Do you have a favorite fruit juice?

[ipsedixit]

I'll be the first to say it, I'm not big on juices.

I would rather eat my fruits than drink them.

But that said, if I am going to have juice, I think my favorite might be fresh squeezed apple. Has to be fresh squeezed.

I know OJ is popular, but I just can't stand OJ. I love oranges, tangerines, and all types of citrus fruits, but just don't like them in juice form.

What about you?

Do you have a favorite juice?

[lemons]

OJ, only if it's squeezed to order. It breaks down faster than coffee standing on a hot plate. Anything else in terms of OJ I avoid like the measles. Ditto grapefruit. These concentrates that are made from whole fruit, pith included, are just too bitter and odd for me. Love those honeybells, too, as I said elsewhere.

I miss pineapple-grapefruit juice, one of my father's favorites. And I do wish we could buy POG juice here in Middle America. Found it in Hawaii - I think it's papaya/orange/guava - and was blown away.

[texangurl]

Dole - Strawberry-Pineapple-Orange juice...i think its a combo of those three plus apple and banana.

[jmcarthur8]

Fresh made apple cider from the farm. We used to go to an orchard every fall that made the most fantastic apple cider. On cider weekends, they'd make homemade donuts with maple icing that would make your eyes roll back in your head.
Though we've never been big on eating in the car, we never got out of the farm's parking lot before we were into the donuts and pouring the cider into coffee cups or whatever we had to drink from.
Unfortunately, some years back, food regulations changed, requiring the orchards to pasteurize the cider before selling it. Something has been missing in the flavor since then, and though it's still good, there's that burst of apple flavor that has gone a little flat to me.

[calliope_nh]

Coconut water. Plain, no sugar added. Iit is not sweet, very refreshing, little or no fat and lots of electrolites. Nature's Gatoraid. NOT coconut milk.

[mamachef]

I have a few favorites, depending on my mood....
Welch's Grape
Fresh-squeezed Ruby Grapefruit
Real cranberry juice, mixed with seltzer and a bit of sugar - much better than the "Cran-whatever cocktail" they sell pre-mixed. The sugar's really necessary, though; it's pretty unpalatable without it.
Fermented Grape Juice. Aka wine. : )

[buttertart]

Grape mixed with Coke half and half, breakfast of (teenaged) champions.

[Ottojr]

Pineapple, Lychee and my fav juice blend is Apple, Beet and Ginger.

[K K]

Not in the freshly squeezed category, but worth mentioning. Navarro Vineyards in Northern California offers a wonderful bottle of grape juice (non alcoholic) made with Gewürztraminer or Pinot Noir grapes. Syrupy thick and super sweet, a perfect drink over rice. $11 per plus shipping. This stuff is so addictive.

[linguafood]

over rice? interesting.

[debw1946]

Room temperature tomato with extra salt on top.

[K K]

Whoops... over ICE. What the hell was I thinking.

[pinehurst]

Tomato, with ground pepper on top. And once in a great while, Welch's Concord Grape.

[chefathome]

It's got to be tart and unsweetened so my favourites include pink grapefruit and puckery cranberry. I also like to infuse lemonades with herbs including rosemary, lemon verbena and mint.

[chocolatetartguy]

Hands down, blood orange juice. Pink grapefuit is good too. Passionfruit gets the bronze.

[tracylee]

I had fresh squeezed blood orange juice in my banana protein shake this morning. Zested them first for zest to use later. The shake was wonderful!

[junescook]

Juniper berry, preferably with an olive in it.

[ChrisOC]

I love grapefruit juice. I also love whole grapefruit. I found the perfect knife. But now I am on medication for cholesterol and the Doc said NO GRAPEFRUIT

[Sharuf]

Apricot nectar goes down mellow and easy.

[lechai]

I Love juice, but if I have to pick one I would say pomegranate with Cranberry

[luckyfatima]

I am not a big juice person, either.

But I love cherry juice. Also pomegranate, tamarind, and lemon/lime. Anything sweet and sour, really.

[Delucacheesemonger]

When l lived full time in Florida had a grapefruit tree and everyday squeezed 4 grapefruit. l liked them better early in season, say Nov-Dec as less sweet and bright. Only thing l miss in Florida. Now in NE a lot, love the Russian sour cherry juice , not sweet with a lot of schmutz on bottom of jar.

[Veggo]

My pink grapefruit tree was severely shocked by the freeze last year, and this year's fruit is half the usual size. And then we had another freeze. I'm in Bradenton.

[buttertart]

Try the Knudsen's Just Cherry one, very good and tart. My husband buys a schmutzy Turkish one when he can't find the other, not sure of the brand, will look.

[monku]

Other day you were looking for fresh squeezed OJ?
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/771725

[ipsedixit]

Yup. I'm dating someone who enjoys fresh squeezed juices, which brought up both that topic (linked) and this one.

