There are a few schools of thought for Power Smoothie flavoring.

One says that Power Smoothies taste fine just the way they are and need no special effort at flavoring. I think that’s true.

Another says that it’s fun to use different flavors of whey powder. Here are some options. I think Double Rich Chocolate and Caramel Toffee Fudge are among the better ones.

My favorite approach, though, is to add ingredients that would normally need to be sweetened, and let the sweetening come from the blended fruit. I think this results in nice, rich, not-to-sweet (and completely natural) flavors that I really enjoy. Specifically:

• Unsweetened cocoa powder. 1-2 heaping tablespoons (I prefer 2) will give you a nice rich chocolate flavor. Combine with a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter – or ~1/2 cup of peanuts – for a “peanut butter cup” flavor that I enjoy. The cocoa powder has very few calories; the peanut butter is pretty calorie-dense and should replace (rather than be in addition to) the oil or other source of fat.
• Lemon. About half of a large lemon, or a full small lemon, plus about 1/2 a cup of nuts, is one of the most acclaimed Power Smoothie flavors. I particularly recommend “lemon cashew” and “lemon pecan.” Again, you should skip the oil if you’re using nuts.
• Fresh mint. This one is controversial but I love it. Put in about half a bunch of fresh mint (the plant – you can get it in a supermarket) plus either (a) half a tablespoon of dried rosemary (“Rosemary Mint”); (b) half a cucumber (“Cucumber Mint”); (c) 1-2 heaping tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder (“Chocolate mint”). The third one is probably the best. I kind of like adding a teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the Cucumber Mint, though others think I’m insane for doing that.
• Cinnamon and nutmeg. One time I used one tablespoon of cinnamon and about half of a nutmeg “nut.” I thought it was great.
• Blackstrap molasses plus salt for a “salted caramel” flavor. We’re still working on getting the right quantity here; I think it’s probably two tablespoons of molasses plus a half teaspoon of salt, but not sure. The original “salted caramel” flavor comes from Elie’s use of “caramel toffee fudge” whey powder, and is acclaimed though I haven’t tried it. You might want to skip the oil in this case too since molasses has calories.

We’re still experimenting on this front. (“Lemon pecan” won a recent group taste-test, and chocolate peanut butter cup is probably 2nd-most-popular.) Let me know if you have more ideas.