Pressed Juicery's Freeze makes it easy to get all your fruit & veggies

Photos courtesy Pressed Juicery
Pressed Juicery's all-greens "Green 1" cold-pressed juice is turned into an all-natural, guilt-free frozen dessert that is delicious, sweetened with apple, dates and with coconut meat for added texture.

In the evolution of healthful drinking, there was a time we carried around plastic water bottles, soon replaced by Hydro Flasks and bkrs once we learned the hazards and toll of plastics.

These days, you're likely to see the return of plastic. Only the contents have changed from clear to hues of bright reds to dark green, even cream and black.

Yes, our cups runneth over ... with juice, and the juice bars, they keep a-comin'. The latest is California-based Pressed Juicery, which opened its doors June 12 in Ala Moana Centers Ewa Wing, street level, makai side next to the Bloomingdale's entrance.

In an email interview, co-founder and CEO Hayden Slater said, “Growing up in Los Angeles, I was educated about health and wellness trends, but I rarely practiced them in my own life. In the early days of my career, I constantly felt lethargic and stressed and was living on a diet of fast food.

"It wasn’t until I traveled to Southeast Asia that I tried a juice cleanse—it began as five days and ended up lasting for 30 days. I was amazed at how energized I felt, and after returning home I realized I wanted to share this experience with others.

"I think that juicing was a catalyst for healthier behaviors. I began to start my day with a green juice, and that motivated me to make better decisions every day, ultimately leading me to get in better shape and feel great again.”

Juice delivered by the numbers, allowing people to gauge their flavor compatibility. In the case of Greens and Roots, the No. 1s are the most unadulterated flavors. Higher numbers will have fruit juices blended in for sweetness, and lemon for a bright touch of citrus.

With Pressed Juicery, Slater said, "Our main priority is making high nutrition a realistic option for everyone. To that end, we’re focused on creating blends that appeal to a wide range of customers—whether they’ve been drinking cold-pressed juice for years or are trying it for the very first time. We also love to experiment with unique flavors and ancient ingredients; for example, our Greens 5 is a tropical take on green juice that includes pineapple and fennel, and our charcoal lemonade can provide detoxifying effects."

Pressed Juicery's blends have been tested over time in 40 markets nationwide, and they're all delicious, from the all-greens "Green 1," to unique signature blend of Brazil Nut, with the nuts, kale, spinach, romaine, vanilla bean, dates and sea salt.

Well, actually, I'd probably stay away from Greens 4 just because it contains watercress, and that's the flavor that stands out most because I'm not a big fan of watercress.

Nadine Kam photosA flight of greens. Greens 1 on the left has the highest concentration of greens. Next to it, Greens 1.5 has sea salt added. Greens 4, counting toward right, tastes greenest, with the bitterness of watercress. Most people will gravitate to Nos. 2 and 3, with the sweetness of apple and a touch of lemon.

Juices are divided into citrus, roots, greens and fruit categories. Each category has three to five different blends. I'm a fan of the greens and roots. Of course I love citrus and fruits as well, but I'm cautious about taking in too much sugar. Prices range from $7.50 to $9 for 16 ounces.

One thing Pressed Juicery has that no other local juice bar is offering is their juice-based Freeze soft-serve that may change the way we enjoy dessert and offers a palatable way for even the most fruit-and-vegetable averse to get their five a day. The six flavors offered are Greens, Roots, Citrus, Fruits, Chocolate and Vanilla. Each starts with the juicery's standard juice sweetened with dates and with coconut meat added for body.

The Freeze is offered in $5 and $6 cups; add $1.75 for your choice of toppings such as fresh fruit, chia seeds, granola, shaved almonds, shredded coconut, cacao drizzle, almond butter, dark chocolate chips and pink Himalayan sea salt.

With the Freeze, it would be nice to have a place to sit down and enjoy dessert with friends. The company is growing fast, and that's something they'll need to consider in planning future stores as today's juice bars have the potential to become tomorrow's soft-serve parlors.
——————

Pressed Juicery is open 9 a.m.to 9:30 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, and 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sundays. Call (808) 949-5272.

Midweek's Rasa Fournier looks forward to her Greens Freeze, which she had topped with cacao drizzle, raspberries, pineapple and shaved almonds.

A diverse line of tourists and locals, young and old, flowed through the juicery all afternoon, four days after its Sunday opening.

The setting, makai side street level next to the lower level of Bloomingdale's in Ala Moana Center's Ewa Wing, around the corner from Shirokiya's soon-to-open Japan Village Walk.

—————
Nadine Kam is Style Editor and staff restaurant critic at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser; her food coverage is in print in Wednesday's Crave section. Contact her via email at nkam@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Rebel Mouse.

Healthy is tasty at HiBlend Health Bar & Cafe

Nadine Kam photos
HiBlend’s Aloha Bowl ($12.50) is a triple combination of acai, pitaya and poi, which really works here, the taro flavor shining through, along with the tropical flavors of mango, pineapple and papaya in addition to strawberries, blueberries and kiwi. It’s finished with honey, mint, granola, chia seeds and bee pollen. Share it with a friend.

BY NADINE KAM

Through their HiBlend Health Bar & Cafe, brothers Joey and Miles Sugahara and Jason Chang seem out to prove once and for all that healthy can be tasty and satisfying.

It’s not so hard to get people to drink up juices and smoothies because they’re refreshing and typically sweet, but on the food side, dishes deemed healthy generally taste green, a color and flavor profile that repels lifelong meat eaters.

Brothers Joey, left, and Miles Sugahara. Joey said he was always into fitness but only recently became interested in the nutrition aspect of health, and by walking the talk espoused by the cafe, dropped 40 pounds in six months.

Knowing that, HiBlend offers a range of dishes so diners can get a vegan salad if they wish, but those attempting to transition from an unhealthy diet to a more healthful one do have access to fish, small amounts of bacon and cheese to help greens go down easier.

Joey’s savory dressings also increase the flavor quotient.

I love this place for its combination of juices and food. I, for one, cannot survive on a liquid diet. For balance, I need food and most juice bars don’t offer any food, or they offer cursory to-go sandwiches, salads and pastries. Chances are those are refrigerated or hours-old or otherwise unpalatable.

Here, food is made fresh to order and always tasty, and Joey said the road to good health starts with changing your relationship with food by recognizing what food is in the first place. It’s not about the artificial or the processed. Borrowing from the Paleo philosophy of eating only what our forebears would have recognized as food, it means starting with fresh produce and studying labels to make sure you are getting food, not fillers and chemicals with names you don’t understand.

HiBlend uses certified and non-GMO products sources local organic ingredients from Wally’s Farm in Hawaii Kai. Here’s a sampling of what’s on the table:

Candy Greens and a Red Dragon Smoothie. Candy Greens was formulated with kids in mind, a drink that incorporates spinach and kale with the sweetness of apple and pear juices so you don’t notice the greens. The smoothie features pitaya, organic grapes, oranges and lilikoi.

Caprese plus! The classic salad of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil is enhanced with capers, red onions and feta, served over mixed greens with three dressings: garlic citrus aioli, balsamic vinaigrette and pesto.

This is my favorite dish, ahi tartare served in a half avocado over spinach. The ahi itself is spiked with capers and red onions, and coated with a creamy housemade Caesar dressing.

I also love the smoked salmon and bacon sandwich served on sourdough bread with tomato, avocado, spinach and a bit of cream cheese, with your choice of the eight house dressings listed below.