Yesterday I had my first opportunity to use a Juicer, and let me tell you, it was a blast! I’ve heard a lot about Juicers but for the most part ignored all of the rave reviews because I’m not much of a juice fan.

There are only about two situations you’ll see me drinking juice: mixed in with a glass of champagne on Christmas morning (hello mimosas!), and mixed with vodka when I’m out at a bar (virtually the only thing I drink besides wine, and wine is definitely preferable to vodka and orange juice).

I guess you could say I’m more of a muncher than a drinker. I like chewing my food and I don’t like the idea of drinking empty calories. In fact, generally the only things I do drink are water, green/white tea, and skim milk (with the occasional aforementioned glass of wine or vodka and O.J.). But when the chance came up last night for me to try using a juicer, I figured, why not? And it was immense amounts of fun!

The machine seems a little complex and intimidating at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s really great. I almost had a slight disaster of fruit flying across the room when I didn’t put the top part on properly (it reminded me of making popcorn on the stove top—there’s been a few times when kernels have escaped from under a badly adjusted lid!), but all in all it was quite a success.

We tried using cantaloupe, strawberries, kiwi, and pineapple. The cantaloupe didn’t turn out very well; it’s too watery and kind of flavorless when it is turned into juice. I’m a big fan of chopped-up cantaloupe as a snack, so I think I would just stick with that.

Kiwi is incredibly sour when juiced on its own (the potency is amazing), but mixed in with the strawberries was delicious. The strawberries themselves were surprisingly not as sweet as I would have expected, so we mixed in a bit of sugar and milk and it tasted great.

However, my favorite was hands-down the pineapple. Nothing needed to be added to it to make it taste better. We tried the pineapple juice mixed in with a bit of canned coconut milk, and that tasted alright, but I prefer straight-up pineapple.

So, is a Juicer worth it?

Well, it can be a bit tough to clean out, but once you get the hang of it it’s relatively simple. Trying out different combinations and being creative is appealing, especially because once you’ve got the juice you can test different amounts with other juices and milk and the like (smoothies all around!).

The downside is that raw fruits are great because of their natural sugars, whereas I think that with the Juicer you’d want to be adding a bit of table sugar to sweeten it, like with the strawberries. And a Juicer should be a healthier option, rather than adding in extra sugar. Even so, there are some fruits that can be juiced and enjoyed straight-up (like the pineapple), and if you are a big juice drinker or milkshake drinker, then owning a Juicer and experimenting with it would probably be a much healthier option.

If you have the opportunity to try out a Juicer, I would highly recommend it. I’d love to try it out again with some other fruits and maybe some vegetables too. The possibilities are really endless as to what you can make, and it’s a good activity for socializing with friends. Also, the pulp tastes great too; its kind of like an applesauce! I bet you could use it in all kinds of recipes and you could probably bake stuff with it too (although that’s just speculation; haven’t tested it out yet). Even eaten alone it would make for a yummy breakfast, snack, or dessert. Try freezing or refrigerating the stuff too, as it tastes better when it’s colder.

Have you tried using a Juicer? What kinds of fruits have you tried juicing? Do you prefer smoothies or juice? Share in the comments section below!

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