Yogurt shake shops — most notably Yanmi Yogurt and Yomie Yogurt — have been debuting in Singapore since December last year after a steady rise in popularity in China, Taiwan and Australia. Commonly touted as a healthier alternative to bubble tea, they feature drinks made with yogurt and healthy ingredients like grains and fresh fruits, with less added sugar.

One of the iconic drinks leading this trend is the purple rice yogurt shake. Purple rice was once dubbed ‘forbidden rice’ because it was reserved for Chinese emperors, and is celebrated for its high levels of antioxidants that purportedly promote heart health and lower the risk of some cancers. Like other similar shops, Hey Yogurt offers the royal grain blitzed with yogurt for common folk like us, among other drinks.

Hey Yogurt’s first outpost is nestled within a stretch of food shops on the Basement 1 level of Jurong Point, though with its vibrant white-and-yellow facade it is hard to miss. It’s minimally decorated with an illustration of the brand’s mascot and bold brand statements (“Freshly Made Daily”, “100% Natural”, “Healthy is the New Skinny”, etc.) on acrylic signs on the wall. The prep kitchen and storage takes up the back of the small space, while the drink-making station and cashier are situated out front. Also, like most takeaway drink stores, there aren’t any seats so you have to grab-and-go. There’s a digital menu board above the cashier so you can start planning your order in the queue but it wasn’t working just yet when we visited.

Hey Yogurt does seem to live up to the statements proudly emblazoned on their walls. The yogurt used is made in-store daily by fermenting Australian milk for 12 hours, then stored in fridges with temperatures between 0 to 5 degrees Celsius to keep it fresh. The grains, fruits and compotes used in the drinks are all prepped every day too. It sounds like a tall order for staff to prep so many ingredients from scratch daily — and it is. Prep time starts one hour before the store opens. All the hard work goes into the 21 drinks on their menu, currently split into five ‘series’: Grains, made with one type of grain; Multi-Grains, a mix of two types of grains like oats and purple rice in a drink; the Signature series, the popular fruit blends; Milk Fruits series with two kinds of fruit; and their unique Local series featuring local flavours like jackfruit and bandung. While observing the drink-making process, we snuck a peek at the homemade yogurt used. Instead of the runnier versions we’re used to seeing in commercial yogurt tubs, it was thick and firm, and reminiscent of beancurd.

If you’re wondering, yes, full-fat milk is used to make the yogurt for optimal creaminess. A little sugar syrup is also used as a sweetener but on the whole, all of the drinks we had were only slightly sweet. A rep told us options with fewer carbs and sugar that don’t scrimp on flavour are in the works.

Wholesomeness aside, how do the drinks taste? We tried the signatures to find out.

Hey Yogurt’s signature drink is, of course, the purple rice yogurt shake. Purple rice is washed, filtered, steamed and cooled before joining a few scoops of yogurt in the blender. The result is a thick shake chockfull of purple rice bits. It wasn’t a combination we were sure of, but the mix of tangy yogurt (less sour compared to Greek yogurt) with the fragrant, nutty rice was surprisingly scrumptious. It’s also only slightly sweetened so it wasn’t jelak, though the generous amount of rice in the shake made it extra filling — one-third of the cup down and we were full. Get this to share or have it as a meal on its own if you’re hungry. It also reminded us of a guilt-free pulut hitam with a hint of yogurt tang, which brings us to…

Hey Yogurt’s rendition of the local dessert is a mix of black glutinous rice and yogurt with a dash of coconut milk. Like Dreamy Purple Rice, there’s rice in every mouthful but they’re not completely broken down in the blender. Also, the coconut milk used tasted fresh, not weird or synthetic like lower-quality packet versions. The extra bite from the bigger grains of rice and added lemak from the coconut milk made it closer to pulut hitam in taste, but much less sweet and with a slight yogurt tang. It’s a yummy and less guilt-filled way to enjoy the local dessert, but still very much an indulgent treat for those counting their calories.

Fresh lychee flesh and yogurt are blitzed together to make this fruity blend with chewy lychee bits. It’s slightly sweeter than the rest of the drinks we tried and is a good pick for those who don’t usually enjoy the sourness of yogurt. Our photographer, who’s not usually a fan of yogurt, particularly enjoyed this.

With its vibrant pink hue, this is the most Insta-worthy of all the drinks here. This healthier version of bandung is a blend of rose cordial with yogurt instead of evaporated milk, and we actually prefer this. The refreshing yogurt complements the floral flavours and is less cloying than the traditional one.

If you’re a fan of jackfruit, you’ll love this robust shake. This was thick and creamy like the rest of the shakes here, with added natural sweetness and chunks of jackfruit — yum. Disclaimer: the fruit completely masks the taste of yogurt here, though that’s expected since jackfruit has such a pungent flavour.

The ‘silk’ in Milk n Silk is a reference to the silky-smooth avocado used in this shake. Compared to the gula melaka-sweetened smoothies we usually get from fruit juice shops, Hey Yogurt’s avo-shake has less sugar so you can fully taste the buttery, nutty flavour of the fruit, which we really enjoyed.

Unlike the other drinks, the layers of peach and yogurt in this drink are separate, and looks like a pretty parfait. It was nice to get the option to sip the light, creamy, and slightly tart yogurt as it is. We were also pleasantly surprised to learn that the peach compote (sweet and tangy with thin slices of peach) is made in-store instead of coming from a can. The extra effort made for a not-so-sweet dessert-drink.

Yummy blends, check. Fresh ingredients, check. What we appreciate most is that while the shakes are thick and creamy (think McDonald’s milkshakes), the yogurt’s slight sourness keeps them from being too rich. The modest use of sweeteners also made them much less cloying. While the more carb-heavy drinks might almost equal bubble tea in terms of calorie count, but they're definitely more hearty and wholesome.

Hey Yogurt is at #B1-03A Jurong Point, 1 Jurong West Central 2, S648886. Tel: 8768-8978. Open  10am to 9.30pm daily. www.facebook.com/heyyogurtsg/

Photos: Kelvin Chia