Drink to Health

The Pret A Manger Green Good Stuff juice, despite its uneven balance between fruits and vegetables, is a convenient grab when in a rush.

A few weeks ago, I began posting rather subjective “juice reviews” on my Instagram Stories, where I would rather briefly elucidate the qualities of the juice I drank that day and compare it to other juices from Hyde Park. I was rather surprised to find that people actually cared about these reviews and wanted to hear more, so naturally I jumped at the chance to expound upon my thoughts in The Maroon

To begin, I’ll run through the criteria by which I judged each of the five juices on this list, and then I’ll rank each juice from worst to best. For me, the criterion of utmost importance when ranking a juice is the ratio of vegetables to fruit. Juices which favor vegetables to fruit are not only healthier, since they contain less sugar, but are also a better value proposition if you consider the nutrients, rather than its flavor. My second metric is price, and the final one for ranking these juices is taste. Because “good tasting” juices often have a lot of apples or bananas, I choose to take aspects which make a juice more nutritious into more serious consideration. 

Fifth Place: Naked Boosted Green Machine Juice Smoothie

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Astoundingly sugary, overpriced, and falsely marketed, NakedBoosted Green Machine Juice Smoothie sits rightfully at the bottom of this tier list.

Let the record show that this juice is being reviewed only as a point of comparison for the four other juices in this piece. Contrary to common belief, this drink is not healthy. With an ingredient list that favors fruit and fruit derivatives, this juice mainly satisfies flavor requirements instead of nutritional ones. For instance, this juice contains 28 grams of sugar—more sugar than many doctors recommend should be consumed daily. Additionally, the ingredient list includes “natural flavors,” a vague term companies use to disguise the inclusion of preservatives and other unnecessary ingredients. This juice receives a 3/10 because it satisfies the desire for a good-tasting juice, but fails to be nutritious and costs $7.30. 

Fourth Place: B’Gabs Goodies Mighty Green Smoothie

Though this option isn’t technically a juice, I chose to include it because B’Gabs is close to campus, and the smoothie itself is a great value proposition. B’Gabs does have pressed juices, though not any which contain the ingredients I often look for in a juice. The Mighty Green smoothie constitutes of greens, avocado, zucchini, parsley, green apple, and banana. Though I don’t know what exactly constitutes the “greens,” the smoothie does have a faint taste of dark green vegetables. Additionally, because this option is a smoothie and not a juice, one can add ingredients like avocado and banana. Thirty-two ounces of Mighty Green costs $10, which makes this juice the best value proposition out of any on this list. It’s also worth mentioning that B’Gabs Goodies is a fully vegan restaurant, so you can treat yourself to a snack while waiting on your smoothie. Because of the value of this juice and its fairly robust ingredient list, it receives a 6/10. 

Third Place: Pret A Manger Green Good Stuff

For University of Chicago students, this juice is already preferable to others on this list because it can be bought in Reynolds Club with Maroon Dollars when you’re in a rush to get to class. Green Good Stuff has a small and relatively clean ingredient list, with apple, cucumber, spinach, celery, and lime, although there is a large imbalance between vegetables and fruits. Because of this, Green Good Stuff has a startling 33 grams of natural sugar, which is five grams more sugar than the Naked Juice which landed at the bottom of the list because of its sugar content. So why does this juice make it to third place? Because of the convenience of this juice (located in Reynolds Club), its fair price of $6.49, and its transparent ingredient list, this juice outshines Naked’s offering and scores a 7/10. 

Second Place: Bonne Sante Health Foods Get It Green Juice

If I had the time in my schedule to go to Bonne Sante Health Foods on 53rd Street every single afternoon to procure this juice, I would. The ingredients include kale, apple, cucumber, celery, parsley, lemon, spinach, and ginger, and the juice is offered in two sizes, though you may as well go with the larger 16-ounce bottle to save trips to the store. The ingredient list has a healthy balance between vegetables and fruits, and I especially love to see that both kale and spinach are included. Before tax, the 16-ounce bottle costs $11, which is certainly not a good deal compared to the Mighty Green smoothie. However, the fact that the former is a pressed juice and the latter a smoothie explains much of the cost difference. To sum it up, I place this juice near the top of the list at 8/10 because it has the most robust ingredient list, comes in a good portion, and is competitively priced amongst similar pressed juices of the same size.  

First Place: Joe & The Juice Green Tonic

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Standing proudly at the top of the list, Joe & The Juice Green Tonic has a flavor that matches its ingredients, and its healthy blend proves to be a stellar option. Featuring a painting by Nik Chapleski.

