With a smoothie, the sky is practically the limit, and as long as you’ve got a supply of fruits and veggies on hand, you can craft anything into a tasty beverage to get your day going.
However, making your standard banana smoothie every morning does get old pretty fast, and even if you do mix it up every so often with some avocado or blueberry combination, a bit of innovation never hurt anyone.
We’ve put together a list of some of the latest trends in smoothie making to make your life easier, and if you keep reading, we’ll tell you all about them, along with some recipes you can use to give these techniques a try.
A smoothie a day won’t hurt anyone, and as long as you’re consuming them responsibly, smoothies can only make positive contributions to your overall health.
Smoothie bowl
Even though they’re normally served in tall glasses, there isn’t exactly a standard receptacle for a smoothie, and as long as it can hold a somewhat dense, liquid substance, it’ll do.
However, bowls are often used for something like soup or oatmeal, so you may be wondering why one would want to drink something out of a bowl.
Well, the thing is, bowl smoothies aren’t exactly smoothies, but rather, something between a smoothie and an oatmeal, usually thicker than your average morning drink as it’s filled with ingredients like flax, chia seeds, and even bee pollen.
On top of this, the thickness of the “smoothie” allows for some highly innovative decoration to be added, making them quite popular on social media, although that may be the least important thing about them.
Give bowl smoothies a try, so long as you’re willing to fight it out with a bowl filled to the brim with healthy ingredients.
Coffee smoothies
While they’re often considered to be a morning drink to start one’s day, smoothies don’t normally have caffeine unless it’s added artificially, which then removes all of its benefits as a fully natural drink.
However, this doesn’t mean you can’t add coffee into the mix, and in fact, some smoothie drinkers have been doing this for a while, as coffee grounds have a unique fragrance that few things can imitate perfectly.
That’s not all though, as with coffee, you’ll probably want to add some vanilla into the mix, and while extract may be cheaper, you can also splurge on some vanilla beans as well, which will add a bunch of flavor to this mixture.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you should stray away from your usual ingredients, and a bit of coffee in your raspberry smoothie won’t hurt, especially if you’ve got a long day ahead of you.
Build-a-smoothie
Fruits, veggies, and your milk of choice may be the standard ingredients for a smoothie, but this doesn’t always have to be the only source of nutrients in your drink of choice.
In fact, supplements can easily make their way into your morning smoothie, whether it’s vitamins, omega-3 oils, or probiotics, so long as you’re not overdoing it.
Vitamin overdoses are certainly a thing, and you should first consult with your physician before including them in your smoothies, although as a general rule of thumb, a double dosage won’t hurt.
This wide variety of ingredients at your disposal allows you to build a smoothie according to your needs and make it fit your personal health goals, whether they’re short or long-term.
Alcoholic smoothies
The line between cocktails and smoothies had already been blurry enough, and there’s nothing stopping you from spicing up this healthy concoction with some liquor.
Boozy smoothies have been around for a while, and even though they’re not exactly something you’ll want to drink in the morning, they’re a great way to start a weekend.
In fact, a bloody mary might as well be called a smoothie, seeing as it’s made with sieved tomatoes and vodka, and you could create dozens of other combinations to your liking.
Berries are an excellent addition to any boozy drink, and by blending them together with the alcoholic beverage of your choice, you may be able to create an excellent smoothie to help you start off your night on the right foot.
Bottom line
With smoothies, your tall glass, or as we stated previously a bowl, is your oyster, and the only limitations are the ingredients you’ve got on hand.
Technically, any fruit or vegetable can contribute to a healthy smoothie, and even if you’re not too big on adding milk to this mixture, you can still create something worthy of a share with your friends.
Once you’ve started creating your own, original smoothies, you’ll begin to experience new tastes and see combinations that you never even would’ve thought of otherwise, and that’s an experience you can’t get any other way.