PANAMA CITY BEACH — With the right ingredients, sipping on a sweet smoothie is a refreshing and healthy indulgence for all ages.
The raw organic smoothies blended to order at Bridge Span 14, 105 Carillon Market St., in Carillon Beach Resort, initially were created for the owners’ 20-month-old daughter, Sophia.
“We would just take what we had in the shop and throw it in the blender in the morning for Sophia. Then we ended up putting it on the menu,” said Andy Mayer, who co-owns Bridge Span 14 with his wife, Leia. “Young Thai is her favorite. She’ll drink them all, though. She likes to carry the cup and straw drink around with her.”
The Young Thai Coconut Cacao also has been the most popular with paying customers. Each 16-ounce smoothie is made with a whole coconut from Global Organics.
“I open up the top, pour the water in, and I scoop out the inside and it goes in the blender. I use whole organic cacao beans and grind them up in a little grinder, and add an organic banana, one apple and a handful of strawberries and a splash of almond milk. In the blender it goes — so good for you and delicious,” Mayer said.
Other smoothies that have made it to the menu include Raspberry Mango Peach Sweet Matcha, Cacao Blueberry, Strawberry Banana and Green Hemp Seed —
“It’s really sweet; you don’t even really taste the spinach much,” Mayer added. “Some days in the morning, it seems I am just making smoothies and juice or people get one with lunch or breakfast and take it with them. It has fiber in it, good for the body to digest. If you just juice, you lose a lot of fiber. But I like the juice myself.”
As Finns Island Style Grub has gotten busier at both locations — 7220 Thomas Drive in Panama City Beach, and 2808 W. 12th St. in St. Andrews — owner Justin Buxton admitted he hasn’t been able to keep up with the demand for Finns’ Fresh Fruit Smoothies and serve the full menu.
“I am actually getting out of the smoothie business,” Buxton said. “As we are getting more and more busy, the order of a smoothie or three or four at a time gets us so far behind on the orders. We are going to sell the top end single-serve drinks like Naked (NakedJuice.com) and 100 percent juice drinks.”
Buxton recommends customers get their smoothie fix at Zen Garden Market and Lotus Café, 707 R. Jackson Blvd., Panama City Beach.
The Goji Cacao and Peanut Butter Buddha are the most popular organic smoothies at Lotus Café, where you can pull up a seat at the Juice Bar or sit outside surrounded with lush foliage and sounds of the waterfall.
“Juicing is more detoxing and vitamin content and pure greens. But we do need fruits, too. Smoothies are definitely awesome,” owner Joe McKenna said.
An almond milk base is used for the Pnut Butter Buddha (peanut butter, maca, banana, agave nectar) and Goji Cacao (Goji berries, cacao, avocado, banana, agave nectar). The specialty Green Goods smoothie features avocado, mango, banana, green powder and cucumber. Customers can Build-A-Smoothie with orange juice or milk, fruits and veggies and super foods: maca powder, cacao powder, protein milk, spirulina, chlorella and hemp.
“With smoothies, people are always adding protein powder,” McKenna added.
When I stopped by for a Goji Cacao on Monday morning, I wasn’t alone in my thinking. McKenna ended up making the same smoothie for two other regulars at the café, though one had a special request.
“He likes me to add more ice, make it thick and frothy,” McKenna said.
Leta Daniels and I talked in between sips of our Goji Cacao smoothies.
“They use the best quality ingredients, and they try and use local produce when possible, like blueberries,” Daniels said. “I have a 1½-year-old now, but when I became pregnant, I became way more conscious of trying to do more organic. This is a place I come and know I don’t have to read every ingredient; it’s taken care of.”
Knowing something is good for me is a definite plus, but my tastebuds were not focused on the nutritional value as I savored the sweet shake. Filled with flavors of chocolate and hints of fruit from the berries and banana, it left me feeling energized.
“You get the energy from the sugar in the fruits, and then you get your fruit content for day. Smoothies are definitely good for you and tastier,” McKenna admitted.
