The first time I heard kefir referred to as the 'Champagne of dairy,' I definitely laughed it off as a marketing ploy. That was before I had tried it. Now, I'm totally on board with the hype. It really is a delicious drinkable yogurt that makes everything feel fancier since it's oh-so-slightly effervescent. Kefir is great straight out of the bottle, adding yogurty tang and lots of richness to a smoothie.

But come summer, you need more: when it's time to leave behind the bags of frozen berries and bananas and make exceptionally tasty fresh fruit smoothies, you gotta chill it down. No one likes a warm smoothie, but water-based ice cubes dilute the flavor of your drink. Frozen kefir cubes should be your go-to.

Kefir cubes, made by—you guessed it—pouring kefir into ice cube trays and freezing, give these drinks have a thick, creamy more milkshake-like texture and help them rate much higher on the cold-and-refreshing scale. A quick plea: please do choose full-fat plain kefir to make your frozen cubes. Lower fat kefir will yield an icier and less flavorful result.

These simple smoothies burst with the flavors of ripe summer fruit at its best, with the tart frozen kefir as a foil.

Start with the bright flavor of fresh raspberries and tangy kefir sweetened with just a touch of honey, then add cooling fresh mint to tie everything together, and you've got yourself a pretty nice start to the day. Because this smoothie is just lightly sweetened with honey, all the delicious tartness from both the raspberries and kefir really shines through. If you're growing mint in your garden, you've got to try this drink.

Fresh raspberries and mint are blended with cubes of frozen kefir plus a little honey for balance in this frosty, fresh smoothie. The kefir cubes, which make the smoothie cold and creamy without watering down the flavor like regular ice cubes, can be made in advance and stored in a ziploc freezer bag.