I find it amusing how everyone is into more natural types of products these days. Just yesterday my husband and I ate at a restaurant where they were promoting how their products were mostly gluten free, freshly prepared using grass fed beef and other better-for-you ingredients and cooking methods.
Growing up there was no talk about natural foods. I grew up in a day and age where everyone hit up the local fast food joint a few times per week and they were the last place you’d go for better-for-you foods.
I’m grateful that I grew up next door to my great-grandparents. My great-grandfather loved to grow his own fruits and vegetables. My aunt and uncle had a garden too. I had plenty of access to fresh fruits and vegetables all the time and I am grateful for that.
I love fruit, but I am not a fan of most fruit juices. Most fruit juices available on the market today, in my opinion, don’t taste like the fruit. They have an artificial taste to them. I prefer a real orange over orange juice from a container, but who has time in the morning to squeeze your own orange juice?
I recently was introduced to a line of fruit juices called RIPE Liquid Produce. RIPE is available in two different styles – RIPE Bar Juice and RIPE Craft Juice.
RIPE Bar Juices are available in the following varieties;
- RIPE Agave Margarita (Lime Sour)
- RIPE San Marzano Bloody Mary
- RIPE Classic Lemon Sour
- RIPE Agave Mojito
- RIPE Bajan Punch (Tiki Sour)
- RIPE Classic Cosmopolitan
- RIPE Cocktail Cranberry
These are made to be used with other ingredients (alcohol) to make popular cocktails. You can use them with non-alcoholic ingredients too. I have the RIPE Agave Margarita (Lime Sour) juice but I haven’t tried it yet.
These would be great for upcoming summer time parties.
What really interested me about RIPE is their Craft Juices. Since I love fresh fruits, I was curious to try these out.
The RIPE Craft Juice portfolio includes:
- 100% Pomegranate
- Cranberry Northeast Blend
- Cranberry Apple
- Red Grapefruit Indian River Florida
- Apple
- Pineapple
- Orange
- Whole Milled Cranberry Apple
- Unsweetened Cranberry
I was very impressed by the the juices I was sent to review. They actually tasted like fresh fruit. They didn’t have any artificial flavoring to them. They were the real thing. They literally taste like the very same juice you get when eating the whole fruit. The reason for that is the way the fruit is processed.
RIPE Craft Juices were created to redefine consumer expectations of real fresh juice. The process is simple – start with the best fruits, use the absolute minimum in processing, and offer a juice that surpasses all others in freshness, taste, and nutrition.
“Most other juices take weeks or even longer to transform fruit into the end product – and a lot gets added in the process,” said Michel Boissy, Founder, FreshBev. “We believe in sticking to our principles. So when consumers want a drink that’s truly fresh, it has to be RIPE Craft Juice.”
At the RIPE Craft Juicery™ in New Haven, Connecticut, every step in the making of fresh juices is managed to ensure the time from grower to refrigerator is mere days as opposed to weeks, which is more often the case. All juice extraction is done under one roof and never above 45°. Within minutes of being extracted, the liquid is bottled and submitted to high-pressure technology — making them safe and preserving nearly 100% of the color, flavor, aroma, and nutrition.
“You only get out what you put in — so we start with nothing less than the best,” said Boissy. “No concentrates here! We source non–GMO fruits straight from farms we know. Our produce is picked at the peak of ripeness, and then we lock in that freshness. So when you’re a drinking a RIPE Craft Juice, it’s liquid produce in your hand.”
I like that expression – “…liquid produce in your hand.” They truly do taste exactly like the juice you would enjoy while eating the above mentioned fruits.
Orange and Cranberry were my favorites of the flavors that I tried. The apple tasted similar to the apple juice we get from our local farm (they make their own juice). I enjoyed the apple, and apple-cranberry juice too. RIPE Grapefruit juice packed a punch too (I happen to love grapefruit).
If you told me that RIPE Craft Juices were freshly squeezed that morning in my kitchen I would believe you. They taste THAT fresh.
Until now I have not been a fan of fruit juices (as I mentioned earlier in the post). I prefer fresh fruit over juice. However, after experiencing just how fresh and flavorful RIPE Craft Juices are, I have changed my tune. I DO like fruit juice – as long as it’s fresh tasting like RIPE Craft Juices.
If you are interested in learning more about RIPE you can visit their official website, DrinkRipe.com. The brand can also be found on social media. Their links are found at the bottom of their home page.
RIPE Craft Juices are available nationally through Whole Foods and select regional grocery chains in 12.2-ounce bottles (SRP: $3.48), and 46-ounce multi-serve pouches (SRP: $8.99). For a list of store availability by state, click here.
You can also purchase RIPE on Amazon.com. You can save 10% off on your RIPE Amazon purchase using the discount code BlogLP10.
Have you tried RIPE before? After reading my review, would you be interested in trying out RIPE Craft Juices? Which flavor would you most like to try? Feel free to comment and share your thoughts. I always love to hear from readers.
Kimberly
*I received free product samples to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Katie Spencer says
I’ll definitely try it out, I agree with you, most fruit juices totally don’t taste like real fruit. I’ll give these a go, see if I like them!