America wants its frozen yogurt, and they want it now! Starting with Pinkberry and followed by Berry Wild, Berry Line, Red Mango, Bo Yo and more, the frozen yogurt craze has sky rocketed and is now raising the bar by offering "make your own" shops.
Many of my Manhattan friends rave about a place called 16 Handles. The concept is 16 types of frozen yogurt, where you swirl your own, add your own toppings and then pay by the weight of your cup. This "make your own" frozen yogurt concept has reached the Connecticut suburb of Westport where I was visiting a college girlfriend this weekend.
We went to the new frozen yogurt shop called Top This after a beautiful lunch on the river on Saturday afternoon. The flavors of the day were posted outside on the window:
Once you have an idea of what you'd like, you grab a styrofoam bowl and start swirling your flavors of frozen yogurt. You can add as many flavors as you like (so much easier than choosing just one!). I opted for a twist of the chocolate and cake batter.
Once you've got a bowl full of frozen yogurt you can top it with anything in the toppings bar. Nuts, fresh fruit, dry cereal, candy, fudge and more. I added walnuts, shredded coconut, mini chocolate chips and M&Ms.
When you're done creating, you bring your bowl to the register where it gets weighed and you are charged 59 cents per ounce. This is quite a deal!
I was incredibly impressed by the wide variety of frozen yogurt flavors and the freshness of the toppings. While we were there we saw one of the clerks cutting up more fresh fruit.
If you have a sweet tooth, this is a fantastic way to sample all the flavors and toppings you love with no guilt and minimum damage to your wallet. Top that!
