Not wanting to waste our trip to Sherwood Park last week (I realize I make Sherwood Park sound like Camrose or something, but any public transit routes I’m not familiar with might as well be), I asked Mack and Grandma Male if they were up to visiting a new frozen yogurt place I had heard about. They agreed.
Twisted Yogurt Creations opened up in August of this year, and alongside Kiwi Kiss, might mean the frozen yogurt trend has finally caught up to Edmonton. Unlike Kiwi Kiss’s take-out facade, however, Twisted Yogurt provides seating options, and amongst their bright green walls and fun light fixtures, it reminded me of the chic frozen yogurt bars in the States.
Twisted Yogurt interior
The self-serve nature of the shop caught me off guard, though I soon understood why it was set up that way. With eight base yogurt flavours, fresh fruit and about three dozen dry toppings to choose from, customers were encouraged to experiment and find their favourite combinations. For that reason, I think Twisted Yogurt is definitely more family-friendly, and indeed during our visit, a father was there with his young daughter, out for dessert. Twisted Yogurt also serves coffee and cookies, and in the new year, may look at serving hot food, such as waffles to be topped with yogurt and fruit.
The friendly clerk explained how the process worked – each yogurt dispensing machine had three levers, two of which dispensed the two listed flavours, and a third that dispensed a twist of the two (one or two flavours change every week). Once we chose our yogurt base (we were encouraged to mix and match), we would then select whatever toppings we wanted. The last step was to get our creation weighed and paid for, at 49 cents an ounce.
Mack dispensing yogurt
Mack and Grandma Male chose the strawberry kiwi, while I opted to try both the very berry and pomegranate acai flavours. I stuck to the more traditional fresh fruit toppings, while Mack decided to garnish his yogurt with a sprinkling of gummy bears.
At the dry topping station
While I’m sure the final “weigh in” could end up being pretty expensive, we were all fairly conservative with our amounts, and our three cup order rang in at just under $12, not too bad for a sweet treat before dinner. I loved the pomegranate acai, which balanced between a fruity flavour and the tang one expects from frozen yogurt. More than anything else, I think I liked all of the options I had – possibilities are priceless!
Our creations!
I had the chance to speak to Twisted Yogurt owner Michael Bossio after my visit, and he said that they will be opening up three to four more stores in Edmonton over the next six to eight months. More than that, they will soon obtain the “live and active cultures” seal, which means that their product has more than 10 million probiotic cultures per ounce – a boon in the current state of probiotic mania. Michael is very proud of their frozen yogurt, particularly the tanginess that comes from using genuine yogurt.
I for one am very happy about the forthcoming frozen yogurt boom in Edmonton, and look forward to experimenting with more of my own creations at Twisted Yogurt!
Twisted Yogurt Creations
#138, 1020 Sherwood Drive, Sherwood Park
(780) 416-1133
Sunday-Thursday 10am-9pm, Friday-Saturday 10am-10pm