An Intoxicating Twist on Froyo at Island Yogurt
This ‘Aiea shop is selling boozy frozen yogurt made with Prosecco, Kahlua, Guinness and more.
Island Yogurt in ‘Aiea is now selling spiked froyo. Flavors include pineapple-rum and watermelon-vodka. These tasty treats are for the 21-and-up crowd.
Photo: Courtesy of Island Yogurt
Froyo is the dessert craze that won’t go away—and now with this new twist, we hope it doesn’t.
Island Yogurt in ‘Aiea recently launched a line of spiked froyo, with flavor combinations such as watermelon-vodka, pineapple-rum, vanilla-Guinness, coffee-Kahlua and—our favorite—strawberry-Prosecco. The shop sells the boozy treat in 8-ounce, prepackaged containers for $4 each, and you must be 21 or older to purchase.
“It was just something different,” says owner Robert Taura, who opened this location in 2014. (He ran Island Yogurt in Kailua for a few years until he closed it last summer.)
Island Yogurt offers spiked frozen yogurt, including this blend of Guinness beer and vanilla froyo.
Photo: Courtesy of Island Yogurt
Taura isn’t afraid to try new things in his shop. In addition to offering a very strange array of froyo toppings—furikake, olive oil, black lava salt, Tabasco, shoyu—he also offers interesting flavors he blends himself. We loved the super fun, blue-hued Fruity Pebbles flavor, which tastes a lot like drinking the milk after eating a bowl of the sweet cereal. And the Cookie Butter—yes, the Speculoos cookie spread popularized by Trader Joe’s—is creamy, milky and tastes like the holidays. (Other flavors include the classic chocolate and vanilla, taro, peanut butter, salted caramel, cheesecake, pistachio, honeydew, matcha green tea and li hing mui.)
Some of the unusual toppings at Island Yogurt. The shop has more than 50 different toppings, ranging from mochi balls to fresh fruits.
Photo: Catherine Toth Fox
Inspired by pastry chef Dominique Ansel’s “What-A-Melon” soft serve, only available in his Tokyo bakery, Taura started serving watermelon froyo in the center of a fresh watermelon slice. (Ansel is famous for creative desserts including the famed croissant-doughnut mashup known as the cronut, cold-brew soft serve and matcha babka.) The highly Instagrammable dessert, which cost 63 cents an ounce, is watermelon overload—but in a good way.
Island Yogurt’s Breyanna Mattos holds up the popular watermelon froyo in an actual watermelon.
Photo: Catherine Toth Fox
What’s next for this creative froyo shop? Taura is thinking about serving frozen yogurt in other fruits, including papayas and pineapples. And he’s always thinking of new flavors to add to his lineup.
“I don’t want to be like everyone else,” he says, with a smile.
Island Yogurt, 99-185 Moanalua Road, ‘Aiea, (808) 488-0009, islandyogurt808.com.
READ MORE STORIES BY CATHERINE TOTH FOX
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