If you want to bring the goodness at home, Zen Garden Market is filled with most of the organic ingredients, included agave nectar, cacao powder and Goji berries.
“This place has definitely inspired me to make more of this at home and they have all the ingredients here,” Daniels said. “But it’s not just the food, but coming into the space that is so healing and calming.”
Each week, Off The Vine Organic Produce (OffTheVine.org) puts together organic fruit and juicing boxes for local customers — plenty of fresh choices for making delicious smoothies at home.
“Strawberries and bananas are always good. Besides some of the fiber and pulp, to me, smoothies are more of a fruity concept,” owner Shana Wolf said. “It’s certainly kid-friendly and more adults trying to get nutrients in it, bananas for potassium.”
While juicing is more about greens, some greens certainly can be added in to smoothies.
“Smoothies are not great with kale, but OK with spinach,” Wolf said.
The Citrus Green smoothie is an Off the Vine “go-to” smoothie blend with Romaine lettuce, Navel oranges, Honey Murcott tangerines, and “don’t be shy” with the cilantro when making the Pear and Cilantro Smoothie.
“It’s a weird combination, but it’s good,” Wolf added.
Juicing leftovers from fruits also can be added into a smoothie.
“We need skin and fiber and to not waste, but we can put it back in food sources,” Wolf said. “I use some of the pulp back into my smoothies. The smoothie is quicker, because it’s already chopped up.”
She also suggested adding some fresh juice, such as carrot, in with fresh fruits — apples, pears and mint, for a smoothie.
“I think of smoothies as more of a treat, really more of a dessert to me than a meal replacement,” Wolf said.
Goji Cacao
Pinch of organic Goji berries
1 tablespoon pure organic cacao
¼ organic avocado
1 organic banana
Little squirt of organic agave nectar
5 ounces almond milk
1 cup ice
Blend and serve. Add more ice for thicker, frothier, consistency.
Source: Joe McKenna, Zen Garden Market and Lotus Café
Young Thai Coconut Cacao
1 fresh young, organic Thai coconut
1 organic banana
1 organic apple
1 handful of organic strawberries
1 spoonful of organic cacao beans, ground
Splash of almond milk, about 1/3 cup
Cut top off of coconut, then pour coconut water in blender. Scoop out inside of coconut and add to blender. Grind organic cacao beans in a little grinder. Add cacao, banana, apple, strawberries and almond milk to the blender. Blend and serve.
Source: Andy Mayer, Bridge Span 14
Green Hemp Seed
1 cup organic spinach
½ cup organic mango
1 organic banana
1 heaping spoonful hemp seeds
Spoonful organic raw honey
Splash of coconut water or milk, about 1/3 cup
Blend and serve.
Source: Andy Mayer, Bridge Span 14
Pear and Cilantro Smoothie
2 organic pears
1 bunch of organic cilantro (don’t be shy)
3 organic bananas
3-4 organic dates
Wash all ingredients. Place in your Vitamix or blender and blend at high speed until smooth and creamy. Serve and enjoy. You can also use frozen bananas to give this smoothie a nice frosty texture.
Source: Shana Wolf, Off the Vine
SMOOTHIE FIXES
Bridge Span 14: 105 Carillon Market St., Carillon Beach; 588-5341; BridgeSpan14.com
Smoothie King: 801 Pier Park Dr., Ste 120, Panama City Beach; 234-3124; SmoothieKing.com
Tropical Smoothie Café: 652 W. 23rd St., Panama City, 913-9336; 2239 Martin Luther King Blvd., Panama City Mall Food Court, Panama City, 522-0750; 504 W. State 390, Lynn Haven, 271-2120; 11260 Panama City Beach Parkway, Suite 101, Panama City Beach, 588-8470; TropicalSmoothie.com
ZenGarden Market/Lotus Café: 707 R. Jackson Blvd., Panama City Beach; ZenGardenMarket.com or 234-1651