Review: Erewhon's $21 Birthday Wish Smoothie By Barbie Isn't Nearly Kenough

Erewhon, the trendy health-conscious grocery and specialty store chain, has become a big deal in Los Angeles in recent years. Thanks largely to Hailey Bieber and her titular smoothie, the Erewhon Tonic Bar is the go-to meeting place for influencers and health-conscious Angelinos with money to spend. 

The latest concoction crafted by Erewhon marketing executives is the Birthday Wish Smoothie by Barbie. Released on the doll's official birthday, March 9, it marks the day that Barbie first debuted to the world in 1959. To celebrate, Erewhon launched its newest smoothie: a pink and yellow drink topped with sprinkles, making for a pretty Barbie-esque presentation. 

Some of the proceeds from every drink sold by Erewhon will go toward the Barbie Dream Gap Project, a project aimed at closing the gender parity gap in education and in the workplace. Erewhon will donate $2 per smoothie sold from now until April 8, the duration that the limited-edition Birthday Wish Smoothie by Barbie is available in stores. 

I'm admittedly not a huge Erewhon shopper. It's not incredibly close to my house, and I don't have a money tree growing in my backyard (yet). But I have had a few of Erewhon's famous smoothies in the past, usually when family or friends from out of town are visiting and want to stop by for an indulgent drink at the viral grocery store. I am largely comparing the Birthday Wish Smoothie to those I've tasted in the past, namely Hailey Bieber's Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie and my favorite of the bunch, the Coconut Cloud Smoothie. 

I do appreciate Erewhon's attempts to stay in the loop with current cultural phenomena, partnering with Katseye at the peak of the band's popularity thus far to create the even more expensive Gabriela Smoothie. I'll admit that it does make this Barbie partnership feel a bit late, coming out nearly three years after the "Barbie" film took summer 2023 by storm. Barbie, the doll, is a timeless product. But definitely not at the peak of popularity.  

Erewhon smoothies are a luxury product. They're built to be aspirational — closer related to a handcrafted omakase than a Smoothie King. I take this into mind when I'm reviewing Erewhon's products, just as I take into account the taste, texture, and value of its newest creation, the Birthday Wish Smoothie by Barbie. 

The Birthday Wish by Barbie smoothie is a 20-ounce treat full of organic ingredients. A base of MALK Organic Oat Milk really gives the drink that thick, milkshake-like heaviness that actually makes it feel like a hearty breakfast. It's stuffed with organic bananas and Erewhon's AZ whey protein, too, which will certainly keep you feeling full until lunchtime. 

The smoothie also contains ground vanilla, coconut water, and coconut whip, plus gluten-free oats, goji berries, organic maple syrup, and dragon fruit (pitaya). It's topped with organic tocos — a powder made of brown rice bran and full of vitamins and healthy nutrients. Keto-friendly, no-sugar-added Good Dee's sprinkles sit on top to give the smoothie a little added color and crunch. 

The Birthday Wish by Barbie Smoothie costs a whopping $21 at Erewhon Tonic Bars across Los Angeles, not including a tip. As of now, the drink will only be available for one month, starting March 9 until April 8. 

Barbie should have saved her Birthday Wish for something else, honestly. It's not an unpleasant drink at all. I happily sipped up pretty much all of it before the tiny bit left started to coagulate at the bottom of the cup two hours later. 

The banana flavoring is just too overpowering in the smoothie. It tastes like when I forget to add strawberries to my post-workout smoothie at home and end up mixing banana, milk, and protein powder. And if it tastes like something I can make at home, I'm certainly not going to go out and spend $21 on it. 

Besides the banana, the next most prominent flavor profile comes from the whey protein and vanilla. It certainly has a slightly sweet taste to it, but I would never really compare it to anything remotely like a birthday cake. The sprinkles on top don't really do much to add to the flavor, but instead give a bit of an unexpected crunch to the drink, along with an almost unnoticeable portion of oats. 

Any other flavors this drink was supposed to have don't really come together from its numerous ingredients. I was disappointed that I didn't taste any dragon fruit or goji berry flavors at all in this, nor the sweetness from the added maple syrup that could have really made this an interesting drink.

The Birthday Wish by Barbie smoothie certainly isn't a bad breakfast if you live near an Erewhon and have money to blow. I'll never get over the concept of buying two smoothies for nearly $50, but if that makes you happy, then who am I to stop you?

While I waited for my smoothie, I went to check out the cereal aisle, where I found a box of Nature's Path Organic cereal on sale for $4.99. It wasn't lost on me as I drove home that I could buy almost five boxes of cereal and feed myself for weeks for the same cost as one smoothie that went bad after two hours. 

Truthfully, Hailey Bieber's smoothie is nothing groundbreaking either, but at least it tastes as it's advertised. Almond milk gives a nutty sweetness to the Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie, but the oat milk in Barbie's fades into the banana-heavy background. My recommendation would be to skip the smoothie and instead donate $20 directly to the Barbie Dream Gap Project instead of Erewhon's measly $2.