Berryline Frozen Yogurt

Berryline is another Pinkberry-esque frozen yogurt place that just opened in Harvard Square this past weekend. It is located on Arrow Street, right off of Mass Ave in Harvard Square. I went there last night with people from my small group to try it out.

The place is owned and run by two biochemical engineering graduate (or ex-graduate?) students. The outside of the store is painted with whimsical colorful designs that make the place seem fun, casual, and inviting. Likewise, the two owners were very friendly, fun, and hospitable. The cafe sells coffee, fancy espresso based drinks, and frozen yogurt with toppings such as fruit, cereal, granola, and nuts. They plan on offering fresh fruit smoothies soon too.

Supposedly these two guys have spent the last year perfecting their recipe for frozen yogurt. When we went they had two flavors - original (which is essentially just simple yogurt flavor) and acai, which is a berry-like fruit from Brazil that has been quite popular lately with health nuts. The owner told me that the frozen yogurt was essentially fat free. Their goal is to offer healthy food, which is why they don't have boba. Instead, they plan to focus on fresh fruit smoothies, frozen yogurt, and coffee drinks.

We ordered the original flavor with pineapple topping. I thought the taste was pretty good. It had the fresh, tangy taste of yogurt. It was creamier (less icy) than the Pinkberry type yogurt. After eating many spoonfuls of the yogurt, I felt that it was a tad too sweet, and it was less enjoyable at the end. I was trying to remember what my last homemade batch had tasted like, and which one I liked better.

The owners were very friendly. We sat outside eating our frozen yogurt for quite some time. After about an hour, the owners came out and asked whether we wanted decaf lattes on the house. Bryan took them up on the offer and actually requested a caffeinated double shot latte. They happily obliged. They were eager for Bryan's feedback. He said that it was pretty good. They replied by saying, "please be honest with your feedback, cuz we want to make it better if it's not that good." He responded again by affirming that it's pretty good.

Berryline buys their coffee from a roaster in Hopkinton. Apparently the coffee that they receive has typically just been freshly roasted only a few days ago.

Anyway, we enjoyed our experience at Berryline and look forward to seeing what other new products they have to offer. They seem pretty open to suggestions. In fact, they said the number one request they've had so far is mochi topping. "We're working on that one" they say.

It looks like this place could be an awesome addition to all the other cool ice cream/dessert places in Harvard Square. Truly, you can never have enough ice cream places! So, if you happen to be in Harvard Square, you should definitely check out Berryline.

Berryline Frozen Yogurt

Berryline is another Pinkberry-esque frozen yogurt place that just opened in Harvard Square this past weekend. It is located on Arrow Street, right off of Mass Ave in Harvard Square. I went there last night with people from my small group to try it out.

The place is owned and run by two biochemical engineering graduate (or ex-graduate?) students. The outside of the store is painted with whimsical colorful designs that make the place seem fun, casual, and inviting. Likewise, the two owners were very friendly, fun, and hospitable. The cafe sells coffee, fancy espresso based drinks, and frozen yogurt with toppings such as fruit, cereal, granola, and nuts. They plan on offering fresh fruit smoothies soon too.

Supposedly these two guys have spent the last year perfecting their recipe for frozen yogurt. When we went they had two flavors - original (which is essentially just simple yogurt flavor) and acai, which is a berry-like fruit from Brazil that has been quite popular lately with health nuts. The owner told me that the frozen yogurt was essentially fat free. Their goal is to offer healthy food, which is why they don't have boba. Instead, they plan to focus on fresh fruit smoothies, frozen yogurt, and coffee drinks.

We ordered the original flavor with pineapple topping. I thought the taste was pretty good. It had the fresh, tangy taste of yogurt. It was creamier (less icy) than the Pinkberry type yogurt. After eating many spoonfuls of the yogurt, I felt that it was a tad too sweet, and it was less enjoyable at the end. I was trying to remember what my last homemade batch had tasted like, and which one I liked better.

The owners were very friendly. We sat outside eating our frozen yogurt for quite some time. After about an hour, the owners came out and asked whether we wanted decaf lattes on the house. Bryan took them up on the offer and actually requested a caffeinated double shot latte. They happily obliged. They were eager for Bryan's feedback. He said that it was pretty good. They replied by saying, "please be honest with your feedback, cuz we want to make it better if it's not that good." He responded again by affirming that it's pretty good.