[goodhealthgourmet]

ah, that explains why you reverted back to a happy avatar ;)

[ipsedixit]

Not for long if I can't find some good fresh juice places ...

[Tripeler]

So did you stop eating beef? 牛

[ipsedixit]

Nope.

I'm schitzo when it comes to my Chowhound avatars.

[goodhealthgourmet]

hell, if she's a keeper why not just invest in a juicer and make her breakfast at your place?

[ipsedixit]

Problem is ... she may not be a keeper (heck, she may not even think I'm a keeper!)

Re: juicers. I just hate them, but I seem to attract them like flies on sh!t. I've probably received more juicers as gifts than I care to remember. All donated or given away.

[goodhealthgourmet]

ha! i seem to attract non-keepers the way you attract juicers ;) but seriously, if she's not a keeper, move on and find one! life's too short.

[racer x]

Lulo.

Followed closely by maracuyá, and certain blends that include guava.

Lately have become addicted to sweet osmanthus plum "juice" -- I've been going through several liters every couple of weeks. : (

If the topic includes fruit flavors for shakes, my favorite would be custard apple.

[tracylee]

Oooh, I love naranjilla (lulo) juice! I finally found an importer and bought a bunch of big cans of naranjillas in syrup to make juice at home. I haven't found the fruit itself anywhere. I'm sure the ripe ones just don't ship well.

[racer x]

I get the frozen pulp at the supermarket, add water and sugar and blend it up.

[tracylee]

I'll have to look for it again. It's been a few years since I did a thorough search. One of those things I forget about until someone mentions it or the weather gets hot.

[racer x]

I just found a new one (new to me anyway) in the freezer at the supermarket today! Curuba. The drawing on the package resembles a mango, but curuba is not a mango. I see that according to wikipedia, curuba is also known as banana passionfruit. (And that the vines of the plant can be a beast.)

Can't wait to try it!

[racer x]

Tried the curuba.
It doesn't taste like bananas or like passionfruit.
It actually tastes somewhat like lulo, but it's yellow-orange rather than green.

[racer x]

I came across a new one today in a bodega I'd never been to.
Nance frozen pulp.
Haven't tried it yet though.

[racer x]

I can't recommend the nance.
At least not if this batch I got is typical.
It has a complex mix of flavors, but one of the predominant flavors reminds me of goat cheese. Really. Just doesn't work well in a juice.

[Veggo]

Honey bells in Florida have a short season -6 weeks beginning mid-January- but have a cult of followers. They are a hybrid of grapefruit and tangerines, but resemble orange water balloons, with a little nub. Their juice is very perishable and is not sold commercially. Delicious fresh squozen in the morning and with vodka at sunset. A few growers ship them anywhere.

[Floridagirl]

I love honeybell juice and it's great with vodka any time of day. I have a tangerine tree that makes great juice but my favorite is tomato juice with lemon.

[Bob W]

We turned most of this year's Cushman's honeybell order into juice, at the suggestion of the kids -- it was delicious.

[lemons]

Oh, yeah. Love those honeybells. Best juice anywhere.

[Uncle Bob]

Tomato juice from the pantry...........

[LorenM]

I love V8 juice- crave the stuff. Technically a fruit juice since it is mostly tomatoes which are fruit. It has to be the 100% salt version though. The low sodium V8 just doesn't cut it.

[ipsedixit]

When I used to train for triathlons, I used to dilute V8 with water (3:1), and it would be my own version of Gatorade but with all the vitamins and minerals.

Who knew I was mkaing homemade precursor to those fancy VitaminWaters you find everywhere nowadays.

[Will Owen]

V-8 and grapefruit were our two favorite mixers (NOT at the same time!) for tall iced vodka things for summer-evening porch-sitting in Nashville. Not so much anymore. Took a jug of V-8 and one of vodka to one of my semiannual Weekend-With-The-Guys outings and came home loathing it. Drinking it on the Catalina ferry might have had something to do with it … No, I didn't do what you might think, but it was damn close.

[onceadaylily]

I've always liked V8 (but dislike the low sodium and the spicy), but I especially love the V8 with fiber version. It has a nice, thick texture, and tastes a bit richer than the original. I like it over ice, sometimes with lemons or cucumbers. I can easily go through a bottle of it in less than two days.

[Bob W]

Does Ocean Spray still make Cranicot? That was some good juice!

[goodhealthgourmet]

i remember that stuff! they discontinued it ages ago.

[buttertart]

Sour cherry. Knudsen's please.

[goodhealthgourmet]

the only fruit juice i ever have any desire to drink straight is freshly squeezed grapefruit. not a huge fan of OJ, and apple, grape, cherry and blueberry are too sweet. pomegranate, cranberry, lemon and lime are great for spiking club soda or seltzer but i wouldn't want to drink a full-strength glass of any of them. same goes for "nectars" such as peach, pear, guava or mango...on their own they make me gag - too viscous.

