Different Press Bags for Vibrant Juice Colors

Usually, when optimizing time and juice production, you will reuse your bags during your production time. And why not? It saves time and energy. Win-win.

Reusing bags can help you keep your press operating, but it’s not always sunshine and roses. Without proper planning you can run into a few issues. A really important issue you will likely encounter? Controlling the vibrant color of the juice you serve.

Juice Vibrancy Is… Marketing?   

Let’s be honest, that color absolutely contributes to your marketing. Vibrant juice colors scream “nutrients” and “purchase me” to your customers. Muted and discolored drinks are less than appealing to most (and nobody’s hearing happily screamed declarations from muted juice).

So, you want to protect those vibrant juice colors, right? We have a very simple suggestion to do just that: use different bags for different colors. Easy.

Many juice producers use the same bags for all their produce, regardless of color. Oftentimes this muddles the color due to pigments mixing together and creates a muted tone. Ew.

So Where Does All That Color Come From Anyway? 

If you’ve ever eaten a large quantity of carrots for a while, you may have noticed that you got a little orange tint to you. Well, the pigments that give carrots their orange, and spinach it’s green, transfer their colors to things around them too. And that includes bleeding into the bags you use for juicing.

If you’re looking for really vibrant juice colors, we’ve got a couple suggestions for you. The best one is pretty simple: use different bags for different colors of produce. (Don’t have enough bags on hand? Contact orders@juicedrite.com to get squared away and read below for a BONUS #PRO TIP to use while you are waiting for your new bags.)

One Bag, Two Bag, Three Bag, Four

We recommend at least 4 different bags for the colors Red, Orange, Green and Yellow (a fifth bag if you work with apples- see below). These are the most vibrant juice colors produced.

Red bags for, well… beets, mostly. Beets are probably the biggest culprit of staining in all the most popular produce for juicing. To protect that vibrant and beautiful hue we get from color-rich flavonoids, we recommend you keep a bag for “red” juice specifically.

Orange includes foods like carrots and turmeric. Rich in carotenoids, produce like carrots have a very strong orange coloring that can definitely carry into subsequent batches.

Green foods, like leafy greens and similarly chlorophyll-rich produce, definitely mix in and mute other hues. And, following light colors, they are one of the first to lose their own vibrant green hue when pressed in a used, “non-green” bag.

Yellow is less about the food’s actual color bleeding into others. Having a dedicated yellow bag is more for the delicacy of protecting the lighter-colored juices, like pineapple or pale citruses. It doesn’t take much to change their color. And change color it will when you use a bag from a vibrant juice color recipe first (promise!).

BONUS Bag #5: Apples don’t really have a color of their own that stains the bags but, due to oxidation, they do turn brown once shredded. This can actually affect the final product color, giving a muted overtone to your juice. So if you do a lot of apples, we recommend a fifth bag just for them.

#PRO TIP: Tried your best and still got a little dull color in your finished juice? Never fear! Adding as little as a half of a beet can liven up almost any recipe’s color with minimal effect to the overall flavor. Beets to the rescue!

BONUS #PRO TIP: Don’t have enough bags to utilize these color-preserving tips?  (What?? Order more at orders@juicedrite.com and get hip with the cool kids!) While you’re waiting for your newly ordered bags to arrive, you can plan your pressing for the day by starting with your lightest color and progressively moving to the darkest. There may be a little carry-over in color, but it’s a lot more controlled than just pressing willy nilly. We recommend testing with your recipes and giving priority to the color you most want to protect. (We ALWAYS recommend testing- and taking notes!)

The Dishwasher Analogy 

“But wait- you told me in another article that mixing my produce gives me a better yield – how can I use separate bags with mixed produce?”

We do recommend mixing your produce, and when this is your method (good choice!), we’ve got another simple suggestion for that. We recommend using the bag for the main color of your juice. For example, if spinach is your main ingredient, you will want to use a “green” bag. Simple!

(Don’t know what we’re talking about? Click here and learn more about the Dishwasher Analogy!)

One More Thing – Flavor matters too 

Another tip: if you’re juicing many recipes at once and plan to reuse your bags, start with the savory flavors. This will keep your flavor profiles where you want them, as sweet is far more influential than savory (haven’t we always known this? Hello cupcake!).

So if you’ve got celery/spinach and apple/kale recipes on your agenda for the day, start with the savory celery/spinach and you’ll be set up for success.

Need more bags? 

If you love the idea of “colors” for your bags (and we do not blame you), but realize you don’t have the additional bags you need, don’t worry, we got you. You can purchase more bags by visiting our online store below!

Happy vibrant juicing!