirl'ns Frozen Yogurt

Fro-yo girl here. I finally tried Whirl'ns, the frozen yogurt line Jamba Juice started testing in the Sacramento region in December 2010. They expanded the offering to SoCal next and recently started offering it in the Bay Area. You can find locations that carry Whirl'ns by visiting the Jamba Juice website. Note, no SF Jamba locations carry Whirl'ns. The closest location to SF with Whirl'ns is the remodeled Westlake location in Daly City. They just reopened today.

Whirl'ns offers custom mixed flavors (Blueberry Pomegranate Peaks, Swirly Strawberry Vanilla, Minty Chocolate Chip, Magnificent Mango Pineapple, Jazzy Java Chocolate, Awesome Apple Cinnamon) or plain (tart, vanilla or chocolate). The mixed flavors feature lowfat vanilla, lowfat chocolate or non-fat tart fro-yo.

I tried the blueberry pomegranate flavor since it is made with the tart base. The fro-yo is mixed in a machine. It's similar to Yogen Fruz but YF has a more flavorful yogurt base. The fro-yo is thick and very creamy without having that nice refreshing edge that some tart fro-yo has. It's sweet and tangy but not very tangy. Frozen blueberry pieces added texture. The taste reminds me of a firmer version of a Jamba Juice smoothie. I prefer Yogen Fruz for mix-in fro-yo but think Whirl'ns is decent.


Prices: Small $3.50, Medium $4.75, includes one topping. The toppings include granola, coconut, brown sugar, chocolate, almonds and bananas.

They currently have a seasonal flavor that I'm excited about Great Pumpkin Swirl and there were $1 off coupons at the store (good for any Whirl'ns fro-yo).

* JAMBA JUICE: 340 Westlake Center, Daly City, CA

Various Fro-yo Shop Closures

Fro-yo girl here. I've added to the fro-yo graveyard list. The list is much longer now than it was at the beginning of the year.

Yogurt Bees finally closed (I say finally because I was surprised they managed to stay open as long as they did). Adding tapioca drinks and expanding the menu didn't save the business.









L'Amour Frozen Yogurt in Palo Alto posted a sign saying that they were closed while the building is under renovation. Will they reopen? Their Facebook page doesn't say. I can't imagine that they do half the business they used to with Yogurtland down the street. Also, they no longer maintain their website, lamourfroyo.com, so it seems doubtful that they will reopen as L'Amour Frozen Yogurt. Maybe they'll turn into an Asian crepe place.

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

* YOGURT BEES: 46809 Warm Springs Blvd., Fremont, CA
* L'AMOUR FROZEN YOGURT: 276 University Ave., Palo Alto, CA

Fro-yo Picture from Chicago

A certain bear at Bare Berry in Lincoln Park. Happy Labor Day!

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

* BARE BERRY: 1211 W Webster Ave., Chicago, IL

Chicago Fro-yo Report: Fro-yo Scene Heats Up

Fro-yo girl here. What a difference a few months make...the Chicago fro-yo scene is red hot and it's not just because of the popularity of self-serve fro-yo.

1. Fro-yo (and kefir) on the go: Starfruit Cafe's Kefir Truck starts cruising the streets in June. Culture fro-yo truck, from the founder of Berry Chill, joins in late August. Follow the trucks on Twitter, @StarfruitCafe and @Culture

2. Pinkberry finally opens in July, taking over the old Berry Chill space. A second store in Old Town is slated to open on Sept. 9th with a free fro-yo event on Sept. 8 between 5 - 8 PM.

3. The growth of self-serve fro-yo, with Forever Yogurt leading the charge. Forever Yogurt has three locations with 12 more on the way. Yogurt Avenue, Yogurt Pier, Berry Moon and Royal Berry also offer self-serve fro-yo.

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