A Juice for Every Mood

Brazil’s juices are amazing. In the US, most juices tend to be about the consistency of water, and in restaurants one is lucky to have four choices: orange, apple, grape, or cranberry. Here, though, it’s a very different story. There are little juice shops all over, offering countless flavors, and the juices are thick, delicious, and made on the spot from real fruit. Here’s the juice list from Bibi Sucos (my favorite juice shop):

*Abacaxi – Pineapple

*Acerola

*Ameixa – Plum

*Amora – Mulberry

*Berinjela – Eggplant

*Beterraba – Beetroot

*Cacau – Cacao (the seeds of this plant are the ones used to make chocolate)

*Cajá

*Caju – Cashew

*Caqui – Kaki Fruit

*Carambola – Star Fruit

*Cenoura – Carrot

*Coco – Coconut

*Cupuaçú

*Figo – Fig

*Framboesa – Raspberry

*Fruta-de-Conde – Custard Apple

*Goiaba – Guava

*Graviola – Sweetsop

*Jaca – Jack Fruit

*Kiwi – Kiwi

*Laranja – Orange

*Laranja Lima – Orange Lime

*Maçã – Apple

*Mamão – Papaya

*Manga – Mango

*Mangaba

*Maracujá – Passion Fruit

*Melancia – Watermelon

*Melão – Melon

*Melão Cantalope – Cantalope

*Morango – Strawberry

*Pêra – Pear

*Pêssego – Peach

*Pitanga – Red Brazil Cherry

*Tangerina – Tangerine

*Taperebá

*Umbu

*Uva Itália – Italian Grape

*Uva Roxa – Purple Grape

I hope that by the time I leave Brazil, I will have had the opportunity to try most of them. It’s certainly going to take awhile since there are 40 different flavors to choose from! I think I may have to skip eggplant and beetroot, though....

My all-time favorite juice is watermelon. The Brazilian juice is nothing like the watery, fairly tasteless juice that runs down one’s hands when eating a piece of watermelon. It’s more like drinking a watermelon through a straw. The juice is thick and retains the slightly-grainy texture that the fruit itself has, and it is absolutely delicious. There’s no better refreshment on a super hot day than a glass of ice-cold watermelon juice.

It’s hard to stop myself from ordering watermelon juice every time I stop at a juice shop, but I’ve also had the chance to try papaya, kiwi, cacao, and strawberry juice. I was excited to try papaya juice, but I found it disappointingly mediocre. I’ve no particular desire to ever have it again, especially with so many other tantalizing flavors to choose from. The kiwi juice was certainly interesting. In my opinion, kiwi green is a rather off-putting color for a juice, especially since it still has the black seeds mixed in. The juice was so thick and tart that I had to drink it slowly, and I didn’t end up finishing my cup of it because the flavor was just too strong. Though it’s fun to now be able to say that I’ve had kiwi juice, I consider eating a small piece of kiwi to be far preferable to drinking a glass of it. The cacao juice was pretty exotic tasting - a bit tart and like nothing I’ve ever had before. The strawberry juice was my favorite of the new juices. Not quite as good as watermelon juice, but definitely one I could order on a regular basis.

cacao juice

Another ubiquitous feature of juice shops is açaí (ah-sigh-ee). The little red berry from the Amazon has recently become the new miracle fruit in the US because it is high in antioxidants. Açaí is usually part of juice blends in the US, but here it is sold on its own. Though sold in juice shops, it isn’t really a juice – it’s more like a thin smoothie. It’s a very dark purple, and people eat it with a spoon. Occasionally toppings like granola or honey are mixed into it, as well. While I’ll eat it from time to time since it’s so healthy, I’m not a huge fan of açaí. On the other hand, many of my American friends have fallen completely in love with it. Though it is found within Brazilian borders, I’ve never seen açaí as the berry itself – it is always in smoothie form. It’s cold enough to cause brain freezes, so it’s another good option on hot days.

açaí