Viva Pops offers frozen treats with a gourmet twist

By Pat Sherman
SDUN Assistant Editor

When Lisa Altmann’s customers first peruse the curious assortment of flavors at her Normal Heights “pop shop,” they often gaze at her with a quizzical expression.

For the past year, Altmann has been serving up her gourmet, organic version of paletas, Popsicle-style frozen treats popular throughout Mexico.

While she features some traditional tastes favored by Baja street vendors, such as mango-chili and pineapple-chili, the comparison stops there. Her “fun fusion pops” go far beyond what paleta and Popsicle fans are accustomed to.

“People from Mexico or who are Mexican-American kind of go, ‘Wait, what’s this apricot lemongrass?’” Altmann said.

“I think when we first opened people (from the U.S.) just expected what they grew up with, like a Bombpop — overly sweetened with artificial colors.”

However, one lick of lightly sweetened fruit and herb pairings such as lavender lemonade, strawberry- basil or pear-vanilla-rose is enough to unbridle the taste buds of the most conservative customer, Altmann assures.

On a recent Sunday at Viva Pops, located at 3330 Adams Avenue, repeat customer Daniel Bernstein stopped in to try a hibiscus-lime pop.

“I’ve never had this flavor, but it’s really good,” chimed Bernstein, who discovered Viva Pops through yelp.com.

Altmann, a Talmadge resident whose background is in interior design, began selling her festively colored pops at farmers markets throughout San Diego, where she can still be found on weekends. She uses fresh, organic fruits, vegetables and herbs purchased from local growers, often at the markets where she sells Viva Pops.

Some of her current offerings include lavender lemonade, mojito, blood orange, strawberry-basil, pineapple chili, key lime pie, creamy passion fruit, Mexican chocolate and strawberry-rhubarb with ginger.

“Everything changes with the season so I’m constantly coming up with new flavors,” Altmann said. “I can keep my flavors fresh and creative just based on (the produce) my friend have available – and pretty much anything that I’ve seen available I’ve tried to make a pop out of.”

Some of the more unconventional combinations she’s tackled include savory pops, such as tomato with smoked salt and watermelon with cilantro and lime. She also makes mini-pops, which can be served as a palate cleanser between dinner courses, or as an accompaniment to other deserts.

“I like to play around with herbs,” Altmann said. “I like the different notes that you can get in blending things together. I don’t like things to be monotonous, the same and predictable. I’ve even done sweet potato.”

Altmann uses commercial grade freezing techniques that solidify her pops in about a half hour, though the rest of the process is time consuming and labor intensive.

“We don’t cut a lot of corners,” she said. “We squeeze the juices, we skin the apricots … infuse things and make simple syrups … That’s sort of the joy of it and I think why they taste so good.”

Husband and business partner Jack Altmann, who works fulltime as an IT program manager, helps out at the shop and serves as chief taste tester.

“I’ll be honest, (the concept) did seem a little whacky,” he said, “but if you meet Lisa you’ll find she’s one of a kind. She’s the perfect person for this business.”

Viva Pops sell for $2.50 apiece. On her website, Altmann encourages customers to submit their own flavor suggestions.

“If we pick their suggestion and I come up with a great recipe, I choose that person as my ‘pop star’ and they get a dozen Popsicles and we write about them on the website,” she said.

Though the number of pops sold fluctuates from season to season, Altmann said she sells well over 2,000 per month. During winter months, when business slows, she markets Viva Pops to caterers and event planners.

“As the year has gone by we are really going through the sticks and through flavors quicker,” she said. “I’m doing more and more farmers markets and a lot more events. I think people are sort of wrapping their head around what we’re doing.”

For more information on Viva Pops, visit ilovevivapops.com.