How To Pick Your Good and Green Juice

Not all juices are created equal.  

This is what I’ve come to discover over the years of the juice craze, where everyone seems to be guzzling some kale laden, aloe stirred, chia seed dotted bottle of liquid salad. Growing up in California, this is something that has been part of our culture from as far as I can remember. Even before green juice was an uber trendy "thing." 

As an adult, I’ve balanced my love of gastronomic meals and a down-right delicious craft cocktail and with juicing.

I'll be honest; I'm not an advocate of green juice cleanses. Nothing is appealing about drinking green juice for 3, 5 or 7 days.

However, a juice throughout the week is something I'm all for.  A green juice swap instead of an espresso for a pick me up at work, a deluge of fresh cold-pressed juices when I feel a cold coming on. Or just as a reset button when your system is feeling sluggish, or you want your skin to glow and your eyes to look clearer, sharper. When you want to feel more alive and revived with energy.

In Portland (and when I lived in San Francisco), there are plenty of places offering the veggie-forward based drinks. But, As I was traveling around Europe, I sometimes stumble into a juice place where five or six euros will get you a green elixir in an American-sized large. But let’s not kid ourselves; they are blended with water, the veggies are not organic, and it’s probably riddled with pesticides. And in a crunch, this works fine. Some juice is better than no juice after all, but if you’re looking to actually detoxify your system with all things good and green, then you have to go with the real deal. 

Let's talk about some juice truth for a sec and some tips on how to pick your good and green as you navigate your way through the green juice world. 

Cold press juices.

Why does everyone say that, and why does that even matter? Cold pressing means using hydraulic pressure to extract juice from plants without breaking down nutrients with high levels of heat or oxygen. So basically it’s laborious, but worth the wait because it keeps all the good stuff in there.

Daily Serving of Veggies and Fruit.

A bottle contains up to twelve servings of organic fruits and vegetables.

Isn’t it better to eat your fruits and veggies whole? Realistically you aren’t going to eat 12 servings of fruits and veggies in a day, and because the juice has not been blasted with high levels of heat or oxygen, it’s alive. So unlike the spike and crash you get from caffeine, you will feel sustained all day long. I promise you the jolt you’ll get from a green juice will trump a coffee any day.

They use glass containers.

Yeah, so?  

Well first off, it’s infinitely better for the environment. It’s also part of Greenhouse’s ethos - they never compromise their juices with pasteurization, high-pressure processing (HPP) or plastic bottles. Which makes me love them even more. 

They are absolutely delicious.

There is no conversation for this one – who’s going to argue with taste?

My favorite shops to find incredible organic juices in include: 

US-Based: Pressed Juicery with multiple locations around the US, Juice Shop, and Project Juice in San Francisco,  Portland Juice Co in Portland,  Organic Avenue in NY,  and Juice Served Here in LA, JUGOS in Boston, Living Kitchen in Charlotte, Mountain Juicery in Asheville.

Over-Seas:  Frutas Prohibidas in Madrid, Mantra and V3Raw in Milan,  Yao Pressed Juice in Lisbon, Bite Delite in Munich, Slow Juice in Valencia, Ono Cold Pressed in Tamarindo, Juice Tonic Organic Juicery in London, B Juice in Berlin, Gló in Reykjavík.

Invest in your health – seriously guys; it’s worth every penny!