It's official: Berryline utterly superior to Pinkberry

[bella_sarda]

I had some Berryline yesterday afternoon and a Pinkberry this morning. I tried to sample JP Licks tart yogurt as well but their yogurt machine was down this morning (they clean it Monday a.m, FYI), so I can't place them.

flavors I had: at Berryline, a twist of original and honey graham; at PB, just the original; had both with fruit toppings

Here's why I won't return to Pinkberry but will go back to Berryline over and over:

1) Berryline has a much creamier mouthfeel than PB, despite also being nonfat.
2) Berryline is more tart/tangy than PB, but still plenty sweet (comparing original flavor in both places)
3) Pinkberry is too cold/icy; Berryline doesn't freeze you out, and feels like softserve. When PB melts, it gets liquidy around the edges, whereas Berryline seems to melt more evenly.
4) While flavor selection is greater at PB, their flavors blow---I sampled the new salted caramel and it tasted totally fake and disgusting; the chocolate was just so-so. In contrast, Berryline's honey graham flavor is awesome---tastes like real honey and real graham crackers (no chunks in it though).
5) Value is better at Berryline: small size is 5 ounces for $2.75, including toppings; PB "mini" is only 3 ounces, and costs $2.75 with toppings ($2.25 w/o toppings). Also, they give you less toppings at PB than at Berryline.
6) calories per ounce at Berryline (original) = 25; calories per ounce at PB (original) = 30.

I noticed online that the Newbury location of Berryline (which I haven't been to) offers 5 flavors, rather than the usual 3, including Nutella flavor. Must try!

Now on to JP Licks.

[Luther]

Berryline is the best. Except for Pinkberry's mango flavor, which is also the best.

By the way, when you're eating a product that is basically a pile of fat-free sucrose, it's silly to worry yourself about health. Don't get confused, this is not healthy food.

[swans]

Love Berryline, and I'm worried about the Harvard Square location now that PB is here to stay. A big strike against PB is that they charge an extra $1 for flavored yogurt, which I think is ridiculous.

[Gabatta]

Official?

Berryline is certainly tangier, however my experience is the exact opposite of yours in that I find Pinkberry much creamier.

I generally get plain with toppings, so I can't speak to how much the flavors "blow".

I also see no difference in the amount of toppings, but this is based on a small sample size. The calorie difference is immaterial to me (and most I would assume).

[justbeingpolite]

Gotta say: I find the thread interesting, and nothing wrong with the original post, but I find the title offputting. It kind of bothers me each time I see it on the board list.

[bella_sarda]

Sorry to have offended. I meant it as a completely subjective assessment, as in, "official in my book." It was also intended to be taken with a sense of humor/hyperbole. Obviously I understand that I am not the official arbiter of anything. I expected to hear some contrary responses.

[opinionatedchef]

bella, (i rarely use full names, and often abbreviate, but when i went to type' bs',THAT did not look good!) I share many of your tastes here. And I certainly was not offended by your title ( i find that many Boston CHs are either darn feisty and tough little numbers or very sensitive.) We finally got to sample the "Porter Sq." BLine last week (after driving all around Porter Sq. and not finding it anywhere the previous week!) Had the Taza Choc. and the Pear Almond. I compare it to PinkB and Mixx, the only other fro yos I have had, in this way(my opinion, obviously):

BL has limited flavors, good tang, best creaminess/mouthfeel. Taza flavor was what i would call lightly rich(oxymoron maybe?) bittersweet w/ texture of granulated choc. (can’t decide if i like this feature) Pear Almond tasted mostly of almond extract, which is a flavor i happen to like.Nice people work here.

PB flavors do not taste like flavors; they taste like tangy. With the single exception of Green Tea, which, oddly, is much more flavorful than at Mixx, whose other flavors are very strong, go figure! The Harv Sq waiting lines are inexorable. They should have a separate line for Serious Adult Gourmands who want no toppings.[ this is a joke, CHs. ho ho ho]

Mixx has the best flavor selection (10 , changing weekly) for Asian and fruit flavors, including: Taro, Coconut, Honeydew, Watermelon, Peach, Blueberry, Passion Fruit, Lychee etc., plus a very good Coffee, and Chocolate (and Tart, to which I can add my own Green Tea powder , since PB has discontinued theirs til autumn.). I have come to Mixx's single location maybe 10 times compared to once at each of BL and PB, and while it is usually all-tables- filled, i have never had to wait more than a minute at Mixx. Mixx is self serve and, at 40 cents an ounce, apparently cheaper than the other two places. And for the Serious Adult Gourmand contingent, Mixx is the only one with those delightful fruit caviar toppings ;-) The major drawbacks for Mixx are its Allston location (far from me) and its indifferent staff.

Great to know about BL Newbury St having more flavors; look forw. to trying them.

-----
BerryLine
1 Arrow St, Cambridge, MA 02138

Mixx Frozen Yogurt
66 Brighton Ave, Boston, MA 02134

[bella_sarda]

Hi op-chef! thanks for your input. I'm dying to try Mixx but it's not very convenient to my location. I drove past it at night once but couldn't stop. Re the Berryline Taza flavor, the granularity most likely derived from the Taza chocolate itself, which is deliberately coarse. I love it but it's an acquired taste (or rather, an acquired texture).

