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The Juice is Loose
LAist patriarch Gothamist recently asked the question, Do You Feel the Jamba? -- asking New Yorkers if Jamba Juice shops in the Big Apple was a huge stretch... Did New Yorkers freezing their asses off really want to get a Peach Pleasure or a Coldbuster to refresh their taste buds?
The question was negotiable, but it got LAist to thinking: Has the trend of Jamba Juice, Roebek's Juice, Surf City Squeeze and other un-chained juice-blending establishments overstayed their welcome?
Los Angeles is one of those towns where, once one food fad starts to gain momentum, everyone else jumps on the bandwagon. This has been the case with things like blended coffee drinks, create-your-own ice cream and doughnuts (Baby Doughnut on Ventura is a wonderful example of this), protein-style burgers and the worst offender of all...chicken wraps. But they all pale in comparison to the blended juice drinks.
While Jamba Juice paved the way for the popularity of the rest of the chains, JJ is still the high-watermark of blended juice drinks (as far as we're concerned) but we're just starting to feel lately that the excitement and sheen has worn off. And with no-carb this and no-carb that infesting every nook and cranny of the town, are people starting to shy away from drinks with 36 grams of sugar and even more carbs?
Or are juice drinks finally becoming just plain boring?
Is sherbet blended with frozen fruit blended with ice blended with protein powder or some kind of ambiguous powder "boost" no longer exciting? LAist isn't quite sure, but we know you've got an answer.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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