Taste Buds’ Delicious Smoothie Is A Green Machine
Rising from the roots of the old Mad Roots Juicery, Taste Buds in downtown Rock Island, 150 16 ½ St., is offering similar fare, but with its own twist.
One of those familiar aspects of the menu is the smoothie and juice bar, which features a variety of concoctions for the health-conscious and those looking for a delicious and nutritious treat.
I ventured down to Taste Buds last week to check out its menu and have one of the aforementioned smoothies. Now, whenever you see a story like this, invariably the reporter ends up getting one of the craziest combinations on the menu. You don’t see the reporter getting a strawberry banana or something that you’d probably nab at an Orange Julius. No, the reporter diligently grabs something with kale or spinach or spirulina, something that they deem to be strange and unusual, and goes through the routine of talking about how odd and gross it sounded and maybe it was, but they liked it a little better than they thought. Blah, blah, blah.
The only thing is, I’m used to the strange and unusual.
Truth be told, I begin most days with a shake consisting of spinach and/or kale, pineapple, jalapenos, cayenne pepper or chipotle tobacco, cucumbers, possibly kiwi, orange juice and almond milk.
So when the good folks at Taste Buds suggested their green smoothie, I was all for it.
Sure, it’s got a lot of the usual ingredients in a green that make people scrunch their faces. It’s got the kale and the spinach, yup. But it’s definitely different, in a good way, from any other green smoothie I’ve had before. It’s far lighter and more refreshing, a lot less thick and has none of the bitter or sour taste you usually have in a green.
The secret? Pears.
Usually green smoothies go to green apples or maybe kiwi for their sweetness, to cut through the veggies. Not the Taste Buds. They’ve taken a different direction with the pears, and it’s really a delicious and, honestly, different taste. It’s refreshing as well as nutritious, and while the latter is something you can always say about a green smoothie, the former usually isn’t. It’s not thick or sour, it’s got a light consistency and a subtle and slightly sweet aftertaste where you can definitely get the pears.
You’ve got a pretty wide menu at Taste Buds for smoothies and juices, and I definitely recommend checking them out. And yeah, go ahead, indulge your curiosity and get the green. I guarantee it’s unlike most of the greens you’ve had before, and I think you’re going to find it a cool change.
