A week's worth of tasty

A new brand of yogurt called Rachel's (made in Broomfield, CO) caught my eye at Whole Foods. I bought 5 flavors for a total of $3 and commenced to the taste-testing each morning at work. Good news! I kept notes for you.

1. Marionberry Guava - First of all, I learned that a Marionberry is a type of blackberry. I learned that from the internet, not from the yogurt. This is pleasingly tart (a word I use a lot because it's a flavor I seek out) and fruity. The texture is smooth with just a hint of lumpiness. I could tell right away that this was not the yogurt of my youth. It's much more sophisticated and, well, delicious.

2. Pink Grapefruit Lychee is another nicely tart flavor, I detect layers of both types of fruit in there. It really tastes fresh and special.

3. Mango Pineapple Passion Fruit is my favorite of the five I picked out. A pineapple sweetness peeks through the richness of mango, while a banana back note adds a smooth and creamy depth.

4. Exotic Cherry Black Currant has a familiar "cherry vanilla" yogurt color but a much more intensely fruity flavor. The lids have started spitting a good deal of yogurt if I don't tear them off carefully, but that's a minor concern.

5. Pomegranate Açai, which was the first flavor on whose label I noticed the trademarked phrase "Wickedly Delicious," is an "Essence" flavor (as opposed to the other category of "Exotic" yogurts). This yogurt is extremely aromatic, which is apparently part of the "Essence" experience. Unfortunately, I think the company sacrificed something to get at this aromatherapy-in-yogurt concept. This was my least favorite flavor. For one thing, it was an unappealing old salmon pinky-brown. It also tasted the most artificial of the yogurts I tried, bringing to mind harshly fruity candy. ETA: However! This is Kevin's favorite flavor so far, he told me. So don't skip it on my account if you're into the tart and the scented and the yogurt.

Yogurt is a pretty straightforward snack, even with such unusual flavors. One of the few confusing things about these yogurts is that there are so many variations on the packaging. I do think they all said they were hormone-free with probiotics and omega-3 DHA "for the heart, brain and eyes," but otherwise there were too many names, categories, and trademarked slogans.

Some of the yogurts are marked "Exotic" (Marionberry Guava, for one). Others are "Vitality" (Pomegranate Açaí) or "Refresh" (Pink Grapefruit Lychee), but I gather those are "Exotic," too. I guess each flavor is either "Exotic" or "Essence," but beyond that some of the flavors have "catchy conceptual" names in addition to the names of the fruit flavors they capture.

There's a page on Rachel's website that explains the categories, but I think what they've come up with is a little more complex than necessary, especially as most people do not seek out the website of the yogurt they found at Whole Foods. They could have just had "Essence" and "Exotic" and left it at that. Or just name the flavors after the fruit represented inside!

One could argue that these yogurts are a bit overwrought, but that's a small quibble after what I feel was a delicious discovery. I'll certainly be seeking out more flavors.