Smoothie

The original smoothies, known also as smoothees, were made possible by the introduction of the Waring “Miracle Mixer” blender in 1937. They combined fruit and juice with ice to make a refreshing, easily consumable beverage with a natural glow. Long considered a California curiosity favored by surfers and other sun-worshipping types, smoothies remained a novelty until adopted by the mid-20th century counterculture as a health drink. It wasn’t long before the hippies’ and health nuts’ righteous drink went the way of granola. While maintaining a vaguely virtuous aura, it was ready-made for commercial exploitation. That soon meant that some of the best-selling smoothies were as fattening as a chocolate malted milk shake, laden with frozen yogurt and such other nutritionally dubious junk as carob instead of chocolate and agave nectar instead of sugar. It got to the point that franchised juice bars and smoothie stores no longer need to stock any fruit at all; the product can be concocted using starter bases and mixes in the form of powder or syrup.