While orange juice may not be as popular today as it once was, it's still a breakfast staple
for countless Americans. However, some brands are reliably great, while others
never deserve a spot on your shopping list. Here are the top brands, ranked from worst to best.
When you're in the mood for a refreshing glass of orange juice,
make sure you don't settle for Tampico Citrus Punch. This liquid may appear to be orange
juice but it's an utterly terrible counterfeit that will ruin your mood.
Right when Tampico hits your taste buds, you'll instantly know that
something is horribly wrong. This stuff tastes completely artificial,
which shouldn't be too surprising considering that the first two ingredients listed on the
label are water and high fructose corn syrup. This punch has orange juice, tangerine juice,
and lemon juice in it, but it still manages to not have any sort of citrusy goodness.
Amazingly, as artificial as this liquified disappointment initially tastes, that's not
even the worst part: what will make you gag is the horrendous aftertaste. Stay far away.
It's difficult to blame browsing shoppers for purchasing Bright & Early,
but if you had taken a closer look at the carton, you would have noticed
that Bright & Early openly admits to not having any juice in it. That's obviously
a big problem — and it’s undoubtedly the main reason why this stuff is so cheap.
Instead of using real orange juice, Bright & Early gets its tartness from citric acid and its color
from food coloring. While it tastes a little bit better than Tampico Citrus Punch,
this liquid is still really gross. Start your day off on the right foot
and spend a little bit more money for orange juice that tastes a whole lot better.
As you've probably found out the hard way, there are some products that you should never
purchase at Walmart; go ahead and add orange juice from Walmart's Great Value brand to that list.
This stuff isn't as disgusting as Tampico Citrus Punch or Bright & Early
but you will be thoroughly disappointed.
The issue with Great Value is their orange juice is too watery. It's like you took mediocre orange
juice and then added water to it to make it last longer in your refrigerator. While you can taste
the orange flavor and the citrus aftertaste, everything about it is unacceptably muted.
Tang has a history that dates all the way back to 1957,
although this powdered version of orange juice didn't become popular
until word spread throughout the world that it was a popular choice for astronauts.
Mix the powder with water and you'll be amused because it legitimately has
a tangy flavor that tastes like authentic orange juice. However,
soon the novelty of Tang wears off and you'll end up agreeing with legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin,
who eventually admitted that this powdered drink "sucks."
"Moon scoops!!"
The one advantage of Tang is that you can easily adjust the flavor.
If you want a strong orangey drink, add more powder. If you prefer a lighter refreshment,
use less than the recommended amount of powder. That said, unless you're being blasted into orbit
and can't take genuine orange juice with you, select something better than Tang.
Trader Joe's has a lot of healthy foods on their shelves and a plethora of must-try products,
and they also have orange juice that is both freshly squeezed
and completely unpasteurized. Sounds amazing, right? Sadly, that's not consistently the case.
Sometimes, it tastes like juice made from oranges that were just picked off of a
tree growing in your backyard. However, other times there will be moments that
the orange juice will taste like it has unknown chemicals or even sawdust in it.
When you were a child, the thought of a glass of cold Sunny Delight likely made your mouth
water. Back then, Sunny Delight was like orange juice on sugary steroids. It tasted a little bit
like orange juice but, more importantly, the sweetness made it a form of liquified candy.
"Hey, that's a great sweater."
"Thanks. It was my daughter's, but she grew out of it."
"Mommy! Can I have some more juicey drink?!!
Tragically, after Sunny Delight infamously made the skin of a little girl turn yellow,
the fun came to a halt. Parents were scared away and began to notice all of the questionable
ingredients, including the excess sugar. With their sales falling off of a cliff,
Sunny Delight changed their name to SunnyD and tried altering their formula a couple of times.
These days, SunnyD isn't nearly as tasty as the original Sunny Delight formula that debuted back
in 1963. If you're expecting the liquified candy of yesteryear, you'll be disheartened.
While the store brand of orange juice at Trader Joe's tastes funny to some, the same isn't true
at Whole Foods. Although their orange juice isn't great, the Whole Foods 365 brand has a few options
that are pretty good — from organic no pulp orange juice to organic unpasteurized orange juice.
Why don't we rank Whole Foods 365 orange juice even higher on this list? It comes down to
the bang for your buck, or the lack thereof. Like many items that are sold at Whole Foods,
their store brand of orange juice is overpriced — it's good, but not worth the elevated price tag.
"I love shopping at Whole Foods, because I love organic produce, and I cannot stand having money."
Ocean Spray is primarily known for their cranberries. They harvest more than 220 billion
cranberries each year, which they turn into cranberry juice and cranberry sauce. But, yes,
Ocean Spray also sells orange juice.
If you like your orange juice to be extra tart, you may enjoy Ocean Spray. That said,
most people will find that the tartness is too overwhelming. After a few sips, you'll be wanting
to move on to a drink that is more forgiving and won't keep you in a constant state of puckering.
While Ocean Spray makes outstanding drinks,
stick to the ones with cranberry in it. That's their speciality.
If you want a perfectly mediocre orange juice,
look for Tree Ripe. You won't be blown away, but this stuff is totally acceptable.
Compared to other brands, Tree Ripe has a mellower orange flavor and is slightly less
sweet. But despite its name, your taste buds will know full well that you're not drinking
freshly squeezed orange juice from tree-ripened oranges. If you want to maximize the flavor,
make sure you keep this orange juice extremely cold. At room temperature, it's really gross.
HomeMaker has been in the orange juice industry since 1991.
This company was born in Florida and is still headquartered in the Sunshine State. Overall,
this is a reliable brand that clearly knows what's needed to produce high-quality orange juice.
