The Best Orange Juice: A Blind Taste Test

In our Taste Test series, BA editors conduct blind comparisons to discover the best supermarket staples (like vanilla ice cream or frozen pizza). Today, which store-bought orange juice is the best squeeze?

To make a (very) long story (relatively) short, the ancestors of the oranges we know today were originally cultivated in northeastern India, China, and Burma, before sweeping through Europe, and eventually arriving with the Spanish in Florida in the 16th century. Throughout the 19th century, sweeter new varieties of oranges were introduced and mostly sold as whole fruit.

It wasn’t until World War II that orange juice took center stage. As the story goes, soldiers needed vitamin C in their diets, and the “lemon crystals” originally included in their rations tasted awful. Orange juice was the solution. After scientists discovered how to make palatable OJ concentrate in the mid-40s, the drink was on its way to fame and fortune. Finally, a bit of Bing Crosby–centric marketing secured orange juice’s place in the American refrigerator. (If you want the long story, good for you—check out Alissa Hamilton’s book, Squeezed: What You Don’t Know About Oranges.)

Today, orange juice is a heavy hitter in cocktails (not just mimosas), a key ingredient in marinades, and a dedicated sprucer in veggie sides. Orange juice even makes appearances at dessert. Whether it’s in a recipe, or just in a glass each morning, you deserve the best orange juice there is.

To that end, we tested popular orange juice brands to find the sunniest bottle out there. We left out Natalie’s, by all accounts a beloved brand, because, after visiting four grocery stores, we couldn’t find it. If we couldn’t get our hands on a bottle, we reasoned you might have a hard time too. We also included orange juice squeezed in-store (from Whole Foods) to see how packaged OJ would compare to the real deal. And to our surprise, the fresh-squeezed stuff was outdone by a single brand. We judged each juice’s balance of sweet to sour, its texture from thick to thin, and its color and aroma. Here’s what we thought.

Mildly Medicinal: Kroger 100% Orange Juice Homestyle With Pulp

The ingredients: Kroger and Florida’s Natural orange juice are the only two in our taste test made from concentrate—and it shows. Orange juice concentrate is usually made by filtering the juice into a pulp and a serum, and then processing excess water out of that serum. It can then be stored (for a long time) and rehydrated for whenever it needs to be bottled and sold.