My next homemade yogurt flavor (made with Sophia's yogurt, of course), will be green tea, using matcha powder of course.

[opinionatedchef]

bella, silly me, i lost my notes. WHEN did you want me to be there?:-)

[bella_sarda]

You can imagine (or replicate) the experience here:
http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/tag...

[opinionatedchef]

neat site. Actually, last time i was at Mixx, i brought home some Tart, and i have my matcha all ready to add :-)

-----
Mixx Frozen Yogurt
66 Brighton Ave, Boston, MA 02134

[opinionatedchef]

in case you haven't seen this site for fro yo flavoring syrups and powders:

http://yoflavor.com/Flavor/

i have this feeling that Mixx uses these products and that the reason their green tea flavor doesn't have as much flavor as Pinkberry's Green Tea flavor is that maybe Pinkberry uses straight matcha powder and Mixx uses this powder which has sugar and other stuff in it. I just purchased a bag of this Tea Zone taro powder ( in case you want any to experiment with- contact me via my member pg.)

[bella_sarda]

Thanks, opchef. Will let you know. In the mean time, I opted to make strawberry fro-yo instead of matcha, since I found some cheap, very ripe local strawbs at the farmer's market, just $4 per quart. The yogurt was tremendous, I'm sorry to say.

[mocooks]

I just hope that Pinkberry's location in Harvard Square doesn't steal all of the Berryline Business!

[bella_sarda]

Me too. Yesterday at 3 pm Berryline was completely empty.

[VintageMolly]

Me three. The "Porter" Berryline is my local and they've seemed noticeably less busy this summer than last. I hope it's because they've opened more locations since then, and they're not a destination as much anymore, rather than Pinkberry siphoning off their business.

[Torolover]

I agree! I have been raving about Berryline for years and have been telling my New York friends that we have better frozen yogurt then them.

Berryline is better then Pinkberry and Red Mango.

Finally we have all three to compare!

[trueblu]

I'm not a fan of frozen yoghurt and 'no fat' foods in general. However, given that the 'calorie' savings of eating frozen yoghurt are fairly small compared with real ice-cream, it makes the whole point of the exercise even more futile (1oz jp licks hard yoghurt is 27 kcal, 1 oz ice-cream is 37 kcal).

Enjoy life and ice-cream -- in moderation of course!

tb

[Science Chick]

I'm with you, trueblu. Berryline's ingredients include "emusifiers and stabilizers". Yuck. Give me a smaller serving of the real stuff anytime.........

[Splendid Spatula]

I wouldn't assume that everyone eats it for the health benefits. For me, Berryline is just another excellent addition to the frozen treat pantheon. I'd also that BL is miles different from that older style frozen yogurt, which agreed, is not very interesting.

[Science Chick]

Just my personal preference......I tend to avoid chemical-laden foods of all types.

[Jenny Ondioline]

You are entirely mistaken in two of your assumptions. One, that everyone who eats the newer style of tart frozen yogurt does so because it's low fat, and two, that it by necessity is "chemical-laden." I would put this frozen yogurt from David Lebowitz's The Perfect Scoop up against any ice cream, anywhere:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/...

Try it and you won't be dismissing frozen yogurt as not being "the real stuff" anymore.

[Science Chick]

I was referring to the Berryline product specifically. The emulsifiers and stabilizers are listed as ingredients on their website. I have nothing against frozen yogurt, per se. In fact, I enjoy many natural, chemical free, frozen yogurts at home, either made by *me* (using Lebowitz's recipe!! Small world......), or purchased in supermarkets. I have one at home now that I got at WF, and I can't for the life of me recall the maker........

[bella_sarda]

Hate to break it to you, Science Chick, but almost all commercial frozen dairy products, including "the real stuff"---i.e. ice cream---has emulsifiers and stabilizers in it (in fact, in some things I've read, these words are considered interchangeable in the world of ice cream). And it's hard to determine "natural" from "chemical" in this realm, as there are such things as guar gum which are naturally occurring.

I think there have been some Chow threads which discussed Toscanini's, Christina's, etc. as not having such stabilizers, but I can't recall/don't have time to review all of them

I eat *plenty* of ice cream. I agree with other posters who think of fro-yo as a complementary good. I tend not to like overly sweet desserts, and the tang of Berryline is very special. And, yes, sometimes I like that it has fewer calories than ice cream. I actually prefer to make my own frozen desserts at home, so as to guarantee highest quality and fewest additives, but there is also something special about going out and saving the work!

[emannths]

The emuslifiers and stabilizers are probably naturally-occurring things like carrageenan and citric acid/sodium citrate.

Do you eat chemically-leavened baked goods? Baking soda is no less "chemical-ly" than anything you'll find in Berryline's product.

[bella_sarda]

@trueblu: As I said in previous post, calories are not my main or sole motivation for eating frozen yogurt. That said, watching calories is not a crime. And 37 kcal per ounce for ice cream is an extremely unreliable number. It may apply to some ice cream (which JP Licks flavor are you referring to?), but most premium ice creams have *way* more than that. Most Haagen Dazs full-on ice cream flavors have between 250 and 350 calories per 4 oz serving, which translates to a range of 62.5 to 87.5 calories per ounce. Now that's a real difference from 25-30 per ounce for frozen yogurt, especially when you factor in that most people eat at least a 5 ounce serving, if not much larger.