Ever have had a craving for a smoothie during lunch time, but didn’t know where to go? Luckily, your problem has been solved. On Thursday, September 7th myself, Tulsi Carroll, Simone Sutton, Aiden LeRoux, and Nathan Moore went out to the closest cafes in Felton and Scotts Valley to give you some feedback.
Stop one, Jamba Juice. Even though this is a well-known drink place, we had to test it out. When showing up it was very hard to choose from all the options, but I ended up getting a 16 oz Razzmatazz, which contained mixed berry blend, strawberries, orange sherbet, and bananas. The price of the drink was a little expensive at $5.31 with tax. Starting off we all could agree there was a very strong orange taste, that was kind of unexpected in a mixed berry-based smoothie. Also, Tulsi and I noticed a slight cough drop candy taste, which was caused by the overpowering orange flavor. One last detail that was not very surprising to us was that there were many chunks of fruit at the bottom of the drink, Nathan really liked it, so it all depends on what you like. After finishing the drink we had a range of ratings from 5 to 8 out of 10, with Tulsi giving a 5/10 and Aiden giving an 8/10. Overall we all agreed it was a 6.5/10. Final thoughts were that this smoothie was just okay, and the furthest from school, but it is a fine choice if you have time.
Second stop, McDonald’s, which was chosen for its role as a quick stop in Scotts Valley without having to cut it close. Arriving, I already knew they wouldn’t have many options. We found two choices: Strawberry Banana and Pineapple Mango. I went with the 12oz small Strawberry Banana to keep all the smoothies berry based. McDonald’s had the cheapest smoothie at $2.18 with tax, which is a very good deal if you just want a cheap drink. With feedback, we all realized it had a little bit of an overpowering yogurt taste and was very artificial tasting. The best thing about this smoothie that many of us agreed on is it was very well blended, which was different than Jamba Juice, but you have to keep in mind they probably use juices rather than whole fruit. The ratings out of ten were a little bit more all over the place than the last, with a range of 4/10 from Simone to 8/10 from myself, overall we gave this smoothie a 7/10. If you are looking for a cheap smoothie in the first part of Scotts Valley this might be for you.
Third on our smoothie list was Mountain Roasting Company. This is located in Felton, so it’s a little bit easier to get to during lunch. I have gotten their smoothies many times before so I already knew what I was going to order, which was the 16 oz Red, White, and Blue at $5 even, containing a mixed berry flavor. Mountain Roasting Co. really caught our eye when they offered free homemade whipped cream, which was delicious. One minor detail I noticed, was they took a little longer because they blended it twice to make sure it was blended thoroughly. We could also tell that it was very natural from it fruity taste. When coming to the ratings we all gave it a strong 9/10. Last note, this cafe would be great to go to because it is very close to the school and has many other food options.
When heading back to the school we hit White Raven. This is one of the closest stops to the school, which meant we had to try a smoothie out for you. I ended up ordering a 16 oz Blueberry and Strawberry with an apple juice base, this drink came to $4.50, a decent price. Taking a few sips we all had something to say about it, “Good, but all apple juice” from Tulsi and “Not even apple juice, straight up apple sauce.” from Nathan. One tip that I would give when ordering a smoothie from White Raven is to get the orange juice base and not the apple unless you like apple sauce. Many of us came to our final ratings very quickly, ranging from 1/10 from Nathan to 4/10 from Simone, overall we gave an average rating of 3/10.
Our final stop was our home deli, Castelli’s. Staying with the same berry-based smoothie idea, I ordered a small Strawberry Banana smoothie for $3.95. We had some mixed feelings about this smoothie, with some of the group realizing it strangely tasted like the McDonald’s Strawberry Banana smoothie. Another thing was that the man making the smoothie offered whipped cream, but they did not give us any since they did not have it at the time. It was not bad, but we would suggest another flavor since they do have a variety. Finally, the ratings: most of us said 7/10, with a 4/10 exception by Nathan, overall we gave this last smoothie a 6/10.
After our adventure trying many smoothies for you, we can see that Mountain Roasting Company’s smoothie took the win with a 9/10. Unfortunately, the lowest rated smoothie was from White Raven, but mainly because of the apple juice base. The other stops came very close together, and are great other options.
by Karla Struthers
Image via Jamba Juice
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