Tropical kratom smoothie

Some ingredients simply carry a drink, and mango, pineapple and banana are three of them. Whizzed up with milk and a measure of kratom powder, they become a smoothie that tastes of pure sunshine while quietly burying the bitter, earthy character kratom is famous for. Anyone who has grimaced through kratom stirred into plain water will know exactly why that matters.

The idea itself could hardly be simpler: take an ordinary fruit smoothie and blend some kratom into it. Kratom in powdered form is the natural choice here, as it vanishes into the drink without a trace. Shredded leaf or a liquid extract will do the job as well, but for a first attempt, stick with the powder.

What's the appeal of a kratom smoothie?

It mostly comes down to flavour. On its own, kratom powder is what you might charitably describe as an acquired taste, and ripe tropical fruit masks it far more convincingly than plain water ever could. You still get the full experience the powder offers, minus the pulled faces.

Its effects deserve a mention as well. At the lower end, kratom usually delivers a lift not unlike a strong cup of coffee, while heavier servings pull in the opposite direction, turning mellow and settling, which explains why plenty of people save their larger doses for after dark. Because tolerance varies so much from one person to the next, begin with a modest amount and build up gradually as you learn your own response.

Picking the right kratom

Roughly 15 varieties of kratom are available to buy, all harvested in Southeast Asia, and each takes on its own vein colour and personality according to how long its leaves were left to age. Unsure which way to go? Green maeng da is the most widespread strain on the market and a dependable all-rounder, and since it comes as a fine powder, it slips into a smoothie beautifully. Whatever you settle on, do your homework on the strain before it goes in the blender; both variety and serving size change what you'll feel.

Kratom Powder - Maeng Da Green (Zamnesia)

272

£14.24

£14.99

Kratom Powder - Maeng Da Green (Zamnesia)

(272)

£14.24

£14.99

Blending your tropical kratom smoothie

You'll find the exact amounts in the ingredients panel further up the page, and the portion calculator adjusts them to however many glasses you fancy making. Equipment-wise, a blender, a measuring jug and a spoon will cover it. Allow around five minutes from chopping board to glass.

Method

Put your own stamp on it

Consider this recipe a suggestion rather than a set of rules. Pineapple and mango bring tang and brightness, whereas leaning on banana and coconut milk leaves you with something far richer and creamier. Fancy a bit more from your glass? A scoop of protein powder or a dash of matcha slots in without any fuss.

And on days when even a quick blitz feels like one job too many, stirring your measure of kratom powder into a ready-made smoothie or a glass of fruit juice does the trick, or a ready-to-drink kratom shot will spare you even that small effort. Nearly any drink will carry it, provided it has enough flavour of its own to stand up to the bitterness.

Five more kratom smoothies worth a whirl

Our recipe collection runs to six kratom smoothies in all, and the tropical one above is merely the warm-up act. Each of the remaining five plays by the same house rule, ingredients into the blender first and the kratom powder in last, yet no two of them taste remotely alike.

Chocolate kratom smoothie

One for the pudding lovers. Whizz two cups of milk and two cups of raw kale together with one and a half tablespoons of organic cocoa and a teaspoon of cinnamon, blitz in two cups of fruit on a low setting, and stir your kratom through at the very end. The finished glass drinks like a chocolate milkshake with a clean conscience, and you would never guess the kale was in there. A white-vein powder suits this one nicely; white maeng da is a sound shout.

Blue kratom smoothie

This one owes its colour to a small mountain of blueberries. Start with two cups of milk in the jug, tip in three to four cups of berries a handful at a time while the blender pulses away, then drop in one large frozen banana, chopped, before the kratom rounds things off. Keep it running until the drink settles into a rather regal shade of purple; a scoop of protein powder won't go amiss either.

Creamy kratom avocado smoothie

Avocado has better things to do than sit on sourdough. Blend one ripe avocado into two cups of milk along with a large frozen banana, a cup of frozen spinach and half a cup of frozen pineapple, and you'll end up with a base so creamy it borders on indulgent. Round it off with a squeeze of lime, a small pinch of sea salt and, last of all, your measure of kratom. Velvety, zesty and dangerously easy to finish.

Chocolate nut kratom smoothie

Take the chocolate recipe, hand it a jar of nut butter, and this is where you land. Into two cups of milk go a handful of kale, a banana, a teaspoon of cinnamon, one and a half tablespoons of cocoa and a tablespoon of whichever nut butter lives in your cupboard; peanut, almond, cashew and hazelnut are all fair game. Add the kratom last and let the blender run until every trace of grit has gone. Somewhere between a treat and a proper breakfast, and all the better for it.

Green kratom smoothie

If the others sound a touch decadent, consider this the palate cleanser. Water stands in for milk here, one and a half cups of it, joined by two cups of frozen spinach plus half a cup of mango and the same again of pineapple, with the kratom whizzed through right at the end. Crisp, verdant and precisely the sort of thing your Monday morning has been asking for.