Remember going out into the backyard and picking your orange and lemon trees bare of their fruits? After transforming your kitchen into a laboratory with hand juicers and sugar, you’d set up a makeshift storefront at the end of the driveway for neighbors to purchase a glass for 25 cents. Such simplicity in juicing is unheard of today.
Luckily, a growing number of juice bars in Newport Beach offer the nutritious grab-and-go beverage in every color of the rainbow. Try a sampling of tastes—and nutritional benefits—from across Newport’s juicing spectrum.
Red: Soul Mate at Sejuiced Superfood Juice Bar
For a healthy snack with a purpose, Kelly Meeker, who has a background in holistic coaching, recommends reaching for her Soul Mate beet-based recipe. The deep red juice helps improve blood flow and increase oxygen in blood vessels, making it an excellent restorative drink after a hard workout. The recipe also incorporates anti-inflammatory turmeric and ginger with detoxifying lemon and apple.
Pink: Watermelon Berry Juice at Project Juice
USDA-certified organic Project Juice rolled out a special high-lycopene juice that uses the antioxidant to help protect skin from overexposure to the sun and reduce inflammation. The watermelon berry juice is also high in potassium to replace depleted electrolytes, and detoxifying apples are present to help with liver function.
2 cups watermelon, cubed
5 large strawberries
½ small green apple
4 ounces coconut water
½ lime
Run all ingredients through a juicer; serve chilled or over ice.
Orange: The Buzz at Nekter Juice Bar
To create your own buzz-worthy juice at home, go for a favorite at the veteran juice bar that’s guaranteed to leave you glowing: The Buzz. The Nekter staple combines antioxidant-rich carrots with ginger (an anti-inflammatory metabolism booster) that results in a sweet base with a bite. The juice is also high in vitamin C, zinc and flavonoids to improve the immune system and fight flu-causing infections.
1 ¼ cup carrots
2 tablespoons ginger
1/8 cup lemon
½ cup orange
Combine in a centrifugal juicer and serve chilled or on the rocks.
Orange: Citrus Medley at Krisp Fresh Living
For an anti-carcinogenic immunity and alertness booster, look no further than Krisp Fresh Living. The vitamin C-dense citrus medley (pink grapefruit, orange, lime, ginger and celtic salt) was conceptualized by the team of three owners—Sing Ling, Janice Lee and Tammy Higgins—and cross-examined by a nutritionist before hitting the menu and the cold-press juicer. Every piece of produce that enters the juicer is organic. With the help of a nutritionist, the juice bar most recently debuted a low-sugar detox—a rare commodity when taking into consideration how many palatable fruits are high in natural sugars.
Yellow: Cleaner #10 at Juice Crafters
Manager and co-owner Ilan Mit comes from a lineage of European farmers, so he brings an understanding to Juice Crafters paired with a commitment to local farmers—meaning the juice is as sustainable as it is nutritious.
To reap the most health benefits without sacrificing taste, Ilan says Juice Crafters’ Cleaner #10 is a popular detoxifying choice. The fruit base is an excellent post-workout recovery aid or early morning energy booster that helps focus a busy mind. And the simple nature of only three ingredients helps to detoxify the liver and get skin glowing.
2 apples
¼ cup mint
1 ½ cups pineapple
Combine in a masticating juicer in the above order and serve chilled or on the rocks.
Green: Greens 3 at Pressed Juicery
The darker the juice, the deeper the nutrients. That’s why Pressed Juicery co-founder and CEO Hayden Slater recommends his personal favorite, Greens 3. The dark green juice is high in the body’s essential minerals calcium, potassium, iron and magnesium, as well as vitamins A, C and K to, respectively, aid in eye, immune and bone health.
2 to 3 kale leaves
Handful of spinach
Small bunch fresh parsley
1 head romaine
2 celery stalks
1 large cucumber, peeled
1 Fuji apple
½ lemon, peeled
½-inch piece fresh
ginger, peeled
Combine in a masticating juicer and serve chilled or on the rocks.
Blue/Purple: Acai Berry at Sambazon Acai Cafe
Acai was one of the first superfoods to hit the juicing scene and, consequently, Sambazon was one of the first juicing companies to bring the elixir to the local market. Cafe manager and drink innovator Will Reifsteck says the powerful little berries with a subtle chocolate flavor are chock full of antioxidants—even more than the once supreme blueberry—omega-3 fatty acids and fiber to increase cellular health, boost energy and keep the digestive system clean. “Most of the acai berry is actually a seed,” Will says. “Only about 5 percent of the berry is usable product. The harvesting process is almost [as time-intensive as] coffee beans.”
All the acai drinks sold in the cafe are non-GMO, USDA-certified organize and fair trade, but this is also why the lengthy juicing processing is not done on-site at Sambazon or other local shops. To put this into perspective, a single-serving drink would contain 300-plus acai berries; instead of producing it in the shop, various acai juice blends are bottled and delivered en mass to the cafe. Will adds that every single one of the fair-trade fruits come from Sambazon’s harvesting locations in the Amapa and Para regions of the Amazon rainforest.
—Written by Karlee Prazak