However, buying HomeMaker orange juice isn't without a little bit of risk.
The vast majority of the time, you'll be pleased with HomeMaker. Their orange
juice has a delightful amount of sweetness, which will make you look forward to breakfast
each morning. That said, if you make a habit of buying this brand,
you'll soon realize that the flavor can vary. Once in a blue moon,
you'll even get HomeMaker orange juice that actually has a slightly bitter aftertaste.
That might not be a deal-breaker, however it's something you should factor in when
deciding which brand of orange juice to purchase.
Orange juice made by Uncle Matt's is safely above average.
This brand is all about organic orange juice, and their very first product was
organic orange juice back in 1999. From the beginning, this Florida-based business has
been about growing oranges without the use of harmful pesticides or unnatural fertilizers.
Uncle Matt's has four types of orange juice: the first two are organic orange juice with pulp and
without pulp, and the next version is orange juice that's been fortified with vitamin D and calcium.
Finally, there's the most interesting kind of orange juice that Uncle Matt's sells:
Uncle Matt's Organic Orange Defense. It's flavored with turmeric, and it tastes surprisingly good.
Minute Maid has a long and storied history with orange juice. The tale of this company
dates back to World War II, when the company was awarded the contract for powdered orange juice.
Unfortunately for fans of powdered juice, the war ended before they were able to sell
the product and started selling frozen orange juice made out of concentrate.
It was the first product of its kind to hit the open market. They called this
new product Minute Maid, and then decided to change the name of the company to match it.
To this day, you can buy frozen Minute Maid orange juice. All you need to do
is mix the frozen concentrated juice with approximately three cans of ice-cold water.
Stir it all up and you'll have some flavorful orange juice at your fingertips in no time.
If you're in the market for orange juice that you can store in your freezer,
Minute Maid was the first brand and remains the best brand. No other brand can even compare.
Unfortunately, while Minute Maid also sells liquid orange juice by the carton, it's just
not as good. If you're going the liquid route and not the frozen route, pick another brand.
Natalie's is the brainchild of an entrepreneurial-minded woman
named Marygrace Sexton. She was married to a citrus grower in Florida and noticed that no
store-bought orange juice could compare to the freshly squeezed orange juice she could make
from the oranges at her husband's groves. In 1989, she decided to do something about it and launched
Natalie's, a juice company she named after her eldest daughter.
Three decades later, Natalie's is a trustworthy brand when you're shopping for orange juice,
and although this juice can be expensive, it tastes good enough that you won't regret your
decision to buy it. You'll also be glad to learn that their juices don't have any preservatives,
GMOs, artificial ingredients, or added sugars.
Beyond orange juice and organic orange juice, Natalie's also sells blood orange juice,
orange mango juice, orange beet juice, and orange pineapple juice.
Tropicana has been a well-known brand in the world of orange juice for more than 70 years.
This company spearheaded many important advances in the orange juice industry
including flash pasteurization. Tropicana also worked feverishly to figure out how to
best transport orange juice so that it was still fresh at the destination. If you only
buy orange juice that says "not from concentrate" on it, this is the company you should thank. It's
not an exaggeration to state that this industry wouldn't be where it is today without Tropicana.
If you go to your local supermarket,
there's a great chance that you'll be met with a variety of Tropicana product options.
From low acid orange juice to orange juice with zinc and vitamin D, Tropicana has it all.
Taste-wise, there's nothing to complain about. All their flavors are wonderful. However,
even if you enjoy orange juice with pulp in it, you probably won't love Tropicana products that
have a lot of pulp. Those products, which they label as "Grovestand," are just too
pulpy and you'll end up spending time trying to pick the pulp out of your teeth.
If you value health and freshness above all, it's difficult to pick anything but
what Lakewood has to offer. Buy a glass bottle of Lakewood Organic Pure Orange
Juice and you may never look back. Each bottle is filled with between 10 and 14
freshly pressed oranges that are certified organic. You won't find any preservatives,
GMOs, added sugars, or anything else unseemly in this orange juice.
If you can't find Lakewood juice in a store near you, you can still order their orange juice from
their website. Don't worry, it'll arrive at your doorstep in its iconic glass bottle.
"You know, you should just buy orange juice in cartons. It's a lot easier."
From their cool looking carafes to their simple yet memorable name,
Simply Orange has rocketed near the top of this list even though they're a newcomer in
the industry. Simply Orange didn't spring to life until 2001, but despite the late start,
it didn't take long for orange juice fans to fall head-over-heels for this new kid on the block.
All of Simply Orange's offerings are spectacular. You'll be able to
feel your taste buds celebrating each and every time you grab one of their carafes.
When it comes to flavor and consistency, Simply Orange deserves the highest possible grades.
Where this brand shines brightest is when pulp enters the equation. Simply Orange
High Pulp is outrageously flavorful. Instead of the pulp getting in the way of the juice,
the pulp manages to enhance the experience with bursts of flavor and entertaining texture.
When it comes to taste alone, Florida's Natural and Simply Orange are just about tied;
they're both absolutely outstanding. However, Florida's Natural gets the slight edge due to
the fact that you know exactly where all the oranges used in their orange juice comes from.
As their name suggests, each orange used in their juice comes from Florida and nowhere else.
To compare, Simply Orange makes their juice from oranges from Brazil,
Mexico, or the United States depending on the time of year.
Tropicana is another popular American brand that gets a lot of their oranges from Brazil. While
there's nothing necessarily wrong with getting your orange juice from an international source,
there's something comforting about knowing exactly where Florida's Natural gets their oranges.
No matter if it's summer or winter, their orange juice has the exact same unforgettable flavor,
guaranteed to make you fall in love with the best orange juice that can be found anywhere.
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