How to Make Protein Powder Less Chalky

I finally tried my first smoothy with protein powder yes, I have been an athlete these past seven years and just now trying this out.  It was really chalky.  Powdery may be a better word because it didn't taste bad, it just didn't taste quite right  In the same way that tofu never tastes bad but it never really tastes like anything is right about it either.

A couple weird factors lead to me wanting to give this a try.  At the end of June I had to use my quarterly discount at the co op and the protein powder was on sale so I thought I'd give it a go.  I picked rice protein (a surprise contender against soy and whey).  I picked the rice protein because my favorite pre-run food is always rice noodles in some form or another.  I never liked soy protein in any other form; I felt like my body burned it up too fast.   So that seemed a waste. 

I read articles here, over here, and this third place too.  I had tons of frozen fruit and tons of almond milk in the smoothie, so those made no difference.  My smoothie recipe is 2 C unsweetened almond milk, 1 TBSP cocoa powder, 1 TBSP protein powder, 1 C frozen fruit (I used strawberries and raspberries).  No, I do not put ice in my smoothie.  Go away.

I use peanut butter pretty regularly so I'll be interested to see if that makes a difference.  The peanut butter and the 'chocolate flavor' (and I use that term loosely) could be good together.  If so, I'll write an update.