Ice and Frosty
Hip Pop in Grapevine gets radical with frozen treats
Hip Pop uses fresh fruit and herbs in its artisanal frozen treats.Photo courtesy of Hip Pop
Hip Pop's sophisticated flavors include this lime-jalapeño-cucumber combination.Photo courtesy of Hip Pop
Shaved ice and frozen pops have a reputation as kiddie treats, but Hip Pop brings it for the adults. This new dessert spot in Grapevine comes from husband-and-wife team Ben Bates and Rosy Gurung, two culinary school grads who are using their chef smarts to make frozen treats with extra-sophisticated flavors.
Mimicking the current trend being followed by cocktail mixologists, Hip Pop takes an artisanal approach by using fresh fruit juices and herbs. The flavor combinations are unexpected: strawberry lemon basil, cucumber jalapeño lime, coconut pineapple lime, watermelon lime, blueberry lemon, mango habañero, pineapple cilantro, and mango banana coconut — all made with fresh fruits and raw sugar.
Hip Pop takes an artisanal approach to popsicles and shaved ice by using fresh fruit juices and herbs.
Hip Pop also does slushies, a frozen Slurpee-style drink made with fruit puree, as well as shaved ice made with cane sugar.
Bates, who previously worked at restaurants such as Dragonfly at Hotel ZaZa and Ciudad, says he wants to rethink the category entirely but discovered there was a learning curve for the customers.
"I want to take shaved ice to a new level, so I started doing natural shaved ice with our own recipes using fruit puree and organic sugar," he says. "But we found out quickly that we were losing customers because we didn't have the familiar Hawaiian syrups.
"We get so many kids that want wedding cake and cotton candy. So we picked up the Hawaiian line. We do try to improve it by using cane sugar in the syrups."
He saves his innovation for the popsicles and slushies. He's found some like-minded souls, including chef Tim Love, who lets Hip Pop set up a cart on the patio at Woodshed Smokehouse, and the Dallas Farmers Market, where they'll set up a cart on Saturday, June 29, 11 am-6 pm, outside Pecan Lodge.
"I feel like nobody in Dallas-Fort Worth is doing pops and shaved ice like we are," he says.
