Several people changed their go-to brand after this taste test.
That fact makes our taste tests here atSouthern Livingparticularly interesting.
From time to time, the classics stand, proving themselves to be the best yet again.
Credit:Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox
(That’s what happened in oursweet tea taste test, after all.)
We weren’t sure what to expect from ourorangejuice taste test.
Let’s just say a lot of people walked away with new favoritesand you might, too.
Credit:Publix
We chose classic orange juice, without pulp.
(If the brand didn’t have a pulp-free option, we tried it anyway.)
They also recorded their thoughts on the flavor and texture of the juice during the silent testing.
Credit:Publix
Each participant then selected their favorite orange juice over all.
It comes in a pack of two 59-oz.
bottles, so you get a lot of orange juice for your penny.
Nature’s Nectar Orange Juice
Nature’s Nectar is an Aldi branded product.
For orange juice drinkers that like an unsweetened, freshly-squeezed juice, this was as close as we came.
Testers commented that it had almost no sweetness; some said it was nearly bitter.
But in the flavor department, most agreed this was a little light.
Florida’s Natural Orange Juice No Pulp
“Very citrusy,” wrote one tester.
“This leans toward fresh-squeezed,” another said.
But it wasn’t all thumbs up from reviewers.
A few editors said it tasted like it was unevenly mixed from a concentrated frozen juice.
Indian River Select Orange Juice
A smooth and light orange juice, several editors said.
Still, two people ranked it in their top 3.
“Tastes like breakfast,” one editor wrote.
Another added, “I would buy this one.
There’s nothing artificial about it.”
It had a mouthfeel more than one person described as “chalky.”
But it still had good marks for a bright citrus freshness.
But a few points were dinged for being just a bit too sweet.
“This juice has some depth to it,” wrote one reviewer.
who further described this juice as being as close to classic as they tried in the whole taste test.
In the end, two orange juices received the same number of first-place votes and the same score.
So it’s only fair to call them both winners.
“This tastes like real oranges,” one tester wrote.
“I like the pulp and the fact that it wasn’t syrupy sweet.
It had a nice bitterness and tang that kept it from being artificial tasting.”
