Cold pressed juice: what it is, and why it is worth it

Walk past any juice counter and you will see the words "fresh juice" everywhere. But fresh can mean a lot of things. Cold pressed juice is a specific way of making juice, and it is the only way we make ours. Here is what it actually means, and why we think it is worth it.

What "cold pressed" means

Most juice counters use a centrifugal juicer: a fast spinning blade that shreds fruit and flings the juice out through a mesh. It is quick, but the blade spins at high speed and the juice gets whipped with a lot of air on the way out.

A cold press works differently. Fruits and vegetables are first crushed into a pulp, and then that pulp is pressed slowly under pressure to squeeze the juice out. There is no fast spinning blade. The result is juice that looks deeper in colour, tastes fuller and separates less quickly than juice from a fast blender.

What goes into the bottle

The process matters, but what matters even more is what goes in. At The Quench Store, our cold pressed juices are made only from fresh fruits and vegetables. That means:

• No added water. Water is the easiest way to stretch a juice and lower its cost. We do not do it.
• No added sugar. The sweetness you taste is the sweetness of the fruit.
• No colour and no powder. Our Pomo Melon juice is red because of pomegranate and watermelon, not because of a sachet.
• No adulteration. What you drink is exactly the juice of the fruits we say are in it.

If a juice tastes the same in every season, from every shop, it is worth asking why. Real fruit changes a little through the year. That is a feature, not a bug.

Why it costs more

People often ask why a bottle of cold pressed juice costs more than a glass from the corner stall. The honest answer is the fruit. A single bottle of 100% juice takes a surprising amount of produce to fill, because nothing is added to bulk it up. Add careful packing so it reaches you cold and sealed, and the price follows. We would rather charge for real juice than sell a cheaper drink that is mostly water and sugar.

How to enjoy it

A few simple tips we share with customers:

• Drink it cold and soon. Fresh juice is at its best close to when it is made. Keep it in the fridge and finish it the same day.
• Shake before you drink. Natural juice settles. A quick shake brings it back together.
• Pick by taste, not by trend. ABC (apple, beetroot, carrot) is earthy and sweet. Refresher (watermelon, orange, pudina) is light and cooling. Orange Pomegranate is bright and tangy. Try a few and find your favourite.
• Make it part of a routine you enjoy. A juice with breakfast, or a cold bottle on a hot afternoon, is a nice habit to keep.

A note on health claims

You will see a lot of big promises online about what juice can do for your body. We are a juice shop, not doctors, so we keep it simple: our juice is 100% fruit and vegetable juice with nothing added. If you have a medical condition or follow a specific diet, check with your doctor about what is right for you.

Try it yourself

The best way to understand cold pressed juice is to taste it next to the regular kind. Order one of our juices on Zomato, Swiggy or WhatsApp, anywhere within about 7 km of Kalyan, and see the difference for yourself.