Yotopia March Madness 2!
So much yogurt excitement. This past week was all of the round 2 match ups for Yotopia's March Madness. Since this isn't actually my day job (and oh how at times I wish it was), I really did not have time to go to Yotopia everyday these past few weeks to try all 12 of the March Madness flavors. But luckily, two of the flavors I thought sounded the most exciting, Chai Tea Spice and Taro Root, won their first round match ups, so I had another chance to try them during the second round.
Wednesday afternoon, Charlie and I walked over to Yotopia to try the March Madness flavors. Again, I filled up on the March Madness flavors and limited my toppings so I could make a good decision about which was better. Reviewing froyo flavors is one thing, having to definitively decide one flavor is better than other is super tough.
I'll start with the Taro Root. Charlie was super excited about the Taro Root and liked it because he said it was unique. I think I have a biased perspective on Taro Root froyo. I absolutely love it, but I have seen it before, in dairy-free form even, at Tutti Frutti in St. Louis. It is one of their staple flavors; you can almost always get it. But I do think Charlie is right. Taro, a purple root vegetable kind of like sweet potatoes, but with a different sweet flavor that is a bit more nutty, is not as common in mainland US as the sweet potato. But in Hawaii and a lot of other parts of the world, taro is eaten in all kinds of forms, a lot of which are similar to how people prepare sweet potatoes. In Hawaii I've had taro chips and taro veggie burgers, and both were amazing. In a lot of Asian countries, taro is a popular ice cream flavor. This froyo was amazing, like every other taro product I've eaten. The mild, nutty sweetness I think works better in frozen dairy form than sweet potato. And as Charlie and I discussed, it is a relatively neutral flavor that would go well with a lot of toppings, chocolates, fruits, nuts, just about anything! So while taro froyo might not be such a crazy thought in other parts of the world, it is pretty unique for most of the US.
The Chai Tea Spice was also great. It was a pretty strong chai flavor, and definitely spicy. But it honestly could have been just a touch spicier. If you're gonna go full out Chai spice, go all out. And even though it could have been a bit stronger, our conversation about the versatility of taro made me realize that Chai isn't a super versatile flavor. It did not go well with the dark chocolate raspberry cups I got. And toppings are very important to the froyo experience, so you want a flavor that goes well with lots of toppings.
Although it was another tough choice, I chose the Taro Root! It's an under utilized, tasty, and versatile flavor I would love to see become more popular throughout America!
UPDATE: Taro root won the match up against Chai Tea Spice, so the final three were Taro, Bourbon Caramel, and White Chocolate Raspberry. The overall winner was Bourbon Caramel!! I'm super excited for this flavor to have a long term place at Yotopia! It was so tasty.
Taro on the left, Chai on the right!
Wednesday afternoon, Charlie and I walked over to Yotopia to try the March Madness flavors. Again, I filled up on the March Madness flavors and limited my toppings so I could make a good decision about which was better. Reviewing froyo flavors is one thing, having to definitively decide one flavor is better than other is super tough.
I'll start with the Taro Root. Charlie was super excited about the Taro Root and liked it because he said it was unique. I think I have a biased perspective on Taro Root froyo. I absolutely love it, but I have seen it before, in dairy-free form even, at Tutti Frutti in St. Louis. It is one of their staple flavors; you can almost always get it. But I do think Charlie is right. Taro, a purple root vegetable kind of like sweet potatoes, but with a different sweet flavor that is a bit more nutty, is not as common in mainland US as the sweet potato. But in Hawaii and a lot of other parts of the world, taro is eaten in all kinds of forms, a lot of which are similar to how people prepare sweet potatoes. In Hawaii I've had taro chips and taro veggie burgers, and both were amazing. In a lot of Asian countries, taro is a popular ice cream flavor. This froyo was amazing, like every other taro product I've eaten. The mild, nutty sweetness I think works better in frozen dairy form than sweet potato. And as Charlie and I discussed, it is a relatively neutral flavor that would go well with a lot of toppings, chocolates, fruits, nuts, just about anything! So while taro froyo might not be such a crazy thought in other parts of the world, it is pretty unique for most of the US.
The Chai Tea Spice was also great. It was a pretty strong chai flavor, and definitely spicy. But it honestly could have been just a touch spicier. If you're gonna go full out Chai spice, go all out. And even though it could have been a bit stronger, our conversation about the versatility of taro made me realize that Chai isn't a super versatile flavor. It did not go well with the dark chocolate raspberry cups I got. And toppings are very important to the froyo experience, so you want a flavor that goes well with lots of toppings.
Although it was another tough choice, I chose the Taro Root! It's an under utilized, tasty, and versatile flavor I would love to see become more popular throughout America!
UPDATE: Taro root won the match up against Chai Tea Spice, so the final three were Taro, Bourbon Caramel, and White Chocolate Raspberry. The overall winner was Bourbon Caramel!! I'm super excited for this flavor to have a long term place at Yotopia! It was so tasty.
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