I Tried Kacey Musgraves's $21 Erewhon Smoothie, And Here's The Truth On Whether It's Worth The $$$

Kacey Musgraves — singer, songwriter, eight-time Grammy winner, and, now, Erewhon smoothie muse.

That's right, y'all. The celeb-beloved grocery chain, Erewhon, has realized a collaboration with Kacey inspired by her sixth studio album, Deeper Well. And, following the devastating fires that plagued Los Angeles last month, a portion of proceeds go towards Altadena Girls — a non-profit focusing on helping teenage girls affected by the Eaton fire "restoring normalcy and a sense of self."

According to Erewhon's website, the $21 smoothie is "crafted for ultimate clarity and restoration," and lists ingredients with the goals of improving focus and immunity, as well as boosting energy.

Here's a full list of what's inside:

-MALK almond milk

-Vanilla

-Lion’s mane

-Sun chlorella

-Spinach

-Sea moss

-Collagen

-Tocos

-Chocho plant protein

-Maca

-Astragalus

-Spirulina

-Dates

-Chocolate

Listen, I'm no health smoothie expert, but this is the third Erewhon celeb collab I've given a try. Compared to the others, this by far has the most complicated ingredients — aka most of them I don't recognize and are much fancier than I've ever put into a smoothie I've made at home — and is one of the more expensive collabs they've done. Erewhon's all-star smoothie alumni list includes Olivia Rodrigo ($18), Emma Chamberlain ($20), Kendall Jenner ($23), Sabrina Carpenter ($21) and, of course, Hailey Bieber ($17).

Right off the bat, the whole ~vibe~ of the drink is inspired by — and meant to look like — a far-out view of the Earth. Unfortunately, the reality of the one I got looks a bit more like what I imagine the Earth feels like in 2025 so far. It's giving swamp. Normally I wouldn't really mind this because it's literally just a drink, but for $21? In this economy? The visuals and the social media clout are half the experience, baby!

Also, Erewhon is generally A+ when it comes to presentation and it was unusally slow when I headed to the tonic bar to order it, so I was a little disappointed when this came out.

I didn't quite know what to expect from just the drink's description, which is kinda all over the place flavor-wise. And, clearly, it took my brain a second to decide whether I liked it or not. But, overall, it has kind of a subtly sweet, earthy flavor.

It might be the fact that it's bright green, but the taste is reminiscent of a more bitter matcha with hints of java-chip-like chocolate. Or, kinda like a chocolate chip protein bar in that it's sweet, but not in the way candy is. More in a "this tastes like something healthy trying to taste not-healthy" way, if you know what I mean. I can definitely make out the flavor of the dates, chocolate, and protein powder the most.

As for the texture, it's way thinner and grittier than their other drinks I've tried, which generally tend to be thick and almost milkshake-like. Given how many different elements are layered here, every sip was a bit different. Some were sweeter than others, with crunchy bits of what I assume are cacao nibs or globs of the sauce on the bottom. Other sips, though, were more bitter and nutty, with a chalkier consistency. Normally I wouldn't mind this, but I definitely preferred the former rather than the latter, so half the time, I was like, "This is actually kinda tasty!" and the other half of the time, I questioned whether I wanted another sip.

Overall, I thought it was just alright. The flavor was fine, but — as I said before — it was moreso that of something I'd drink because I knew it was good for me rather than because I enjoyed the flavor. Erewhon's celeb collabs tend to straddle the line between being good for you and tasting like a sweet treat all themselves, and this one definitely leaned further towards functionality over taste, it seems.

For comparison, the Hailey Bieber and Sabrina Carpenter smoothies boast ingredients claiming to better your skin and nails, but are also both reasonably sweet, creamy, and rich — they feel almost like dessert themselves.

All that being said, I will give it props for matching the aesthetic of the Deeper Well album pretty...~well~. While mine didn't quite come out like the picture, I could see the vision, especially compared to the album cover. And, not unlike the titular song describes, it feels like the kinda drink you gravitate towards when you're on a personal mission to better yourself, one decision — or drink — at a time.

All that being said, would I recommend spending $21 on this? I think it was fun to try, but knowing what I know now, I wouldn't fork over the money to have it again. If I was in the market for something to give me an energy and immunity boost like it claims to, I think there's definitely more cost-effective and realistic ways to do so. All in all, the taste and the experience didn't justify the cost for me. If you're someone who prefers an earthier, nuttier taste and has $21 bucks to blow, though, this might be the drink for you!

Note: While the Deeper Well smoothie was provided to me courtesy of MALK Almond Milk, views and opinions on it are my own.