When you are sticky with sweat, nothing tastes better than an icy treat on a stick. A pop is the perfect break from mowing the lawn, weeding the garden or playing in the yard. Even if you aren't engaged in strenuous summer activity, it's a nice treat while relaxing on the front porch.

But we thought we could do better than the rainbow-colored varieties in the grocery store's freezer section.

We were emboldened to try to by two people: Summer Bicknell, owner of Locopops, a string of Mexican-inspired paleta shops in North Carolina that have served more than a half-million pops in four years, and Krystina Castella, the author of Pops! Icy Treats for Everyone.

''There's a lot more to a pop than just Kool-Aid in a Popsicle mold,'' Castella says.

At Locopops, Bucknell creates such flavors as coconut ginger, pineapple basil, even Thai rice pudding. Castella's book offers recipes ranging from Thai iced coffee and Southern sweet tea to tiramisu and lychee bubble tea.

Frozen pops offer an opportunity to have some fun with your children in the kitchen this summer, to impress your friends with a unique dinner party dessert or palate-cleansing course, or simply to indulge what Castella calls your inner ``kidult.''

Check out Krystina Castella's book, Pops! Icy Treats for Everyone (Quirk Books, 2008, $15.95). Castella is an industrial designer by trade, and it shows. She makes pops in the shape of rubber ducks, Tiki masks, even skulls. She creates intriguing flavors from peanut butter and sesame raspberry to chai tea. She even has a chapter devoted to cocktail pops, such as mojito, mai tais and margaritas.

Summer Bicknell and Krystina Castella offer these tips for your own pop experiments:

Bases can be juices (homemade or store-bought), fruit purees, yogurt, pudding, ice cream, sherbet, coffee or tea. The last two have to be brewed to double strength because freezing dulls the flavor.

Molds can be as fancy as the Tovolobrand ones, which come in grooved rectangles, stars and rocket shapes. Those cost about $10 at Bed Bath & Beyond and online. Otherwise, use plastic or paper cups, ice cube trays or silicone cupcake molds.

The Tovolo molds come with sticks that snap onto the top of the molds. If you prefer wooden sticks, you will have to let the pops freeze for at least an hour before inserting the stick so it will stand up straight.

Freeze time depends on the type of mold. Ice-cube trays take two hours at most, while a stand-up mold will take eight hours.

Always taste the pop for sweetness before freezing. Remember, freezing dulls flavors. If it tastes fine, add a pinch or two more sugar.

Be careful when combining citrus flavors with yogurt. There is a chance the mixture might curdle, although we didn't have any trouble when we tested it.

When adding an herb flavor to a pop, add the herb (rosemary, thyme, mint) to a heavy simple syrup. Bring two parts sugar to one part water (such as 1 cup sugar to ½ cup water) to a boil until the sugar dissolves. Add the herb at the beginning. When the syrup cools, strain the herb out and add as much syrup as necessary to the pop base.

If you want to add chocolate chips, fruit or other edible items to the pop, don't use heavy items because they will sink to the bottom. Mini chocolate chips work better than regular-size chips.

After removing the pops from the molds, wave them in the air for about 10 seconds to reharden the outer layer. Wrap each pop in a plastic sandwich bag and place all the pops in a larger plastic freezer bag to prevent freezer burn.

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