Juice Press: organic fast food for healthy Manhattan's future

Juice Press is bold, braver than most food and beverage companies out there. Like some of their millennial competitors born in the US, also often nicknamed ‘the fast food nation’, Juice Press unlocked the first aid box, for too long shelved idly behind the ultra-sized bags of chips, sugary sodas and other highly processed ‘cool foods’ stored abundantly in every American’s pantry.
Healthy Manhattan and once perhaps the entire ‘known universe’ seems to be the ultimate goal of its founders, who challenge the established dietary habits of the modern Western society. Combining supplements, miraculous formulae offering solutions to anything from longevity, weight loss to glowing skin, and mostly great, high-profile (sweet and satisfying) taste, is their participation in the juice revolution. They help to redefine how we can consume and enjoy nutrients without taxing our digestive system too much. This is achieved by keeping all of their food and beverages raw (not exposed to heat above 40°C), organic, unprocessed, free from gluten, GMOs, hormones, pesticides, and all the modern ‘junk’ that today’s consumers blame for every headache and imaginable illness.
Sipping a Tight Butt and Ripped, I am dreaming of having my perfect, 20-something model body back. Effortless, and full of flavours imbibing from the BPA-free bottles of this raw, unpasteurized magic fix is highly enjoyable. Bye morning pilates, and intense yoga sessions … wait, is this for real? The promises on their bottles seem a bit too lofty, thus unrealistic, and worthy of a more scrutinised investigation.
Juice Press is the equivalent to LA’s Kreation Organic concept. Both are cleanse (or ‘kleanse’) focused, 100% organic, vegan, and functional food focused businesses that include some non-raw items like soups, hot brewed coffee and cappuccino (with a house-made almond or coconut milk of course) in their super-healthy repertoires.

Healthy and delicious points for a fast-paced life

Juice Press is not a restaurant or café, but more a take-away with a couple of chairs (depending on a location) to munch on your nutritionally dense vegan and organic dishes. I have rarely seen someone sitting there and just drinking the cold pressed juices, that are easily slurped on-the-go, at your office or at home, and also their highest selling tickets.
I just cannot imagine a family dinner consisting solely of juices. This is one problem with liquid diets like these, they are unsociable. They might be more conducive towards mindfulness as a serious fast is, but they still distract. [disclosure: I have never done a liquid cleanse myself, but interviewed some people who did]
Many of their liquid treats are indulgent, rich and creamy, and high in calories, while with nutrients packed tasty meals and desserts like chia pudding, matcha bowl, and others require a spoon or fork to consume so the social aspect of eating is catered to if you do not mind eating from a plastic bowl or a cup. Here, look for calories since a coconut oil is high in fat and coconut nectar, honey or agave are sweetening many of the delicacies, and when disregarding the natural buzz, broken down they are still sugar, comma. Calling calories “delicious points” is a smart twist on marketing and ignoring their primary role in weight gain is not scientifically correct. Yet there is a grain of truth in that “raw food calories matter less than processed food calories” since at least your body gets vitamins and minerals it needs. Further, your organs like liver and gut are not that much strained through detoxification if your diet consists mostly of the organic produce. Nut allergy sufferers should avoid any of these vegan juicers, since contact with nuts is always possible even if you get just a pure, veggies based smoothie. Causing an allergic reaction would beat against their efforts to prevent a disease-causing inflammation.
Anti-inflamatory diet is being supported by many doctors as the healthiest way to feed our bodies and this is achieved by including more alkaline, pH balancing substances often present in plants.

A liquid day

Starting your day with a liquid breakfast packed with protein, brain-fueling fats, slow-energy releasing carbohydrates and filling fibre in the delicious JP Black Chia boosted with omega-rich coconut oil readies you for another wild and busy day in New York City. If you do not have time to sit at your dining table and prepare a balanced breakfast, this is a good fuel starting the engine of your body.
Some beverages taste like a Chinese medicine though. You can start your day with a laxative Herbal Cleanse made of Dr. Mission’s herbal tea brew that has no calories. Even the label admits that this is an “awful tasting tea laxative designed to clean you out. gentle to some, freight train to others”, so it is your call.
There are also some that just taste like filtered water despite being enriched with aloe fractionally distilled from the plant’s leaves. Should be good for your digestive system and comes with zero calories, so sip on it instead of regular water if you have a $2.50 to spare for your hydration. This is also one of the cheapest products sold at the juiceries. Most of their plant based blended beverages are quite expensive, adding local tax more than $10 reward you with two glasses of their nourishing potions. The pure Watermelon and Cucumber juices are refreshing in summer.
For a green fix, the Romanian blend enhanced with plant-based “proviotic” tastes very grassy and is not for everyone, while the OMMM! with green apple and ginger is more approachable and balanced. My favorites though are indeed OMG! my favorite juice, Doctor Earth and the libido increasing (people say) and Carrot & Co that has a energizing potion of maca in it.
All the bottles and packaging are BPAfree, and since most of the beverages are raw so better to “keep [them] cold and shake well”. Compared to most US sizes, the Juice Press offers much smaller volumes – as little as 9oz (266ml), encouraging consumption of nutritionally dense, but not overwhelming amounts. The Sweet Wheatgrass blend of pineapple, wheatgrass and ginger supplies you with as much 90% of your daily recommend dose of Vitamin C.

Raw plant-based food at Juice Press

The enzymes living in raw, unprocessed, foods help with digestion, and the high fibre content, although great for your bowel movement might make you feel full for long time.
My favourite take-outs include the Ravioli as they are light and refreshing, but unless you are a bird portion eater, better have them with something else like the Kelp Me! Summer Noodles with spicy jalapeño sauce on the side. Half sizes of some raw dishes are available ideal to explore the creative nutrition-driven Juice Press pantry.
The Kale Ceasar was created as a “tribute to the Eagle” of the fallen Roman Empire, and illustrates the designers’ humour on the labels. The not only to health related claims on all of Juice Press’s products are bold and stir controversy. Shunning processed food, with spiking confidence announcing as being “perhaps the best juice bar in the known universe”, but also compulsory warnings highlighting the danger of unpasteurized foods in which bacteria can thrive if not stored properly. Tastier for me though is For the Love of Kale salad with quinoa. To their credit though they supplement most of their juices and even snacks like the hummus with beneficial probiotic (vegan probiotic) bacteria and their delivery system is extremely mindful of temperature control. It will be likely your fault if you carry your juice while trailing the avenues of Manhattan or hiking on a hot day.
As more people are attracted to juicing and eating healthier food, Juice Press has been increasing its presence on Manhattan and well beyond with new branches constantly popping out. Now the summer vacationers in the Hamptons can also get their daily juice fix, and hopefully cold pressed organic juices will be available at most towns, not just big cities, so the entire world can savour the liquid joy as a healthful treat.