Tart Berry Smoothies, or Liquid Joy

How good would a tart, juicy, berry-rich smoothie sound when you're 6 days in?

Flavor: 9/10 (seed bits)

Ease at home: 8/10 (powdering all the berries is a little tedious)

Ease at camp: 10/10
Heat level: 0/10

Times made: 1

I'll admit, this is not my idea. I was inspired by the Packit Gourmet's extraordinarily disappointing Jump-Start Smoothies and the sincere belief that I could do better.


The problem with Jump-Start Smoothies is that they're so milky, creamy, and sweet, that you can't taste anything but the dairy and sugar. They might as well call it Sweet Thick Milk with Berry Suggestion. There is no zing, no berries, no nothing. What a bummer, because it's such a great, nutritious, convenient idea.

So I set about coming up with my own recipe. I started with a bunch of freeze dried berries and powdered them in the coffee grinder. I tried a couple of different ratios until I was satisfied. I added my favorite ProMix unflavored whey protein (BlueBonnett is also great), some nonfat dry milk powder, a little sugar, xanthan gum for body, and citric acid for extra tartness. It came out absolutely delicious, flavor is very close to fresh, although still a work in progress- the powder doesn't rehydrate in a consistent fashion, so you have to let it rest a good 10-15 minutes and shake like the dickens to avoid being overrun with dry bits.

Dennis thought it was delicious as well, but wants me to figure out a way to get out the seeds, which...I'm not quite sure how they made it in. Everything is powdered to oblivion. Next batch I'll see what I can do, I suppose.

Official Smoothie Science Station

The finished mix! Mmm, who doesn't love powdered lunch.

The mixed up trial batch at home. 

Recipe (1 serving)

Mix in a bag (preferably a stiff bag like this, so that you can seal it, shake it, and drink from it, or just bring the mix in a loose baggie and prepare it in an easy to clean, wide-mouth bottle):

• 22g dry milk powder- full fat, nonfat, or any unsweetened vegan variety.
• 15g sugar- I'd say this amount of sugar replicates the sweetness level of a typical fresh smoothie.
• 10g raspberry powder- freeze dried raspberries, powdered in a coffee grinder
• 10g blueberry powder- blueberries dehydrated until hard, powdered in a coffee grinder
• 5g tangerine powder- freeze dried tangerines, powdered in a coffee grinder. Could probably be replaced with unsweetened orange juice powder if available
• 5g banana powder- can omit, gums up the coffee grinder a tad. I like the flavor though.
• 20g protein powder- choose a brand that dissolves easily, is unsweetened, and no added flavor
• 1g xanthan gum- for viscosity. Add a little more if you want a thicker shake.
• 2g citric acid- for tang. Add a little less/more to taste.

At camp:

1. Add 8-10 oz water. Tastes best when that water is ice cold, fresh out of the stream.
2. Shake it like you're Michael J. Fox. Let sit for 10 minutes to allow water to permeate dry bits.
3. Shake again, with brutal vigor. Add more water if needed. Serve!

Berry bits!

4th Darwin Lake in Darwin Basin, preparing to go over Lamarck Col. Perfect spot for a smoothie.