between four of us, we sampled a huge array of the popsicles tonight. we're loco for loco-pops!
1) i tried the banana pecan and thought it was pretty good. the creamy popsicles are harder to bite into than the, uh, watery ones.
actually, here's a photo of the menu:
it's divided into "paletas de crema" and "paletas de agua".
2) i also tried the hibiscus, which friggin' blew me away. the flavor was so incredibly intense i think i yelped when i first tasted it. it was very much like cranberry, and very very very good.
3) david had the tamarind which was promised to taste like lemon iced tea. i think it was a little more subtle than that.
4) david also had the sugar-free pineapple mint, which may have been my favorite of the evening. it was the perfect balance of the two flavors. david and i agreed that all it needed was a shot of vodka and it would be perfect.
5) elizabeth had the chocolate with chiles and felt the burn.
6) she also had the ginger cantaloupe, which come to think of it were the two i had the night before. copy cat!
7) charo started off with the pomegranate tangerine,
8) moved on to the creamy lime,
9) then finished with the chocolate with chiles.
she spied a few people using a punch-card "frequent flier" thing, and with three popsicles under her belt in one night i think she should have investigated that program further.
the best news of the evening is that the owner is going to expand her hours of operation! currently they close at 7pm, which is ridiculously early, especially for the summertime. so she's looking for a little cheap staffing to help keep the place open later into the evening.
i swear these things are addictive. maybe i'll stop back in this weekend and try some of the more interesting-looking flavors like cucumber chile or mango chile.
Posted by xta at June 17, 2005 10:50 PM | TrackBackI had the bluberries and cream tonight and it had chunks of fresh blueberry in it. It was yummy. Dave tried the cucumber and chile which he liked. 7 is way too early to close; I am glad to hear they are trying to stay open later. We just had dessert before dinner tonight :)
Posted by: shayne at June 18, 2005 12:18 AMArgh! You're driving me crazy! What I wouldn't have given for a really amazing popsicle when I lived in the Triangle. (Instead all I had was nasty grocery store popsicles meant for five-year-olds --bleh.) Anything involving ginger sounds mighty fine to me...hey, maybe I can try experimenting, I gotta freezer... I'll put XDU on the desktop, and wear one of my old Poindexter T-shirts, steam up the kitchen by letting a kettle boil for an hour, and it'll almost be like I'm there....
Posted by: Penny at June 18, 2005 1:11 AMDid you all go with Mary-Russell? She's the neat lady sitting to the left of Elizabeth on the bench. She's so cool! God, I miss living in a town where I know people.
Posted by: John Boy at June 18, 2005 4:01 AMYou are making me crazy! Those look so good, I would LOVE some.
Quit taunting me with things I cannot have!
penny-
get yourself a felafel, pretend it's from international delights, and i think you're on to something. ;-)
john-
i didn't officially meet that woman, though i talked to her husband, mark, who is an XDU dj.
as we sat there eating popsicle after popsicle, we noticed quite a consistent flow of neighborhood folks walking in. they close at 7, but didn't lock the doors until the last people were done eating. (that would be us.)
here's another article that appeared in today's N&O:
http://www.newsobserver.com/print/saturday/other/story/2513478p-8917254c.html
Excellent! I almost went by yesterday, but will try again next week. Also, I now have a 14" cooler (bought specifically for the purpose of hauling beer to the Wake County Speedway last night) which will be great for carting a few paletas back to Brightleaf when I'm working at my "extension" office this summer.
Posted by: Phil at June 18, 2005 1:54 PMThese popsicles are the best. I'll give anybody a dozen popsicles if they take a kitten!!!!!
Posted by: Charo at June 19, 2005 11:13 AMOh my god, I love paletas! I was just in El Salvador and people there were making fun of my paleta addiction. So psyched to try loco pops!
I just wish I could find a phone number for them. I want to call and see if I can get some for a bike ride I'm doing this afternoon... Well, it's close enough by that I'll just have to get my ass in gear and head over early and talk to Miss Summer.
Glad I found your blog while googling for loco pops. I'll be back!
-- Lanya
www.getTraction.org
cucumber chili is the best flavor. at first it tastes like pear. and then it tastes like burning.
Posted by: rick! at June 20, 2005 12:02 PMi just tasted cucumber chile yesterday myself. i agree that it was good... but very burny.
as georg mentioned (http://www.mondomundo.net/archives/003653.php ) the chocolate w/ chiles is the only of the chile-flavored pops to use a blend of chiles. the others (mango-chile, pineapple-chile, cucumber-chile) all apparently use just one. in the cucumber, it tasted like straight cayenne to me.
i wonder how much better the cucumber-chile would be if the spice were tempered a bit by another flavor of chile.
anyway, i brought extra pops home yesterday (holding them directly in front of my car's air-conditioning vent the whole way so as to prevent premature melting) and enjoyed a second round later on in the evening.
hibiscus and pineapple mint are still my favorites, i think.
i should also mention that i see someone i know every time i go there. loco-pops is becoming quite the social scene.
Posted by: christa at June 20, 2005 12:10 PMok, ok... i went 3 days without mentioning loco-pops, and now i have to tell you about some of the new flavors. i tried the first three:
1) MOJITO!!! (no rum, of course, but i was encouraged to "dunk it") it's refreshing, but i have to say that it's not as good as my own mojitos. ;-)
2) rice pudding. (one of my favorite desserts --that and tapioca-- so there was no question i was going to order it when i saw it on the menu.) this was so rich and creamy... excellent. stellar.
3) the new sugar-free flavor is cinnamon watermelon. i thought it sounded like a weird combination, but it was actually quite delicious.
4) coconut mango
5) peach
oh... and there are others, but my brain is too full to remember them all right now.
Posted by: christa at June 23, 2005 5:38 PMI highly recommend the pineapple/chile locopop, if it comes back into circulation. And Xta, it is straight cayenne - I asked.
yours in mutual addiction...
Posted by: lady macventril at July 5, 2005 11:16 PMi tried the hibiscus tonight for the first time. YUM! and the best part? Even though the pop was bright purple/red, my lips and tongue did not change color!
Posted by: megan risley at June 26, 2006 8:18 PMSomething useful: their phone number is 919-286-3500 and they are open til 6 pm on Saturdays during December. Yum.
Posted by: paul vail at December 16, 2006 3:07 PM