E.J.'s Library.: Bolthouse Farms Smoothies and Juices Review

So my sister, baby, husband and I have been sampling fruit smoothies at our local markets for a couple months now and I' finally getting around to pounding out a lovely group review on the many flavors we've tried. Up today is Bolthouse Farms.

Bolthouse Farms makes their juices and smoothies from one hundred percent juice, are non-GMO and don't use preservatives or high fructose corn syrup. And they are sweetened with fruit, not added sugars. I don't know if they're organic or not, but in this day and age it's tricky to find affordable organic anything really.

One of my favorite smoothies is Berry Boost. Made with an outstanding assembly of raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, boysenberries, blueberries, elderberries, apples and bananas, this is a thick sweet drink with a delicious berry flavor. I love berries to boot! While bananas aren't my favorite fruit, a little bit does add a lovely texture to this smoothie and I can't taste the banana at all. There are twenty-four grams of sugar in it. I usually get the smaller bottle but it comes in two sizes which is nice. The baby always squeals until I let her try my smoothie and then she ends up drinking half of it because she loves it so much.

I've tried Green Goodness smoothie. Made with pineapple juice, apple juice, mango puree, bananas, kiwi, spirulina powder, green tea extract, spinach powder, broccoli powder, barley grass powder, garlic powder, wheatgrass powder, Jerusalem artichoke powder, and Nova Scotia dulse powder, this smoothie packs a punch with several interesting ingredients. When I first tried it, I didn't know that Spirulina is an algae and that Dulse is a seaweed. Very interesting what you learn when writing a review. *wink* Anyway, while this smoothie tastes good, there was one ingredient that wasn't gelling well with all the others, though my sister and I couldn't put our finger down on which one. So it's not a favorite with me. My sister likes it though. There are thirty grams of sugar in it {probably from the apple and pineapple juice}, and comes in three sizes.

My favorite Bolthouse smoothie is the Multi-V Goodness Cherry smoothie. Cherries are my favorite fruit and having them blended with such delights as pomegranate, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, apples, peaches and bananas along with several vitamins makes this smoothie a real treat. The texture is thinner than some of the other smoothies, making it more juice like. I don't mind this in the least. The baby really loves this smoothie too and my sister liked it as well. There are twenty-six grams of sugar, which is a surprising amount given how many sweet fruits are in it, and it comes in three sizes.

My husband's favorite smoothie is Banana Strawberry. While I think there is way too much banana in it {see above about not liking bananas a lot}, he loves it. I thought the blurb about it at the website was clever: "We have a sneaking suspicion that strawberry and banana always knew they were meant for each other. So they were probably really excited when we put them together to make our classic Strawberry Banana Smoothie." This smoothie has twenty-two grams of sugar and comes in three sizes.

The Stone Fruit smoothie was good but not very high on anyone's favorite list in my little circle. Made with nectarines, pears, apples, peaches, plums, bananas, apricots, ground chia seeds, acerola cherries and a few added vitamins, this smoothie has the classic thick smoothie texture but the flavors don't jump out and grab your attention like some of the other blends do. There are twenty-three grams of sugar and it comes in two sizes for all your smoothie needs.

About the only smoothie nobody liked was the Tropical Goodness smoothie. Made with coconut water, pear juice, apples, bananas, pink guava puree, pineapples, orange juice, dragonfruit puree, ground chia seeds, acerola cherries and some added vitamins, this smoothie was unexciting and had a funny taste to it. I love some of the ingredients on their own {though I have never tried guava or dragonfruit} but blended together they didn't do too good. Even the baby didn't like it. There are only nineteen grams of sugar and it's available in two sizes.

Some of the other Bolthouse farms products we've tried are 100% Carrot Juice, Mocha Cappuccino and Salted Caramel Latte. My sister loved the carrot juice while I thought there was a hint of dirt to it. There are only thirteen little grams of sugar in it so it's definitely safe on the sugar side of things.

The Mocha Cappuccino has low-fat milk, coffee extract, whey protein, agave nectar, cane sugar, dutched cocoa powder, salt and carrageenan which may or may not be a good thing depending on what you read. I was personally glad there wasn't any soy in it. There was a lovely chocolatey flavor to this coffee drink and it tasted good, though not as good as the coffee my husband makes. There are twenty-nine grams of sugar in it.

Our favorite coffee drink from Bolthouse Farms is the Salted Caramel Latte. Made with low-fat milk, coffee, caramel syrup, agave nectar, whey protein, sea salt and a few other things, this drink is cool, refreshing and delicious. The first time I tried it, I could taste a hint of salt. The second time, I couldn't taste the salt as much but that could have been because it was warming up. Either way, it was yummy. There are a surprising twenty grams of sugar in this drink that comes in two sizes.

While there aren't too many of Bolthouse Farms' products that I haven't tried, the following are some that caught my eye and which I will now be on the look-out for while grocery shopping.