When Jugofresh opened its little juice shop in South Beach in spring 2012, few people thought it would start an all-out juice craze in Miami. After all, who would pay $11 for a bottle of juice when they could get two happy-hour drinks for about the same price?
Miami is, after all, the home of the Red Bull and vodka, spray tans, and copious amounts of pork (even in our bourbon). Though we're body-conscious, we're not the healthiest in lifestyle choices. But Miami did juice and juice and juice, and the little bar that serves cold-pressed, raw, organic juices, smoothies, and foods became a sensation.
Now, Jugofresh has taken on Coral Gables with the opening of a juice bar inside Body & Soul fitness center.
See also: Tastemakers: Matthew Sherman of Jugofresh
For now, the shop serves most (not all) of the Jugofresh line, with emphasis on waters for hydration. It also offers Luv, a vegan frozen dessert designed to be incorporated into your smoothie in flavors such as almond-banana, sunflower-hemp-banana, and coconut. As with all Jugofresh products, there are as few ingredients as possible. The coconut, for instance, contains just coconut meat, coconut water, and coconut oil.
Matthew Sherman, owner of Jugofresh, said the decision to open in Coral Gables goes back prior to the South Beach shop. "Body & Soul's owners, Alex and Caro Pirez, wanted Jugofresh in their club when we were still just working on recipes. Once we had the SoBe shop, they were persistent in getting us here. It's a great fit."
Jugofresh also has a line of new juices for the fall, including Coco Carota (carrot and coconut water, $9), Coco Remolacha (coconut water and beet, $9), and PAMpered Ginger (apple, pineapple, ginger, mint, and, macha extract, $11).
On the menu are Jugofresh staples such as the El Green Go (apple, celery, spinach, parsley, and lemon, $10) and Green Montana (cucumber, romaine, pear, kale, chard, ginger, lime, and Himalayan sea salt, $11), as well as elixirs, detoxers, and shots like the saca lo. Made with lemon, lime, ginger, cayenne, turmeric, oregano oil, echinacea extract, and raw honey ($4), it comes in a glass Halloween-like vial. Swallow it and feel the warmth from the cayenne slowly travel down your body.
Sherman said he knew Jugofresh was popular when 20-something power-players came into his shop to do "shots" of his product instead of tequila at the bar.
We asked Sherman how one chooses among all the elixirs and juices -- and gave him real-world scenarios.
Booze Hangover
When you overdo the bourbon the evening before, Sherman suggests a shot of E3 live (blue algae and alkaline water, $3), followed by a shot of saca lo ($4) and then some coco water for hydration ($9).
Sugar Rush
If you get into little Timmy's Halloween candy stash and are feeling jittery, best to come down from your sugar rush slowly with a smoothie made with almond-banana luv and cacao (about $15, depending upon your juice choice).
Meat Coma
If you had a meat-meltdown after the Sunday tailgate, Sherman recommends eating cleanly the next day with a coconut cobb salad ($13.50), which has smoked coconut "jerky" to simulate the taste and texture of bacon.
Jugofresh Coral Gables, inside Body & Soul, is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Sunday from 9 to 11:30 a.m. The Wynwood location (next to Wynwood Walls), is scheduled to open December 1 -- just in time for harried gallerinas to get a shot of energy to make it through Art Basel.
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