The Warm and Cold Drink Experience

The White Hat (Italian Frozen Yogurt)
2nd Level - SM City North EDSA Annex
North Avenue cor EDSA, Quezon City
23 February 2012

A few weeks ago, I received a voucher from The White Hat through e-mail. At first I was happy about it because there's a branch near me (SM Fairview), but the voucher specifically said I could only redeem my voucher in one of three branches: SM City North EDSA, SM Megamall, or Shangri-la Mall. Three locations that are quite far from where I live, so at first I wondered if I will be able to redeem it.

Thankfully, I was invited to attend an event at SM City North EDSA yesterday, making me able to redeem my voucher. Actually, a few days ago, I received another voucher for a different drink, so everything just fell into place, basically.


The White Hat has been a choice for foodies craving for frozen yogurt based on how people around me raved about it. Well, I have yet to taste their yogurt, so I still am not in the position to talk about it for now.

Anyway, I invited my cousin Marge for this little drink trip (well it's not really a food trip, right? hahaha), and also for us to have a little bonding moment. We see each other during events, but we don't really get to talk much, so I considered this a very precious moment for us. In a way, I was a bit thankful to Jonel (Marge's bf and a bloggy friend of mine) to decline Marge's invitation to join us. :)




I have seen The White Hat's branches at SM Fairview and Shangri-la Mall, so I was a bit blown away when I saw their branch here! Talk about comfort! Marge and I truly loved their choice of furniture and fixtures - so homey!




I have had frozen yogurt in the past, but their store had the most amount of available toppings to go with their frozen yogurt - fresh fruits, nuts, and some fruit and nut variations. For one moment I was thankful that I won't be redeeming a cup of frozen yogurt because if I do, I'd have to face a hard moment of deciding which topping(s) to choose!


Creamy Cioccolato. We asked this to be served first because we just had lunch and we just wanted something warm to comfort the tummies. This might be the most interesting cup of chocolate drink I had - a cup of warm frothy milk and a wooden spoon with a small block of chocolate. What we just needed to do was the stir the milk with chocolate and once the chocolate has melted, it's time to drink away.

Things I loved about it:

• You control the amount of chocolate in your drink. If you're not a big fan of chocolate but still wanted a cup of chocolate drink, you can stop melting the chocolate block anytime.
• It was creamy, but not really sweet. It was like drinking a cup of creamy milk chocolate sans the sugar; though I forgot to ask if one can ask for additional sugar or syrup.
• The temperature's just right. The frothy milk was a bit hot when served, but because I needed to melt the chocolate by stirring the milk, the drink was slightly warm that I got the comforting goodness of a chocolate drink without really burning the tongue.

I took my time sipping this drink... it was so good I didn't want the experience to end.

The other voucher I received was for any cold drink. Since the voucher is good for 2 cups, Marge and I decided to choose one from their Signature Smoothie and Fruity Smoothie lines.

Mango Cream Pie (Signature Smoothie). Marge asked the server what was their bestseller and they answered this. It had the mango flavor, but it wasn't really intense - maybe because of the "cream." It had crushed bits of nuts, that gave the drink the interesting twist. Asking about it, we found it it was Walnut Strussel.

I am not a big fan of mangoes. However, I found this drink very light, creamy and interesting that I asked Marge if we could exchange cups. Hehe.

Other available flavors for the Signature Smoothie line:

• Peanut Butter Banana (banana, peanut butter, milk, and yogurt)
• Blueberry Grape (grapes, blueberries, milk, and yogurt)
• Strawberry Cheesecake (strawberries, cheesecake, milk, and yogurt)
• Banana Walnut Honey (bananas, walnuts, honey, milk, and yogurt)
  

Strawberry (Fruity Smoothie). A cup of strawberries, milk, and yogurt. It was like eating crushed fresh strawberries - very light in sweetness, but still very good. I love strawberries and this was awesome, but the walnut strussel won me over so I exchanged drinks with Marge.

Somewhere between the drink trip, my friend and neighbor Ria joined us. We went to the mall together but we had separate appointments, and when she sent me a text message asking if I was still at the mall, I quickly asked her to come and join us. I loved the Mango Cream Pie Smoothie, but both Marge and Ria loved the Strawberry Smoothie more because it tasted natural. Well, I did find it good, too... but maybe the Mango Cream Pie Smoothie was much better for my liking.

Other fruit flavors for the Fruity Smoothie line - Kiwi, Banana, Mango, and Blueberry.

The White Hat also offers Creamy Treats - a cup of cold drink that's milk based... flavors include Almond Cream, Caramel Cream, Cookies & Cream, and Chocolate Cream.

Aside from this branch in SM North EDSA, other The White Hat branches include: Ayala Trinoma Mall, Fully Booked BHS, Gateway Mall, Glorietta 3, Landmark (Trinoma), One Archers Place La Salle Taft, Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons Manila, Rockwell, Shangri-la Mall, SM Fairview, SM Megamall, SM Marikina, SM Mall Of Asia, SM North Edsa.

To know more about the White Hat and what they serve, check their website at www.thewhitehat.com.ph or like their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TheWhiteHat, or follow them on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TWHYogurt.


Tasting something new is always a great experience, but sharing the moment with friends and family is always sweeter. From left to right - Marge, me, and Ria (whose food trips will be shared here on my blog starting this Saturday)


Big thanks to cousin Marge of Living Marjorney for the last picture on this post.