10 Must-try Smoothies for Summer

(SPOT.ph) Do we even have to explain? The summer heat is upon us and we are prepared for it-with a tall, sweating glass of thick, fruity, milky slush. Smoothies may be great for combating 70-degree weather, but they have amazing health benefits, too. It is made with fruit, after all, with add-ons like yogurt, honey, soy milk, whey, or even the occasional ice cream (because sometimes you just have to give in). We’re listing the ones that will keep you sipping and slurping all through summer.

1. Jamba Juice’s Acai Supercharger

This elusive bestseller has been around for almost two years, but it still sells like, well, hotcakes. The Acai Supercharger is an unabashedly tangy blend of soy milk, raspberry sherbet, strawberries, blueberries, and Brazilian Acai berries that sink to the bottom like a surprise ending. It’s an alternative pick-me-up when caffeine’s just not an option anymore. If it’s once again absent from the line-up, make do with the secret Berry Wild. It flaunts a very similar flavor.

Shell Out: P135/small, P155/medium, P195/large

Click here for a list of Jamba Juice branches.

2. Early Bird Breakfast Club’s Vitamin C Smoothie and Tropical Smoothie

In a perenially warm country like the Philippines, nothing beats the crisp and clean flavors of fresh fruit drinks. The Vitamin C Smoothie is jam-packed to help you keep colds at bay on top of being a really refreshing thirst-quencher for those year-round summer days. There’s mango for sweetness, banana for creaminess, and orange and pineapple adding that much needed zest. The Tropical Smoothie, meanwhile, is a foolproof combination of kiwi, strawberry, pineapple, and banana.

Shell Out: P165

Early Bird Breakfast Club has branches at The Fort Strip, Bonifacio Global City and Century City Mall, Kalayaan Avenue, Makati City.

3. Go! Salads’ Superfood Green Smoothies

Fulfilling their mission to be an affordable health haven, owner Cibbie Gonzales has concocted a series of green smoothies packed with nutricious and superfood ingredients. Currently, there are six flavors: Simple Mapple (mango, apple), Mexican Gun (mango, cayenne pepper), Hummingbird (banana, pineapple. malunggay), Guzzler (banana, spirulina, sugar-free peanut-butter), Jeepney (pineapple, mango, malunggay), and Breakfast (apple, cinnamon, chia seeds, rolled oats). Designed to be liquid meals on the go, these drinks are spiked with coco sugar, soy milk, greens, and/or coconut water.

Shell Out: P100

Available at the Go! Salads Eastwood branch, Quezon City.

4. Pinkberry’s Smoothie and Shakes

Pinkberry’s smoothies always have a tinge of a tang from their yogurt. Each glass is sinfully creamy, but thankfully healthy. They make sure to use only non-fat yogurt and fresh non-fat milk. Flavors are fun mixes of their yogurt selection and the available fresh fruits. We love the combination of kiwi and strawberries.

Shell Out: P185

Pinkberry has branches at Greenbelt 5 and Power Plant Mall, both in Makati City.

5. Red Mango’s Spoonable Smoothies

This yogurt destination recently launched their new freshly squeezed sparkling juices, but there’s unshakeable comfort in a cool cup of smoothie. Red Mango’s are so thick, they’re actually better eaten than drunk. These "Spoonable Smoothies" hit three treats in one: it has a base layer of smoothie (mango, banana, or pineapple) decked with a swirly crown of yogurt before the final touches of topping (Special K, Museli, and fruit). You can have the smoothie sans yogurt, but why wouldn’t you?

Shell Out: P99 to P125

Click here for a list of Red Mango branches.

6. Rawlicious’s Super Green Smoothies

These smoothies aren’t just green, they’re super green. Rawlicious’ shakes are 100% raw, unpasteurized, and preservative-free; they use only organic greens and vegetables, and fresh whole fruits. Wild honey helps in the flavor, but it’s used very sparingly. Here, they’ll make you love your vegetables. The blends are extra pulpy so you know you’re getting the real thing.

Shell Out: P215/in store and P220/delivery for one liter; P115/in store and P120/delivery for 500ml

Rawlicious is at East Capitol Drive, Kapitolyo, Pasig City (0917-530-1RAW, 576-5885).

Photo courtesy of Food in the Bag

7. Green Pastures’ Smoothies

Trust Chef Robby Goco to include smoothies in his menu of organic eats. There’s a certain depth in his shakes that’s hard to put a finger on. The flavors-Smoothie Sailing (banana, pineapple, orange, yogurt, honey), MGM Grand (mango, ginger, malunggay), 3 Melon (melon, watermelon, honeydew, and more-are distinct. Green Pastures freezes their fruits before blending them. No H2O added.

A word to the wise: don’t get too attached to any particular flavor. Like everything else on Green Pasture’s menu, only those with fresh ingredients are available. They don’t work with anything else.

Shell Out: P195 to 295

Green Pastures is at 4/F Shangri-La East Wing, Mandaluyong City.

8. Fuzion Smoothie Cafe’s New Menu

Fuzion is a standby when craving fruit shakes. They have a silky blend that makes for smooth and exciting sipping. It’s from the formula of using only real fruits, premium yogurt, with no sugar and no ice. Thankfully, this famous smoothie stand knows when to change things up and pique interest. The new orange-pineapple-mango Sunset Sensation is putting up a brave fight against the Philippine heat. Their power-packed Power Smoothies, like the new MuscleBuilder, are perennial crowd-pleasers for both the fit and the fab. For an extra indulgence, get the Sinful Blendz-blended with ice cream.

Shell Out: P109 to P149

Fuzion Smoothie Cafe has branches at Trinoma Mall; Promenade Greenhills; SM The Block North EDSA.

9. Grace Park’s Fresh Shakes

Grace Park doesn’t fool around with kooky flavor combinations, but you’ll rest in the comfort of knowing that everything is fresh and organic. What they offer here is definitely something you already love: with drinks based on carrots, pineapples, oranges, apples, and whatever else arrived from the farm earlier. There’s no dairy. Instead, each cool cup is just fruit and ice.

Shell Out: P140 to P150

Grace Park is at G/F One Rockwell Building, Rockwell Drive, Makati City.

10. Coldstone Creamery’s Lifestyle Smoothies

This ice cream parlor is a place for possibilities. Here, you can come up with ice cream and topping permutations you didn’t know existed. When it comes to their fruit smoothies, don’t be limited by the conservative selection of mango, pineapple, strawberry, banana, and coconut on the backboard menu. All the smoothies start with a fruit and juice base, but you can make it personal by inventing your own using Coldstone’s extensive roster of ingredients.

Shell Out: P198

Coldstone Creamery is at Serendra, Bonifacio Global City.