It’s Not Just Orange Anymore

JUICING OFFERS A WIDE VARIETY OF TASTE OPTIONS
 

Those of us of a certain age remember when juice was just one color – orange. It was that small glass of orange juice that greeted us in the morning along with our bowl of cereal and perhaps a piece of toast with butter and jelly.

Today, you can hardly go a block or two in an urban area without seeing a juice bar. It seems like juiceries are overtaking the traditional coffee shop as the go-to morning meet-up spot.

Oranges have been pushed away and replaced with the likes of beets, celery, kale, carrots, mango, pineapples and cucumbers. Super spices such as turmeric and ginger are frequent juice bedfellows along with a dash of wheatgrass and protein powder.

JUICING BASICS

More folks are taking juice-making to the home kitchen. Juicing machines are widely available with prices starting at $50 all the way into the thousands. When purchasing your juicer, become familiar with the two main types of extracting mechanisms: The centrifugal juicer or a cold-press machine.

Centrifugal juice extractors are the most common type of juicer. A fast-spinning metal plate spins against a mesh filer, separating the juice from the pulp. The speed of the process generates heat, which lessens some of the nutrients in the fruits and vegetables being processed.

“You can hardly go a block or two in an
urban area without seeing a juice bar.

The plus side of the centrifugal juicers is price. The lower price of these juice extractors makes the home-juicing experience easier on the pocketbook.

Cold pressing is a different process of extracting juice. A cold press or masticating machine separates the fiber from the produce without adding heat. These extracting machines retain more of the nutrients because the blades don’t annihilate the vegetables and fruit. The result is a larger amount of juice packed with many more nutrients than the centrifugal juicing process. The better results come with a much higher price. Cold press machines run from the mid-hundreds to well into the thousands of dollars. Want to try some cold press juice? Go to most any juicery where these high-end extractors are the machine of choice.

Mary Lou Deviley, co-owner of the Kitschinn Juice Bar and Sauna in Sister Bay, offers juice selections made in a cold-press extractor.

“I cold press at my business because of the ease in producing more product quickly with less waste,” Deviley explained. “It enables us to bottle juices because cold-press juices tend to not separate and have a better shelf life.”

Mary Lou, along with her husband, Nick, opened the juice bar in July, 2017. But this isn’t the couple’s first experience in offering top-notch juice products to the folks of Door County. “We opened our first juice bar, The Getaway Car, in Egg Harbor in 2008. We eventually moved the juice bar to Fish Creek,” Mary Lou explained. The juice operation took a backseat for a few years as the couple developed their highly successful kombucha business. Their Tapuat Brewing Company offers product not only throughout Door County and the state, but is also available in many states around the country. Their purchase of the Patio Drive-in gave them a location to create a juicery and health-based business that has a vintage vibe with a from-the-farm menu.

PICK YOUR FLAVOR COMBO

When creating your juices, think of what flavors you are looking for and pick your ingredients appropriately. Want a sweeter juice? Add some pineapple or orange for natural sugar. Is green your color? Go for spinach or kale. Feeling spicy? Grab a bunch of watercress or arugula.

And don’t forget to add a little turmeric root and ginger for added health benefits. Ginger juice is a terrific addition to a juice. It’s an immunity booster and aids the digestive system. A jolt of ginger juice provides a terrifi c kickstart to your day.

A close relative of ginger, turmeric is a smaller brownish-colored rhizome. Unassuming on the outside, it’s that bright yellow interior that provides the healing powers of this ancient rhizome.

Turmeric has a peppery, slightly bitter flavor. Though more often found in its dry form, fresh turmeric root is available in many organic sections of grocery stores. Considered to be a spice that cleanses the whole body, especially the liver, it is used to support digestion and to treat fever, infections and inflammations. It’s been hailed to prevent everything from the common cold to cancer. Like any food trumpeted as a health benefit, the jury is still out on all of the medicinal benefits of the spice.

Veronica Ripp, owner of Sturgeon Bay’s Get Real Café, adds a drop or two of essential oils to enhance some of her juice blends. Essential oils are plant extracts from the flower, leaves, stems, seeds and roots of plants. They are potent and concentrated and very powerful in small amounts. “The health benefi ts of essential oils are amazing,” Ripp explained. “You need to add them sparingly. I add one or two drops, depending on the size of drink, because it is so concentrated.”

Ripp notes that those working at home with essential oils need to check the oil label to make sure it is food grade.

“It will note on the ingredient label that it is a food-grade supplement,” she said.

Other essential oils that find their way into some of Ripp’s juice blends include wild orange, lime and ginger.

When selecting produce, steer towards organically grown whenever possible. If an organic option is not available, it is best to peel conventionally grown fruits and vegetables to reduce exposure to chemicals and pesticides.Citrus fruits should also be peeled; however, there is no need to remove the white inner nutrient-rich pith. Other fruits that have thicker skins, like mangoes and bananas, should be peeled before processing No matter what machine you choose or produce you select, creating juice blends at home is a satisfying and delicious experience. The end result is a colorful, drinkable package full of nutrients no matter what process is used.

JUICE BAR LOCATIONS
 

BONA FIDE JUICERY
409 Main Avenue
De Pere, WI 54115
bonafidejuicery.com

BONA FIDE JUICERY
111 E. College Avenue
Appleton, WI 54911
bonafidejuicery.com    

CLOUD NINE JUICE BAR + CAFE
2570 County Road Q
Sister Bay, WI 54234
cloudninecafedc.com

GET REAL CAFÉ
116 W. Madison Street
Sturgeon Bay, WI 54234
getrealcafedoorcounty.com

GREENS N GRAINS NATURAL FOOD MARKET & CAFÉ
7821 State Highway 42
Egg Harbor, WI 54209
greens-n-grains.com

NECTAR OF GREEN BAY
227 N. Washington Street
Green Bay, WI
nectarofgreenbay.com

THE KITSCHINN JUICERY
10440 Orchard Drive
Sister Bay, WI 54234
Facebook: The Kitschinn Juicery