[Bob W]

As a kid I would have said apricot nectar because I was a little snot. Now it's grapefruit juice.

[Stephanie Wong]

It used to be red grapefruit until I read my RX contraindications; now it's tangerine altho blood orange is good too.

[Will Owen]

I love and adore grapefruit and always have, and like you have been told not to eat or drink it anymore. Red or yellow, but mostly the latter was what I liked best. The only juices we have these days are the aguas frescas some of the Mexican places make from fresh fruits - pineapples, melons, apples and the like, all quite good once in a while. I think the last commercial juice we had several times was Tropicana's orange/peach/mango (also quite nice with rum!), but any fruit in our house now just gets peeled and eaten.

[THEIBMGUY]

Stephanie Carol, pineapple juice is really tasty….

[Stephanie Wong]

Too sweet & reminds me too much of the 1/2 gallons of DelMonte pineapple-grapefruits I had to down every 8 hours whenever I was sick as a kid.

[Will Owen]

"Oh if you like-a de taste of pineapple,
and de tingaling tang of grapefruit juice,
Togeddah dey're twice as good you'll t'ink
In Del Monte Pineapple Grapefruit Drink!"

Still runs through my head fifty-some years later … despite that, I really liked it!

[K K]

I don't drink a lot of freshly squeezed juice, but I personally love fruit in Taiwan, and a mixed fruit juice (upwards of 5 varieties) somehow tastes amazing over there. The 5 usually are: apple, orange, grape, maybe some lemon, and the last one something seasonal.

Otherwise if I were to pick one, I would say peach juice, of which is a popular rustic bed and breakfast type drink in central Taiwan (peach water or diluted peach juice), although I'd much rather eat peach whole.

[ipsedixit]

As a kid, I used to love fresh-squeezed sugarcane juice when I visited Taiwan. Esp. when gnawing on them made my jaws too sore to eat dried cuttlefish ...

[tastesgoodwhatisit]

Yeah, I like the sugarcane juice. It's fresh squeezed orange juice season here right now - we've got a truck on the corner. Totally different from anything at the grocery store, no matter what the label says.

I'm not a huge juice fan in general, but of the stuff you can buy in the store cranberry and cranberry blends would be my favourite.

[K K]

Oh yes...sugarcane juice, also very old school delicious in Hong Kong.

If in Hong Kong I absolutely cannot resist mango juice (made with fresh mangoes from the Philippines, I'd say the best mangoes in the world) along with local renditions of mango desserts, although vendors tend to add some ice to blend it into thicker smoothie like consistency (and to make some more $).

[Miss Needle]

Don't like juices either -- a bit too heavy tasting IMO. But I just LOVE watermelon juice -- not that watermelon, ice and sugar stuff they have at some Chinese bakeries but just pure ice cold ripe watermelon and my juicer. It's the best thing to quench your thirst on a hot, humid day.

[Ruth Lafler]

Yes, watermelon was the first one that came to mind. I also love tangerine juice. Pineapple juice. I've never been crazy about apple juice, even when I was a kid (in fact, I wouldn't drink it when I was a kid). I like grapefruit juice as a mixer, but most grapefruit juice is too bitter for me to drink straight.

[srsone]

apple juice...
orange juice (no pulp)
orange/pineapple juice...

and i still like hawiian punch fruit juicy red ....now and again

[tracylee]

I LOVE orange and pineapple juice combined. I like it better when I mix it myself than the pre-mixed stuff. It was my favorite mixer with vodka when I could drink.

[igorm]

Pomgranite/blueberry! If I were to enhance it, I would add a little orange juice and vodka, na zdarovya!

[MGZ]

Grapefruit. Fresh squeezed is preferable, but I'm ok with it in a carton as well (usually straight from the carton, in fact). Red, most of the time. White, if I am going to "enhance" it with a little gin.

[linguafood]

+1. Grapefruit, hands down, wins any time over the much too cloyingly sweet orange juice (i like the gin idea, MGZ!).

That said, I prefer to eat my grapefruit to drinking it.

[Dave5440]

+2 on the grapefruit , unsweetened only

[Cachetes]

+3. I pretty much eschew all other juices, and especially dislike orange juice. But a glass of fresh-squeezed, unsweetened grapefruit juice is like manna.

Other juices are just too heavy, sweet, or thick.

[jeanmarieok]

Grapefruit juice is my very favorite, too!

[FrankD]

Another grapefruit fan. The best drink I ever had was vodka mixed with grapefruits straight off the tree. It's sweet, tangy, and didn't have a trace of the bitterness that most canned/bottled grapefruit juice has. Now, I'm spoiled, and, since I'm living in Toronto, hardly ever drink it.

[wattacetti]

Just one? I like eating just the fruit too, but I don't mind fresh blood orange, guava and sugar cane (individually, not together).