“If you have never considered drinking a vegetable, well then, you’re going to have to trust us.”
Kimmye Bohannon and Elizabeth Beal, owners of the new The Weekly Juicery on Bauer Avenue, swear by juicing as the quote says above. They also swear by a diet that involves drinking juice until midday, thereby allowing the body to rest, then eating vegan food later in the day. More importantly, they swear by their juicing process.
The juice bar and retail store on Bauer.
These friends (and neighbors too) opened the first Weekly Juicery in their home of Lexington two years ago. As neighbors, they juiced regularly and were always coming up with new concoctions. This first store, located in downtown Lexington on Old Vine St., has a menu that includes cold-pressed juices, shots, vegan foods and more.
Kimmye Bohannon (right) and Elizabeth Beal (left), owners.
After two years in business together, they now sell 65,000 bottles of juice a year and deliver to 150 homes weekly. Doorstop delivery is available through their weekly juice program. Customers can sign up for the morning delivery service online at theweeklyjuicery.com. Delivery makes up such a large part of their business that they have invested in a refrigerated van to ensure the quality of their product. The Weekly Juicery bottles its craft juices in 16-ounce glass bottles. Customers then return the bottles for their deposit.
Their refrigerated van makes the rounds.
Recently they opened in Louisville on Bauer St. in St. Matthews and will open in Cincinnati later this summer.
The new St. Matthews location.
Their juice is cold-pressed, which means that it takes 55 minutes to process the fruit or vegetable into a juice. After it becomes juice, it maintains it’s nutritional value for 72 hours. Cold-pressing allows less oxygen into the final product and it uses no heat. Lack of heat and air causes the product to not spoil as quickly and to stay at peak freshness, with its vegetable enzymes protected. Contrarily, a juice made using a traditional centrifugal method maintains its optimal nutrition for only about 30 minutes, according to The Weekly Juicery.
The crux of their business is this machine, the hydraulic cold press juice machine.
Because this juicing is done by hand using hydraulic cold-press juice machines, it is very time consuming. This is a 24-hour business, with a team hired just to press the ingredients all night long. With a 55 minute production time, this has to be done on a constant basis to keep up with demand.
Kimmye explains the process.
Why should we juice?
Both Kimmye and Elizabeth explained that digestion is hard on our bodies. It uses a lot of energy to process and digest solid food. By drinking your meals, your body actually conserves energy and simultaneously gets nutrition and enzymes key to good health. They are proponents of digestive rest, which they say is a very powerful tool in overall wellness.
Fresh juices lined up and ready to go in the cooler.
Every day their digestive regimen is the same. They wake up and drink one or two juices over the course of the morning. (Neither drinks caffeine, they claim they don’t need it, that they get enough energy from their juicing). They continue the liquid diet for as long as they can with juicing and tons of water. They drink half their body weight in water every day. Usually around 1:00 p.m., they will eat raw vegan food and tons of solid veggies. At night, they eat normal meals. One partner is a vegan, the other is not. (As a side note, when I met them they also reminded me to eat food in portions the size of your fist, which is the size of the average stomach.)
Ball jars display all the ingredients.
So what does it taste like?
I tasted a little bit of everything: juices, an acai bowl and the raw food. All were excellent. (Note: I did not sample the smoothies, but they make up a large part of the menu. I also did not sample the shots.)
Juices
I did a blind taste test of the top selling juices: A Nutty Date, Green Lemonade, The Felon Melon, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini and Orange You Happy.
From Left to Right: A Nutty Date, Green Lemonade, The Felon Melon, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini and Orange You Happy
A Nutty Date: This has almond, date, vanilla bean and cinnamon. It is a clean protein source with lots of calcium.
Green Lemonade: This has romaine, kale, lemon and fresh ginger. This has the most bang for your buck. In the 16 oz bottle, it has 8 to 9 stalks of kale and a head of romaine lettuce.
The Felon Melon: This has watermelon and lemon. Described as a “natural Gatorade” this helps with electrolyte re-balance, with five times more potassium than a sports drink.
Yellow Polka Dot Bikini: This has grapefruit, orange, lemon and fresh ginger. It is a metabolism booster.
Orange You Happy: This has orange, green apple, romaine, beet, lemon, fresh ginger and lime.
Food
The Weekly Juicery also offers “life force food,” which is pre-prepared, raw, vegan and gluten-free. There is a refrigerated case with all the grab-and-go goodies. They also prepare fresh salads. Acai bowls are prepared when you order.
Everything from wraps, to dips, to cupcakes in here.
Sweet Potato hummus on the left, Cashew Queso on the right. I could not pick which one I liked better, obviously.
This was an Acai bowl which is served freezing cold like ice cream with toppings. It is like dessert, but I ate it for breakfast.
If you are interested in doing a cleanse, they offer a one, two or three-day cleanse. Simply choose your detox level (one being the least, three being the most), choose your duration, and choose your pick up day. Prices range from $55 to $170.
Pick your detox and your duration for your cleanse.
Are you ready to try juicing? Kimmye and Elizabeth are so sure that you will like it and so committed to their business that they have matching beet tattoos on their wrists.
Matching beet tattoos on both partners’ wrists.
The Weekly Juicery is located at 112 Bauer Ave. in St. Matthews (across the street from the Walgreens). For more information visit the website: www.theweeklyjuicery.com.
Don’t forget to vote in our $5000 Charity Giveaway here:
