Juicing 101: What spells the difference between good and great juice

When it comes to squeezing the most nutritious juice out of fresh fruits, what device you use could make the world of a difference between good juice and great juice.

Apparently, many of the nutritional contents of fruits and veggies are “burned” or wasted with the use of traditional blenders that use high-speed blades to turn solid fruits to juices, shakes, and smoothies we've come to know.

There is, fortunately, a much more innovative and convenient way to make delicious fresh fruit juices without sacrificing the health benefits they naturally offer.

Hurom, a Korean company that specializes in making juicers, employs a no-blades “slow squeeze system” that keeps the integrity of the fruit—and vegetables—like no other juicer can.

“There is an art to making a glass of real juice. The Hurom juicer produces fresh fruit and vegetable juices with less bubble. The color of the juices are exactly what they are supposed to be because they are basically the fruits and veggies in liquid form,” said Jake Lee, Hurom's overseas sales manager.

The Hurom Juicer is unique and revolutionary because it uses a patented technology called Low Speed Technology System that “gently presses” the fruit to extract juices, without destroying the fruit's natural taste and nutrients such as lycopene, antosianin and beta carotene.

Hurom is a combination of the English word “human” and the Korean word “rom” (which translates to “beneficial”). This solidly captures Hurom's philosophy of being “beneficial to humans” committed to creating products that harness the benefits of consuming food in its most natural state.

In a visit to Hurom's headquarters in Korea, Lee explained how the Hurom Juicer is different from a traditional blender and juicer. What better way to do this than to put the Hurom Juicer to work, side-by-side a traditional juicer. You can say it was a juicer showdown.

The most noticeable difference between the two juicers is the amount of juice that was produced from the same amount of fruits and vegetables. The Hurom Juicer was able to extract some 30 percent more juice, with a much richer consistency.

“Hurom's Slow Squeeze System rotates 70 to 80 times per minute. This is much slower than the usual high-speed grinding method traditional juicers employ, which could go up to about 15,000 rotations per minute,” he said.

Lee also pointed out the quieter Hurom juicer which also uses upto 10 times less electricity compared to traditional high-speed juicers.

Made of ultem, a material used in making spaceships, the Hurom juicer has been around for over 40 years in Korea, the US, South America, and Europe. It has been available in the Philippines since 2012, but it isn't until recently that the company and its Philippine distributor, Zinven International Corp., adopted a more aggressive marketing stance.

Back in Korea, Hurom officials toured media participants to its pioneering Hurom Cafe in downtown Seoul.

Hurom is the first company in Korea to have extended its brand from juicing to a full blown cafe which, of course, has its slow-squeezed juices at the forefront.

“We didn't put up the Hurom Cafe just so we could sell juices. We're here because we want to continuously educate people and help them realize what living a healthy life could do for them. Obviously, we want our additives-free juices to be a part of their healthy lifestyle,” Lee said.

Putting up the Hurom Cafe, which opened in May 2012, was a brilliant business move. Not only does the cafe serve as a place to sell the Hurom juicer, it also doubles as a demo room, giving more individuals the opportunity to have a taste of the juices produced using their machine.

There are juices that promote good skin, overall health, and slimming down. There are also juices suited for kids. But aside from the delicious juice concoctions offered at the Hurom Cafe, they also serve bread with veggie puree and sesame juice.

Lee said: “We balance health and taste when it comes to the juices we offer. We always tell our customers that after tasting our juices, they'll never drink juice the same way again.”

*** This article was first published on the Philippine Daily Inquirer last April 13, 2014. It has been slightly edited for TWIST. ***