Food Review: Red Mango's New Tangomonium Frozen Yogurt

I admit that I was living under a rock during the time frozen yogurt chains grew popular. I never noticed them until I visited my local mall and saw three of them had popped up in my neighborhood like wooden ducks at a shooting range. Out of the three, Red Mango piqued my curiosity with its proximity to the toy store I intended to visit and its free giveaway of its newest flavor the Tangomonium that fateful Saturday. Nothing entices me to try something new than free samples.

During this initial visit, I read the blurbs about how Red Mango yogurt is all-natural and features "live and active" cultures that have positive health benefits. The customer ahead of me complained that her plain frozen yogurt was tart, which the server countered by saying tartness was a feature of an all-natural yogurt with live and active cultures. I was now looking forward to my first Red Mango experience knowing that the yogurt would not have the homogenized sweet flavor that usually turns me off most store bought yogurt. If I want creamy sweet flavor, I eat ice cream. Upon my turn, I accepted the free serving of Tangomonium and requested a sample spoonful of the regular to compare the two.

With a flavor called Tangomonium, I expected it to taste like mango or perhaps tangerine mixed with mango. But considering that the original flavor of Red Mango frozen yogurt tastes nothing like red mango, I should have known better. Tangomonium has a light citrus flavor akin to orange crème. While having some of the tangy flavor in its namesake, a touch of sweetness undercuts some tartness compared to the original flavor that was still fresh in my memory from the sample. It goes well with the blueberries I selected as a topping and I imagine bananas would better accentuate the Tangomonium flavor. If I must critique the Tangomonium, I would say that the dingy yellow color of the yogurt does not match the advertised bright yellow. Then again, how often does someone proclaim that something tastes like yellow? The spring season timing of this new flavor is excellent as it definitely has a light springtime flavor that would easily transcend into a cool summer treat.

I presume that Tangomonium is catered for people who want the natural living cultures of Red Mango frozen yogurt but do not like the tart flavor. If that is the case, Tangomonium does the job superbly. I can heartily recommend Red Mango's Tangomonium frozen yogurt for a nice frozen treat. I personally prefer the tartness of the original flavor and perhaps the extreme tartness of their pomegranate flavored yogurt, which I aim to try on my next visit.