Leahi Health Beverages is a smoothie bar with a restaurant on the side. Located at the intersection of 9th Avenue and Waialae, all of the creations are wholesome and natural that make your body fall in love once you take a sip or bite.
Fourteen smoothies are available to choose from and six dishes. Plus, the establishment will have another location at downtown Bishop Street that will be up for business soon.
A smoothie from Leahi Health cost $5 for a regular size and $7 for a 20 once size. Each and every smoothie has a unique, flavorful and fresh taste. One of the smoothies called “Sweet Tweet” is the one the popular smoothies to drink especially if you’re a first time customer. The sweet tweet looked green swirled bit bits of black and white. What makes that smoothie is a blend of apple juice, mint, local greens, pineapple, orange, chia seed, and lemon.
The moment of my taste buds touched the smoothie, a smile formed on my face. I thought the taste was going to be leafy due to the strong hue of green, but it was sweet from the apple juice and tangy from the citrus fruits. Texture was extremely smooth that it tastes more like juice than a smoothie.
The “King Green” is another popular smoothie to drink, which is a blend of kombucha (fermented tea), local greens, ginger, pineapple, banana, and lemon.
The dishes of Leahi Health do not contain any meat, but each of tastes phenomenal. One of them, called the “Surfer Bowl” is a salad that includes furikake, brown rice, kale, avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, red cabbage, carrots, roasted tamari (almonds), and homemade ginger tahini dressing.
One bite of it and my taste buds made my brain explode by a robust of flavor and texture. The ginger tahini dressing made balanced the richness for the rest of the ingredients.
A grilled cheese is an all right snack to eat, but the “Pesto Grilled Cheese” is the grilled cheese try out. With whole grain bread, mozzarella cheese, pesto, local greens, and tomatoes, the pesto grilled cheese
Jason Coleman, who is a Chaminade alumnus in 1994, is the founder of Leahi Health. It all began when Coleman made kombucha, which is fermented tea that has a vinegar taste and contains probiotics. Not only that, it detoxes your body of unwanted stuff in the body, boosts your immune system, digestive system, and joint health.
“People started falling in love with it they wouldn’t stop coming to my house to drink the kombucha,” Coleman said. “And then I started making smoothies out of it, and people just went bananas for it. So, I came to this fresh island produce one day and told the lady that I want to open a smoothie shop.”
A year and a half ago, the economy from the produce didn’t produce enough income, and there was extra space from the building. That was when Coleman signed the lease for the extra space, bought a couple of blenders and Leahi Health was born.
Some of Coleman’s creations were created from his dreams.
“I literally sleep at night, wake up in the middle of the night and had these drinks like the Tibetan monk,” Coleman said. “Papaya, mint, and banana, and some kombucha would be awesome, and it was.”
