Even with inflation hitting a 40-year high, some Los Angeles residents and visitors are happily spending $17 on blue spirulina-swirled smoothies at LA's Erewhon Market.
But many food bloggers have jumped on the at-home option to create the famously-pricey Erewhon Market coconut cloud smoothie for a fraction of the cost. The term "Erewhon smoothie" has racked up 3.6 billion views on TikTok and the hashtag "coconut cloud smoothie" has 3.3 million searches.
Nicole Modic, creator of the popular food site, Instagram and TikTok Kale Junkie, shared her spin on the drink with a full how-to video.
It turned out exactly like the Erewhon Coconut Cloud smoothie
"I am a huge Erewhon fan and go every time I am in LA," Modic told "Good Morning America." "But since I live in the Bay Area, I wanted to create the drink so that everyone can enjoy the goodness, without the hefty $17 price tag."
As for how she thought the blended concoction compared? "It turned out exactly like the Erewhon Coconut Cloud smoothie," Modic said. "I made my sister do a taste taste between my recipe and the Erewhon recipe and I’m pleased to report, I nailed it! It tastes like a tropical pineapple-coconut paradise."
Beyond flavor-matching, and in this case coming very close on the baby blue hue too, Modic said "making it at home saves me money and allows me to make things on my own time schedule." Plus, she added, "I can customize it as well."
"I will always love and support Erewhon," she continued, "but many of us, including myself, are on budgets and feel good saving money, while still enjoying these fun, healthy drinks!"
Check out how she makes it here.
Makes: 1 very large smoothie
1/2 cup coconut cream (NOT coconut milk..the canned CREAM), divided
1/4 avocado
3/4 cup frozen pineapple
1 frozen banana
1 tablespoon almond butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp blue spirulina
2 scoop vanilla collagen peptides
3/4 cup almond milk
Ice cubes
Note: The OG recipe adds a little stevia, but it doesn’t need it, the smoothie is sweet enough!
Directions
Add about 2 tablespoons of the coconut cream to the bottom of your glass and take a spoon and swirl it around the cup. Next, in a blender, add all of the remaining ingredients. Blend until nice and smooth. You might need to scrape down the sides of the blender. Pour into the glass and ENJOY!
Editor's note: This was originally published on April 22, 2022.