Tangerine and Pumpkin: Seasonal Flavors from Culture Organic Frozen Yogurt

[Melanie Wong]

Last weekend I finally made it to Culture Organic Frozen Yogurt in Palo Alto to follow up on these positive recs from “lolia” and others.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/562730#4138730

Culture is on California Avenue, across the street from Tandoori Oven and The Counter Burger. Straus milk is the base for the frozen yogurt. Cups, spoons, and napkins are compostable, or customers can purchase brightly colored cups and spoons for reuse.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/3164354133

The ingredients for the “original” flavor are:
Organic nonfat milk
Organic agave
Organic whey protein concentrate
Organic guar gum
Soy lecithin
Organic sugar
Carrageenan
Organic locust bean gum
Live active cultures (L. Acidophilus, L. Bulgaricus, S. Thermophilus, Bifidus. Cultured after pasteurization
)and has 18 calories per ounce or
Small, 72 calories
Medium, 108 calories
Large, 144 calories

Besides the original, chocolate, tangerine, and pumpkin were available. The young woman behind the counter carefully swirled mini-tastes of the four flavors into a shallow little bowl for me to sample. The original flavor has a nice tang with more body and smoothness than cross-town competitor, Fraiche, from the added emulsifiers. It reminds me of Delatti’s in Los Gatos, but made with tonier ingredients. The dark chocolate hits a nice tone, but was too sweet for me. The pumpkin was lovely with a thicker texture from the pulp and subtle spicing. But my favorite by far was the tangerine with bright and lilting citrus tones. The tangerine flavor is quite natural and complements the tang of frozen yogurt so well.

The high quality and number of toppings stands out here. I asked for a sample taste of the house-baked chocolate mini-meringues, and that was all I needed to pick that as one of my two toppings.

I ordered the special, a medium size with two toppings for $5.49 (including tax) with three of the four flavors: original, plus the two seasonals, pumpkin and tangerine. Toppings were chocolate meringues and winter crisp made with dried apricots and prunes. The mini-meringues were light as a feather and each small dot was a different size and height. The housemade crisp had a nice crunch of glazed oats and plenty of fruits.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniew...

I’ve tried dozens of the noveau frozen yogurts cropping up, and while they’ve been interesting to taste and compare, none have been habit-forming. Culture’s product may change that. I’ve got my first stamp on a frequent buyer card, and I might just have to purchase one of those reusable cup and spoon sets.

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Culture Organic Frozen Yogurt
340 S California Ave, Palo Alto, CA

[RawDaddy]

Damn women! That is one thorough and great review. Enough said, you are spot on with that review.

[Melanie Wong]

Hey, Daddy! What flavors do you like here?