Headquartered in Oregon, Turtle Mountain and its So Delicious brand is known for concocting all-natural, dairy free/lactose free beverage, yogurt, ice cream and frozen novelty products based on organic soy and coconut milk.
Since I've been plagued by lactose intolerance for most of my adult life and quite likely longer, I was very intrigued by this product. I've tried Stonyfield Farm's O'Soy! yogurt and while it was tasty enough, in short, it was a little tangier than I'm used to, had a strange aftertaste and left me wanting for a better flavor.
First time I even heard about coconut milk yogurt was from a Whole Foods weekly deals flyer. So Delicious was "on sale" and priced to sell at 3 for $4 (regularly $1.99) for a 6 ounce cup. Not exactly what I'd consider a bargain, since I'm used to buying garden variety store and brand name yogurt cups at $0.50 or less a pop. I bought all the flavors I could find, nine altogether: blueberry, strawberry, strawberry banana, pina colada, raspberry, chocolate, passionate mango, vanilla and plain.
Important thing to note is that these are NOT "light", non-fat, low fat, low calorie or low sugar products. Ingredients are all natural and as such, may include a little more fat (from the coconut milk I'd imagine) and sugar than you'd get from your average yogurt, though the calories are pretty much in line with competing products.
Peeling back the plastic film lid, the yogurt came off a little on the thin side -- compared to yogurts I've had in the past anyway -- even after stirring away the characteristic yogurt-whey separation. A bit of an odd mouth feel to me -- little characteristic yogurt tanginess and what I can only describe as a slightly greasy, almost airy or whipped artificialness -- which could result in dislike for more choosy palettes. And I'd suspect it's due to all the "filler" added to boost product texture and thickness, some ingredients commonly found in ice creams: algin (kelp extract), rice starch, locust bean gum, agar, carrageenan, guar gum.
Blueberry (140 calories, 60 from fat): I tried blueberry first, because it's usually one of my favorite flavors. Lots of blueberry color mixed in and plenty of visible fruit bits to be found throughout, but not one of your "fruit on the bottom" types with largish samples of fruit. Very, very tasty and doesn't seem to be quite so overly sweet as others have claimed, I found it to be just right.
Strawberry Banana (150 calories, 50 from fat): I had heard from other reviews that strawberry banana was a big favorite. Don't know whether it raised my expectations, but taste is certainly up to each individual and I wasn't as happy with this flavor. The greasy mouth feel was more pronounced, there were no visible bits of fruit to be found and I could definitely taste the coconut milk where I hadn't with the blueberry. Would not be my first pick of flavors if I ever buy this stuff again.
Pina Colada (140 calories, 60 from fat): Another flavor I'd heard through the grapevine as being good and this time they're right on the money. Tiny chunks of pineapple and perhaps shredded coconut add texture to what's likely a natural flavor for coconut milk yogurt. Granted it could use a touch more sweetness, but maybe that's just me -- blueberry is still the reigning favorite.
Passionate Mango (130 calories, 60 from fat): By far the smoothest appearing mix of flavors, though curiously devoid of visible fruit, with its tropical ingredients composed of juice and puree. Also the only other descriptive flavor name rather than the simple fruit ingredients. A little more tart and tangy comes through this time, but I'd guess it comes from the passionfruit and mango rather than being a yogurt. Personally, I think it could use a touch more sweet.
Chocolate (170 calories, 50 from fat): Not what you'd normally expect to be in a lineup of flavors for yogurt, but still very good. Looks and tastes almost like pudding, though not as sweet and for once the tangy comes out more noticeably. If I had to take a guess, I would say that the cocoa comes from an unsweetened or bittersweet variety, but for now that remains a mystery, for the ingredient list merely includes "chocolate".
Raspberry (140 calories, 50 from fat): Another favorite flavor of mine which I usually avoid due to the seeds that get stuck in my teeth, this one didn't disappoint on either count -- great raspberry flavor mixed with that tang of yogurt but unfortunately no deficit of seeds. Most of their fruit must come in pureed form, so it's a little disappointing that they chose not to take the seedless path.
Plain (130 calories, 70 from fat): If ever there was a yogurt flavor I wouldn't like so much it would be plain -- never been a fan of eating it all by its lonesome. Looks like a cup of shortening, all white with a slight translucent sheen, has very little flavor beyond the slight tang and the greasy mouth feel is amplified by the lack of anything to distract your taste buds. Fortunately, I anticipated this problem and toted along a ziploc baggie bearing dried bing cherries and walnut pieces (thank you Trader Joe's!) -- flavor and texture to the rescue? Somewhat, but the non-flavor of the yogurt still comes through and I still can't shake the sensation of spooning down a cup of shortening.
Well, what should have closed with reviews of strawberry and vanilla was not meant to be. What I thought was strawberry turned out to be another cup of strawberry banana and apparently I grabbed a second blueberry as well. Now that I think about it, looking at the refrigerator case while shopping, a few flavors were sorted out of order and there were no vanillas to be found. Is vanilla the most popular flavor or was it just stocked poorly? Who knows, but I'm certainly not enthusiastic about test driving it or strawberry at a $2 price point.