Remember when “juice” meant a vaguely fruit-resembling substance that came in an orange-colored carton or a mylar pouch?
Now, juice bars are spreading like Starbucks (in fact, Starbucks recently got into the juice business) and you can find cold-pressed juice in nearly every town (with a yoga studio).
How did we go from a nation of Tropicana guzzlers to drinking our salads and savoring the taste of liquid beets and Swiss chard? And just what have we decided to replace our Dole habit with?
We asked the 10 top juice brands nationwide to dish about their best-selling juices and tell us what’s flying out of their cold-pressed cases. (Hint: green juice is where it’s at.) In alphabetical order, here’s a rundown of our juicy findings… –Carla Vass
BluePrint “Green Juice”
The bestseller at this mighty juice giant is the Green Juice. Boasting six pounds of leafy greens in every bottle, this staple found at Whole Foods is made from kale, apple, ginger, romaine, spinach, cucumber, celery, parsley, and lemon. Proving green juice has mass-market appeal, it outsells every other flavor two to one.
Creative Juice “Easy Being Green”
Danny Meyer’s juice brand is known for including rarely-pressed ingredients (dried apricot, anyone?). But the best-selling Easy Being Green, sold only at eight Equinox locations, is decidedly straightforward. Made with kale, baby spinach, Swiss chard, cucumber, ginger, and green apple, the popular juice proves that sometimes it’s best to keep things simple.
$10, www.creativejuiceflows.com
Dig Inn “Serious Green”
With six New York locations, this beloved chain has become the go-to lunch spot for the health conscious. The Serious Green juice, made with romaine, cucumber, apple, kale, spinach, celery, parsley, lemon, and ginger, is seriously popular. It outsells other blends five to one.
$8.50, www.diginn.com
Evolution Fresh “Sweet Greens and Lemon”
Starbucks recently got into the juicing game with Evolution Fresh and is poised to bring green juice all over the country. Its bestselling Sweet Greens and Lemon includes celery, parsley, wheat grass, apple, romaine, clover sprouts, cucumber, lemon, lime, spinach, and kale. And it actually isn’t all that sweet. It’s about 16 grams of sugar compared to many others that approach or exceed 30 grams. It also has a lower price point than most, in part because the produce used isn’t necessarily organic (and perhaps because its size is almost one fluid ounce less than others).
Juice Generation “Supa Dupa Greens”
This now-ubiquitous New York City chain of juice bars (and sister company to Cooler Cleanse) started in 1999 with just a single Hell’s Kitchen outpost. The uber-health-conscious clientele has had a decade-plus love affair with Supa Dupa Greens. It’s made to order with spinach, kale , apple, parsley, cucumber, romaine, celery, and lemon. And popular modifications include adding mint and extra lemon.
Juice Press “Doctor Green Juice”
Juice Press started three years ago with a tiny East Village location. Now, Marcus Antebi’s about to open the company’s fifteenth. Clearly, they’re doing something right. The quickly growing company stocks about a dozen green blends alone, each at 17 ounces for some iconoclastic reason. And it sells more Doctor Green Juice than any other blend—300 bottles daily. It’s made with pineapple, apple, lemon, ginger, and kale—and a whole lotta ambition.
$11, www.juicepress.com
Liquiteria “All Greens with Apple, Lemon, and Ginger”
The All Greens juice flies off the (refrigerated) shelves at this pioneering East Village juice bar, where everything is still cold-pressed on-site. Customers buy twice as many bottles of All Green than any of Liquiteria’s other cold-pressed juices. It’s made with apple, lemon, ginger, kale, spinach, romaine, parsley, celery and cucumber.
Organic Avenue “Green LOVE*”
What started as a tiny passion-filled brand sold out of founder Denise Mari’s New York City apartment has quickly grown into a powerhouse of organic juice potential. With new ownership, Organic Avenue now grown to 14 locations, including its two Hamptons outposts in Theory stores. Its bestselling Green LOVE* uses pear (breaking from the favored apple) to sweeten the kale, lemon, Swiss chard, spinach, parsley, collard greens, and romaine.
Pressed Juicery “Greens 3”
This Los Angeles-based brand really kicked off cold-pressing on the West Coast. The cleanse-and-juice company debuted in 2010 and now has 13 locations in Southern California and the Bay Area (many are tiny counters like at San Francisco’s Ferry Building), with three more coming any second now. Their Greens 3 is a top-seller, and it’s made from kale, spinach, romaine, parsley, cucumber, celery, apple, lemon, and ginger. The lower price point reflects that Pressed is “100 percent natural” but not necessarily organic.
$6.50, www.pressedjuicery.com
Suja “Vanilla Cloud”
To say Suja is gaining ground for organic juice dominance would be an understatement: when they launched in San Diego last May, juices were still being hand delivered. Now, they’re in Whole Foods stores around the country. Maybe everyone was just sick of green juice (or getting it elsewhere), but Suja’s bestseller is Vanilla Cloud, made with coconut, honey, almonds, acerola cherry, cinnamon, vanilla bean, nutmeg, camu camu, and filtered water. We speculate that it’s the almond-coconut combo (most juice brands use cashews) that makes this dessert-like “juice” a home run.
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