PORTLAND JUICE PRESS
Portland Juice Press makes things so simple, it’s brilliant. The juice press operation is run by Liz Nolan and Alyssa Kessler whose mission is to provide “100% natural, fresh-pressed fruit and vegetable juices and juice cleanse packages, delivered to your doorstep.” We’ve all had raw juices and, let’s be honest, a lot of them tend to have a healthy yet nauseating flavor with a hint of...dirt? This is definitely not the case with Portland Juice Press where you have a unique variety of flavors to choose from and even more unique flavors to look forward to.As if the flavor variety wasn’t enough to, these can be delivered to your doorstep by 8AM within 24 hours of the pressing! God, we love Portland. With a website that launched at the beginning of March and the very first location opening last week in Bridgeport Village, these juices are hot off the press! No pun intended.E+E: So, how did this beautiful operation begin?Alyssa: The idea came from when Liz visited her brother in LA and saw a company that had a really successful business model similar to ours. She had lived in Nicaragua and had a lot of raw fruits and veggies in her diet all the time so it appealed to her. When Liz came back she realized there was no place in Portland you could get raw juice to go - something you could throw in your bag and take with you for later.Liz: I was a paralegal before this. I loved it but it definitely wasn’t what I wanted to do forever and this started making a lot of sense.E+E: Is there a juice detox you guys prefer to do on a regular basis?Liz: I shoot for 3-4 juices a day.Alyssa: I’d say we’re just lucky enough to have raw juice everyday. One of the juices spilled in my car, so I can’t drink that one anymore. *laughs* I do try to drink as much as possible though...minus that specific one.Liz: We really encourage people to do whatever works for them. Peoples bodies react differently and it all depends on what your diet was before and what you are comfortable with.
Alyssa: I think it’s just about taking time out and listening to your body. It breaks my sugar addiction and helps me realize I’m such a habitual eater; like going home and chowing down because that’s just what you do, not because you’re hungry. We want people to indulge and enjoy everything. This isn’t supposed to be a strict raw foodist thing, the whole point is to keep a balance. Each juice is packed. Like, the juice Liz is drinking right now (The Guru) has a whole beet, a whole apple and 5 carrots in it. The SHAUCA has 3 grapefruits, so you are getting plenty of nutrients.E+E: How’d you come up with the certain flavors?Liz: A lot of trial and error!Alyssa: I did a couple juice cleanses where all the juices tasted the same - like ginger and root. I just got so fatigued of it and didn’t want to drink it anymore. So when we started we wanted to make every flavor as different as possible.E+E: Talk about some of these names:Liz: They are all yogic. Loosely yogic.Alyssa: If you look at our blog you can read what each term means and what it does for your body.Liz: In the future we will have the OM 2 which will be sort of like a chocolate hazelnut flavor and the SHAUCA 2 where we have some kind of pineapple jalapeno thing.E+E: How did the two of you meet?Instead of responding both women just looked to the far wall and pointed toward an old picture of two smiling young girls printed from a shopping mall photo booth. Childhood friends!E+E: You both grew up here, so what do you gals love most about Portland?Alyssa: This is just home for us, we’ve been here our entire lives. We love it here.Liz: Yes, the community in general is just amazing.E+E: Final words?Liz: We love our business model because we aren’t just another juice bar and there’s nothing like this in Portland. Because of the bar we set for ourselves, we are just always on our toes. We have to be able to change really quickly and make it work.And make it work, they do. Our personal favorite was the OM...we need the OM 2 quick. What will yours be?Portland Juice Press3111 SE 13th AvenuePortland, OR 97202503.913.3367 Photo credit: David Reamer