Cran-Apple Chocolate Sipper for Juice Week

Who knew there was such a thing as Juice Week? Williams-Sonoma keeps tracks of these occasions and they were kind enough to contact me about participating by sharing a recipe, a how-to, or other juice-related story to celebrate the occasion. Since I love fresh juices as much as the next vegan, I agreed to share a new recipe. Now, I’m not one for crazy-flavored juices. My typical beverage consists of apples, ginger, turmeric, beets, and when I’m feeling especially wild, a stalk of celery. I know a lot of people juice greens, but I don’t feel that so much; I’d rather blend them into a smoothie. But for this post, I wanted to do something a little bit different. And I wanted to keep it simple. Really simple. I decided to focus on seasonal ingredients to create a light and refreshing drink, because that to me is the essence of juicing. And, then – there is chocolate. Chocolate juice? Not quite. What I created is a juice hybrid. You’ll see below.

Cran-Apple Chocolate Sipper An Unrefined Vegan

Although I juice fairly regularly, I have a rather sad juicer that my sister passed down to me (much like her hand-me-down clothes that I inherited when we were kids. Some things never change.). It gets the job done, but it’s a pain to disassemble and clean, and because it is a centrifugal juicer, it is inefficient at extracting the maximum amount of juice (especially from those greens that I don’t juice…). But since it was free and since the resulting drink is still really darn good, I can’t complain too much. Perhaps Santa will take pity on me and notice that my Wish list has a choice of two beautiful masticating juicers from which to choose (the Kuvings Whole Slow Juicer or the Hurom EG Elite Slow Juicer):

Juicer Collage Black Border

Check out Williams-Sonoma’s full line of gleaming juicers here. For now, my beat up and stained Juiceman is just going to have work a little longer.

The juice I made has three powerhouse ingredients:

Apples

  • Osteoporosis protection
  • Brain cell protection from free radicals
  • Lowered lung cancer risk
  • Reduced risk of breast cancer

Cranberries

  • Protection against anti-inflammatory diseases
  • Tooth decay fighter
  • Treatment and prevention of urinary tract infections
  • Anti-aging properties

Cacao

  • Cancer cell warrior
  • Protection against Alzheimer’s and other diseases of the brainh
  • Good for your ticker

With this juice, the first thing you taste is the sweetness from the apples, then a hint of tartness from the cranberries, followed by that lovely, indescribable flavor that is chocolate. And the color is divine (and seasonally perfect!). I think December is a great time for juicing. We often overindulge during the holidays and fresh juices are a great way to detox, refresh, and make you feel light and full of energy. Happy Juice Week! This sipper has been entered in the Virtual Vegan Linky Potluck #25!

Cran-Apple Chocolate Sipper An Unrefined Vegan

Cran-Apple Chocolate Sipper An Unrefined Vegan

 

Print

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Description

As refreshing and tasty as it is colorful, sip on this light and fruity combination of cranberries, apples, and chocolate.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
  • 4 sweet apples, quartered
  • 1 cup strongly-brewed cacao (such as Choffy or Crio)*, chilled

Instructions

  1. Put the cranberries and apples through a juicer. Combine the chilled brewed cacao with the juice and serve.

Notes

  • Add some sparkling water and a dash of cinnamon for a refreshing holiday punch.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 4
  • Calories: 112
  • Sugar: 20
  • Sodium: 3
  • Fat: 0
  • Saturated Fat: 0
  • Unsaturated Fat: 0
  • Trans Fat: 0
  • Carbohydrates: 30
  • Protein: 1
  • Cholesterol: 0

 

Cran-Apple Chocolate Sipper An Unrefined Vegan

*How to make brewed cacao:
Place 6 heaping tablespoons brewing cacao (smaller than nibs, but not powdered like cocoa) in a French press. Bring 1 1/2 cups water just to a boil. Pour the water into the French press and let sit for 5-6 minutes. Slowly push the press down and pour off the liquid into a measuring cup. Yield is about 1 cup. Chill until ready to use.

Cran-Apple Chocolate Sipper An Unrefined Vegan

Cran-Apple Chocolate Sipper An Unrefined Vegan

 

Though Williams-Sonoma contacted me about participating in Juice Week, I received no incentive nor compensation to do so. This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

10 thoughts on “Cran-Apple Chocolate Sipper for Juice Week

  1. The Vegan 8

    Loving the color of that drink….I love cranberries and apples, holy yum! I also have some of that brewing cacao if you can believe it! Most people are not familiar with it, but I bought a bag of it last year….it is different but still so enjoyable! Since I have all 3 of these ingredients, I probably should make some really soon!

    Reply
  2. Brittany

    This reminded me that I totally spaced replying to Williams Sonoma about participating in a smoothie post. OOPS. I’ll drink to that, one of these please!

    Reply
    1. An Unrefined Vegan Post author

      It’s very light and refreshing – – but with a nice hint of chocolate. Thank you for the kind words.

      Reply
  3. laurablack842

    Okay, this looks wicked cool! I never knew you could brew cacao nibs like coffee! The combination of cranberries and apples, it almost sounds like it could be a cocktail. This is a definite on my list. Are there other uses for brewed cacao? I’m sure there are, but have you created anything else other than this juice? I’m planning a juice detox soon, and I would like to include this one as perhaps a nice after dinner juice. Great combo!

    Reply
    1. An Unrefined Vegan Post author

      Laura, I use the brewed drink in recipes (desserts) and have even used the brewed grounds in things like cookies and brownies. The drink is delicious hot with a bit of sweetener and nut milk. The smell alone of this stuff…!

      Reply

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