Berryline buys their coffee from a roaster in Hopkinton. Apparently the coffee that they receive has typically just been freshly roasted only a few days ago.

Anyway, we enjoyed our experience at Berryline and look forward to seeing what other new products they have to offer. They seem pretty open to suggestions. In fact, they said the number one request they've had so far is mochi topping. "We're working on that one" they say.

It looks like this place could be an awesome addition to all the other cool ice cream/dessert places in Harvard Square. Truly, you can never have enough ice cream places! So, if you happen to be in Harvard Square, you should definitely check out Berryline.

"Pinkberry" Yogurt Recipe

I thought I'd try several recipes to see if I could make a good cup of frozen yogurt in the style of Pinkberry frozen yogurt.
















Recipe 1
2 1/2 cup Trader Joe's Greek-style yogurt (nonfat)
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir together all the ingredients and refrigerate for 1 hour. Then freeze in a commercial ice cream machine for about 30 minutes.

I tried this the other day and I thought it was way to sweet. I had already cut the sugar down from the original recipe. However, I could barely stand to eat it - it was so sweet. The texture was quite creamy, which is unlike the icy texture of Pinkberry style yogurt. The yogurt also does not freeze well. After sitting overnight in the freezer, it became quite hard - definitely too hard to scoop. It would have made a better popsicle.

Recipe 2
2 1/2 cups 2% fat Trader Joe's Greek style yogurt
1/3 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients and stir until everything is well mixed. Freeze in a commercial ice cream maker for about 30 minutes.

I tried this recipe last night and it got pretty good reviews from my friends. This recipe comes closer to achieving the icy texture of Pinkberry style soft serve yogurt, since it contains more water from the half and half and milk. I like the sugar level here much better as well. The frozen yogurt was light, refreshing, tangy (but not too sour), and slightly sweet. Because I served this immediately after making it, I was not able to check out its freezing capabilities. I'm guessing that it would become even harder, since it has more water content and still not enough fat. Nevertheless, if you plan on eating it within a few hours, it should have pretty good texture.

Recipe 3
1 quart Trader Joe's Lowfat Organic Yogurt
3 x 2.13 oz Yang Le Duo (yogurt drink)

I have not gotten around to this one yet because I need to buy the yogurt drink. I may be less inclined now since I really like Recipe 2. I'll update this blog entry if I ever make the third one.

"Pinkberry" Yogurt Recipe

I thought I'd try several recipes to see if I could make a good cup of frozen yogurt in the style of Pinkberry frozen yogurt.















Recipe 1
2 1/2 cup Trader Joe's Greek-style yogurt (nonfat)
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir together all the ingredients and refrigerate for 1 hour. Then freeze in a commercial ice cream machine for about 30 minutes.

I tried this the other day and I thought it was way to sweet. I had already cut the sugar down from the original recipe. However, I could barely stand to eat it - it was so sweet. The texture was quite creamy, which is unlike the icy texture of Pinkberry style yogurt. The yogurt also does not freeze well. After sitting overnight in the freezer, it became quite hard - definitely too hard to scoop. It would have made a better popsicle.

Recipe 2
2 1/2 cups 2% fat Trader Joe's Greek style yogurt
1/3 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients and stir until everything is well mixed. Freeze in a commercial ice cream maker for about 30 minutes.

I tried this recipe last night and it got pretty good reviews from my friends. This recipe comes closer to achieving the icy texture of Pinkberry style soft serve yogurt, since it contains more water from the half and half and milk. I like the sugar level here much better as well. The frozen yogurt was light, refreshing, tangy (but not too sour), and slightly sweet. Because I served this immediately after making it, I was not able to check out its freezing capabilities. I'm guessing that it would become even harder, since it has more water content and still not enough fat. Nevertheless, if you plan on eating it within a few hours, it should have pretty good texture.

Recipe 3
1 quart Trader Joe's Lowfat Organic Yogurt
3 x 2.13 oz Yang Le Duo (yogurt drink)

I have not gotten around to this one yet because I need to buy the yogurt drink. I may be less inclined now since I really like Recipe 2. I'll update this blog entry if I ever make the third one.