Fro-Yo Rankings: Blush in San Francisco

Frozen yogurt doesn’t seem as popular as it was a couple of years ago, and in fact a few stores have dropped off my list because they’ve closed. But I still find a good cup of fro-yo refreshing and a nice healthy option during warm weather.

This weekend I was sitting in the sun all day watching a Giants game, so even though the fog was rolling in during the late afternoon, I had a craving for something cold. So I walked over to Blush, a fro-yo shop that opened a block from AT&T Park awhile back.

In fact, when you walk in there’s two big flat-screen TVs mounted on the wall showing the baseball game (or in my case the post-game show). What’s interesting about Blush is that along with selling four to five flavors of fro-yo, it also sells Hawaiian shaved ice. (I really wanted to try the shaved ice to see how they stack up to what I grew up with in Hawaii, but I had to check out the fro-yo first.)

Blush also promotes the fact that its yogurt is made with organic ingredients, and instead of being made from powder it actually includes live cultures.

The flavors included original tart, signature Blush (which was pomegranate, but not sure if the flavor changes), guava, pineapple, peanut butter, and cookies n’ cream. I ended up getting a small guava ($3.50) and added the optional toppings for $1. (Blush has an odd policy of selling toppings as an four for $1 set price, so even if you don’t want to top it with four kinds of things, there’s no flexibility. You have to choose four things.)

Luckily, Blush has a nice assortment of toppings, and I’m all for the fresh fruits so my cup looked really colorful with the fresh fruits I chose.

The guava flavor actually has a sweet tart taste similar to original fro-yo flavor, but with a pink-purplish color. I liked the flavor but I felt the texture lacked any body or creaminess. It leaned more on the light side, which probably is OK to most people, but I’ve had creamy fro-yo that I really love. Blush does the trick for post-game convenience, but I wouldn’t make the effort to go all the way down to China Basin.

Single Guy’s Fro-yo Rankings:

1. Red Mango, Palo Alto
2. Pinkberry, Southern California and San Jose
3. Fraiche, Palo Alto and San Francisco
4. Mr. Green Bubble, Oakland
5. Tuttimelon, San Francisco
6. YoCup, San Francisco
7. Icebee, San Francisco
8. Yoppi, San Francisco
9. Jubili, San Francisco
10. Tutti Frutti, Oakland
11. SoGreen, San Francisco
12. Yogurt Harmony, Berkeley
13. Blush, San Francisco
14. Creations, Berkeley
15. Cultivé Frozen Yogurt, San Francisco
16. The Loving Cup, San Francisco
17. Yogen Früz, San Francisco

Blush, 219 King St., San Francisco. PH: 415.882.9889. Open daily from 11 a.m. www.blushyogurt.com