This juice easily wins first place. Though it’s true that most Joe & The Juice locations are in the Loop and therefore terribly inconvenient for UChicago students to buy, the offerings contain really short ingredient lists (between three and 10 ingredients) and are reasonably priced between $5 and $12. The location I frequent is located at 980 North Michigan Avenue at the end of the Magnificent Mile, and my drink of choice is a menu item only offered at certain locations known as the Green Tonic. The Green Tonic consists of kale, celery, and cucumber, and this juice ranks the highest out of all those reviewed because it has two vegetable ingredients and only one fruit—and a particularly healthy one at that. It should be said, however, that the flavor of the juice accurately reflects the ingredient makeup, so if you value the sweetness of your green juices, this will probably not be a good option for you. Considering the price and ingredient list, the Green Tonic is the clear winner, and is accordingly ranked a 9/10. 

None of the juices on this list ultimately received a 10/10 because all of them are packaged in single-use plastic. My local juicery in New Jersey uses glass mason jars and takes a dollar off the price of a juice purchase for every glass bottle a customer returns. Considering that sustainability, specifically the ubiquity of single-use plastics, is a major issue here, the failure of these juices to be green in this sense of the word means no 10s were given today. 

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Quad Style: Miles Harrison

Interview by Andrew Chang

Hey, my name is Miles I am a second year in the college and I am currently undecided as to what major I wish to pursue. I do a lot of work with UChicago Student Action and  The Environmental Justice Task Force. Perhaps unsurprisingly,many of my hobbies revolve around design; I am an avid lover of architecture, landscape design, jewelry design, haute horology, automotive design, and of course fashion.


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I absolutely adore this pink sweater I happened upon in a thrift shop in Pilsen. It perfectly embodies my 2000s it girl dreams and I feel like Paris Hilton when i’m wearing it. I tend to pair this top either with a cute pair of shorts, or light wash jeans like the ones you see me wearing.

How would you describe your personal style?

I always aim to bring my fantasy world into being through my style: I want people to want to be glamorous but also unique in everything they do, whether that’s going to the grocery store, hopping on a flight, going to dinner, or even doing laundry. So my personal style is all about bringing hallmarks of bygone eras of elegance back into the spotlight while also incorporating the best elements and ideas of modern fashion.

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Where do you find style inspiration?

My style inspiration comes from all parts of my life. I appreciate the architectural form of clothing items thanks to my interest in home and garden design, I am inspired to create well put-together looks by the seemingly effortless blend of low and high style embodied in the late Lady Diana, and for the past several years I have been deeply touched by the androgynous, carefree, and multi-faceted approach to dressing promoted by Alessandro Michele at Gucci.

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I am wearing a Vintage Escada Pea Coat in the most fantastic shade of yellow. I love to wear this piece with tiny shorts because passersby often think I’m not wearing pants and its hilarious. This piece is an important part of my wardrobe because its one of the only pieces I own that covers my entire body therefore creating a bright, happy monotone look, even though for the shoot I added a black belt .

Where do you like to shop?

I shop almost exclusively at vintage consignment shops and second-hand stores for my more unique pieces because it not only means I often get to wear clothes that nobody else is wearing, but also because it means beautiful garments get a second life. I get basics from places like Ralph Lauren, EverLane, and Patagonia.

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Do you have any fashion regrets? 

I wouldn’t say I have any regrets, but certainly as I look back at the many evolutions of my style over the years, there are certain moments and looks that I would’ve modified knowing what I know now.

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I am wearing these colorful shorts I got from Dolls Kill, I love this piece because the seemingly random assortment of pastel colors which reflect my glam-girl hot mess aesthetic. The top is vintage Emilio Pucci, its the only tank top that I own and I love it because before I found it I would never have considered buying a sleeveless piece of clothing. In terms of accessories, I am wearing my Chanel J12, a pink bracelet, a Cartier Love bracelet in white gold, and most importantly my arsenal of chains which I play with nervously in all of life’s awkward moments. I also have this absolutely delightful early 2000s phone that was a collab between Motorola and Kimora Lee Simmon’s Baby Phat label, can you tell pink is my favorite color?

I often dress for how I see the world in my mind and not in its reality. I think without fashion, life would be very hopeless in a sense.

What is your relationship to fashion? Has it changed over time?

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I can say without hesitation and without exaggeration that fashion, and more broadly design, is everything to me and is central to my life. The ability to change my identity and my perception of myself every day (and perhaps even change how other people see me), or even twice in a day is so freeing, especially in the sense that I often dress for how I see the world in my mind and not in its reality. I think without fashion, life would be very hopeless in a sense. I think I have had this relationship with fashion since I was a small child, but only in the past 5 years have I actually been deeply aware of this connection and dependence.

Why is fashion important to you?

Fashion is important to me because in a world that is often restrictive, prescriptive, assumptive, and accidental, I get to make the very conscious wardrobe decisions I make every day and rebel against society’s assumptions about me or its restrictive ideas about what I should do and how I should act. Fashion is a small but essential form of rebellion for many people including myself.

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Fashion is a small but essential form of rebellion for many people including myself.

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Images courtesy of Jaire Byers, to see more of his work, check out his portfolio here.