Bean House, bringing soy fro-yo and other delicious bean products to Beijing
By Tayler Cox
My recent obsession with Bean House’s soymilk fro-yo inspired me to post after several months of blogging MIA. For all of you non-dairy people out there who have been missing ice cream, this is definitely worth a try.
Icy Cool Non-Dairy treat for Beijing's summer
Bean House first caught my eye in the dead of winter. I was perusing the snack offerings in Jianwai SOHO when I wandered into a tiny hole in the wall shop making fresh soymilk. The tastiness is in the simplicity, they have a giant fridge full of beans and grind them up in a blender with water and sugar if you like it sweet. You can get plain for 5RMB or mix it up with flavors like black sesame, matcha, walnut, or jujube for a couple extra kuai. It was a nice, natural alternative to the place next door selling “milk” tea made out of powdered glucose derivatives.
Recently though, Bean House upgraded to a larger shop in the same complex and expanded its product line into FROZEN YOGURT!
Bean House Franchise
15RMB buys original flavor with choice of one topping, or 20RMB for matcha (green tea) flavored. Toppings include nuts and several sauces. The refreshing thing about both flavors is that they are only mildly sweet, so won’t induce a nasty sugar crash. According to the Bean House materials, they take great care with product safety and ingredient quality:
According to Bean House, the key nutritional value of mature soybeans includes: dietary fiber, Vitamin A, carotene, niacin, Vitamin E, calcium, iodine, and zinc. With the exception of calcium and zinc, this assessment is at odds with the USDA’s nutritional assessment of soybeans, which are reported as low in Vitamin A (and therefore probably carotene), very low in Vitamin E, low in niacin, and with no iodine content. However, it is rich in some other types of nutrients. (For more info, check out this site). 
I can’t vouch for the truck, but the store is very clean looking. All of the employees preparing beverages wear masks and the ingredients are refrigerated. They take great care to remind you to drink your soymilk fresh within two hours to prevent risk of spoilage. I was a little worried about the green powder they use to make the matcha flavor (you can hide so many interesting things in powders), but they *say* it is imported from Japan.
I like the Bean House business model. They focus only on type of product and do it well, their materials are cheap, the stuff on their menu is fast and easy to make, and they have high customer churn. They currently have around 20 locations around Beijing and are still expanding, so keep a look out for Bean House in your neighborhood!
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2012-11-27 06:02:40
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