El Jugo

Preparing one of my favorite juices- jugo de banano, maracuyá y piña

Juice in Colombia just hits ~different~

Thinking back to when I first arrived in Bogotá, Colombia for orientation with Fulbright, I remember being intrigued by these delicious purple and white juices that were served with our meals. They were a little tangy, super concentrated, and so fresh. I learned that they were jugo de mora (blackberry) and jugo de guanábana (soursop), and they were the first of many delicious, natural juices that I would drink during my time in Colombia.

In Cartagena (and the rest of Colombia I believe) it’s a very commonplace that people make fresh, natural juices to drink with their meals. Fruit is blended with water or milk, ice and you add sugar to your liking at the end. Jugo de fresa en leche was the first juice I had when I arrived in Cartagena, and I also still remember it all this time later- it was so delicious! Some other favorite juices of mine are the combination of banano, maracuyá, y piña en agua, jugo de níspero en leche, guanábana en leche, guayaba en agua, y jugo de mango of course.

My lunch and my jugo de mango en leche (and jugo de lulo in the background)

Like I mentioned, these juices are made fresh, so there were many instances where a cup of juice was made right in front of me, at home or in a cafe, or in the street. In these cases, not one drop of these delicious juices is wasted! Everyone knows that right then and there you take some sips of your juice so you make enough room in your cup to be served the rest of the juice that couldn’t fit in your cup with the first pour. This extra bit left behind in the blender is called “la ñapa” or “la repela” in costeñol, and if you aren’t served it, you should be sure to ask for it!  

Un kiosco de jugo

As I kind of mentioned before, juices are made in water or in milk. There is no exact rule for which goes in which but funny enough some people have very strong opinions about it. Here is what I’ve learned during my time in Cartagena:

EN AGUA

• Mango*

• Piña  

• Maracuyá

• Corozo 

• Tomate de árbol 

• Guayaba* 

• Mora

• Lulo

• Mandarina

• Tamarindo

EN LECHE 

• Fresa* 

• Guanábana*

• Níspero* 

• Zapote* 

• Curuba* 

• Borojo 

*Works in water or in milk

Essentially acidic fruits are preferred in water, but most of the juices often made with milk can also be done in water. You can ask for whatever you like, you just might get some funny looks if you order something like lulo in milk! And take it from me, it doesn’t taste right.

Jugo de curuba en leche

I’ve tried making jugo de banano, maracuyá, y piña a few times but still need to keep working on the correct proportions so that it turns out perfect; not too sweet, not too acidic, not too banana-y. It takes practice! I’ve also tried making guyaba juice because I have loved and eaten it since I was young as jam on toast, but I realized I had never eaten the fruit fresh until I bought some to make juice. I never knew until that moment that the fruit is filled with a ton of seeds. People will eat the seeds when eating the fruit, but you have to strain the juice unless you want to have to chew it rather than swallow it!

Can you guess which type of juice I’m drinking?? Hint: its one of my favorites

To close I have a few more juice pointers: I learned that powdered milk is super convenient for juice-making, especially in such a hot climate where milk goes bad in the blink of an eye. Also, a friend of mine told me that some juices are even better if you cook the fruit first; specifically mora and tomate de árbol. Colombia has turned me into a big fan of fresh juices and while I am back here in the states where fresh juice-making isn’t really a thing, I miss the fresh juices more than ever. I’ve already made some strawberry juice but am dreaming of the tropical fruit juices I used to drink every day!

DISCLAIMER: This site (octaviachristopher.com) is not an official Fulbright Program site. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of its author and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State or any of its partner organizations.