Froyo with a ’tini twist: Entrepreneur collaboration serves alcoholic frozen yogurt in KC
August 23, 2023 | Cienna Romines
Kansas City is excited by the new flavor combinations popping up as two entrepreneurs give customers a taste of collaboration, said Isaac Collins, teasing a line of alcoholic frozen yogurt that’s already hitting cups in the metro.
James Thomas, Brain Freeze Mobile Daiquiri, and Isaac Collins, Yogurtini
Through a partnership with KC-based Brain Freeze Mobile Daiquiri, Collins’ Yogurtini locations have begun a series of happy hour events to showcase the new offering — allowing people throughout the metro an opportunity to sample, whether they’re in the Northland, Plaza area or South Johnson County.
“Each time we’ve done this, I’ve had a lot of people text me saying ‘I’m rooting you guys on,’” said Collins, the owner of multiple Yogurtini stores across the city. “Every time we post something on Instagram, I get a ton of messages like, ‘Oh my gosh, I want this!’ There’s a lot of excitement and curiosity.”
“They’re curious because it’s like ice cream, it’s like a daiquiri, it’s alcoholic,” added James Thomas, owner of Brain Freeze Mobile Daiquiri. “With an interesting concept like this, everyone wants to try it out — to see what it really tastes like.”
Collins is a veteran entrepreneur who has owned eight businesses in the past 11 years. In addition to Yogurtini, he currently operates a business coaching venture and a yoga business.
Recently, he’d been wanting to expand his Yogurtini business by incorporating alcohol, he said.
“One thing that was very obvious by our name ‘Yogurtini’ is people think the ‘tini’ part is mixed with some sort of alcohol, like a martini or something like that,” Collins explained. “Unfortunately we had to say no. ”
Until now.
“Obviously our brand is largely for kids,” Collins continued, “but what if we could give adults their favorite flavor with that alcohol component as well?”
That’s where fellow entrepreneur Thomas came in.
Collins and Thomas met at an event earlier this year, and discovered a shared passion to create the perfect combination of alcohol and froyo.
James Thomas, Brain Freeze Mobile Daiquiri; photo by Cienna Romines
Thomas has owned Brain Freeze Mobile Daiquiri for just over a year, and also was looking to expand his business.
“First we had to test to see how much of my product and his product could go together to create that perfect combination,” Thomas said in mid-August.
Their solution: just the right amount of Brain Freeze daiquiri — available in two flavors — atop a cup of Yogurtini frozen yogurt; allowing the brand to preserve options for children and adults alike.
Thomas and Collins plan to co-partner on pop-up events and other vendor opportunities this summer and fall. Customers can get their favorite frozen yogurtini, a daiquiri, or a mixture of the two, the duo said.
Startland News reporter Nikki Overfelt Chifalu contributed to this report.
Featured Business
2023 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Downtown space levels up with ‘Novel Coworking’ name change
About seven months after arriving in Kansas City, one of the area’s newest coworking spaces has announced a name change. Chicago-based Level Office — which opened a studio in downtown Kansas City in February — announced Monday a rebrand to become Novel Coworking. The revamp more accurately represents the company’s mission to amplify its customers,…
Photos: KC Coworking Day sings virtues of big ideas in startup spaces
KC Coworking Day is a celebration of people whose vision exceeds their circumstances, said Bob Martin. “If you’re an entrepreneur, and you have a vision, I hope your vision is so big that you’re uncomfortable sharing it with everybody — that there’s only a handful of people to whom you’re going to say, ‘This is…
Digital Sandbox startup Fast Democracy building non-partisan social database for tracking legislation
Today’s political climate demands not only a better-informed public, but accurate tools to help voters arm themselves with timely information, said Sara Baker, co-founder of Fast Democracy. The Kansas City-based startup — one of four early-stage businesses recently accepted into Digital Sandbox KC — aims to help people “touch their democracy” through its non-partisan web…
Tech Scouts: Your pitch ideas could help defend the US; Aug. 12 application deadline nears
The U.S. Department of Defense isn’t just bullets and bombs, said Jack Harwell. A five-day October event — “Encountering Innovation,” which is organized by the DoD and the Small Business Development Center’s Kansas office — gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch innovative solutions to a panel of the DoD’s “tech scouts,” said Harwell, advisor at…