The Best Store-Bought Orange Juice Brand Has A Freshly Squeezed Taste

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When a Foodie feature writer tackled a roundup of the best and worst store-bought orange juice, she encountered some surprising results. If you are the type to blindly grab a bottle of orange juice based on long-accustomed brand loyalty or price consciousness, you should know that there is a lot of variance in quality out there. For example, our reviewer found that Publix had bitter, unpleasant OJ, both in terms of the store brand and its organic GreenWise label, but stalwart Tropicana still served a good glass. Our writer's hands-down favorite, however — in fact, the brand that she vowed to buy for home use going forward — was Uncle Matt's, currently America's top-selling organic orange juice.

You'll pay a bit more for Uncle Matt's Organic Pulp-Free Orange Juice, the variety our writer sampled, but the splurge will pay dividends in quality and enjoyment. "Upon sipping my glass of this juice, the first word that I thought of is 'juicy,'" our writer enthused. "[I]t had that freshly squeezed feel with a bright burst of flavor [...] [t]here was no bitterness, and the natural sweetness was abundant." 

If you know how long orange juice lasts in the fridge, you understand that it has to be consumed pretty briskly after opening. We predict that you won't have to worry about expiration dates with Uncle Matt's, as it tastes so fresh and so delightfully citrusy that it will disappear fast, whether you pour it into mimosas or pair it with our picks for the best frozen breakfast sandwiches to buy.

Uncle Matt's boasts that the only ingredient in its flagship orange juice is organic oranges, which are harvested at the height of juiciness and freshness. What's not in the juice? Synthetic pesticides, GMOs, or glyphosate residue, the latter being a ubiquitous herbicide. Does a cleaner OJ translate to a better flavor? According to a slew of online reviews, the answer is an enthusiastic "yes."

"It's so good it will ruin other orange juices for you," one Redditor declared boldly. A review on Yelp under Uncle Matt's Clermont, Florida storefront agreed, both in sentiment and passion: "My wife and I decided to try UM oj since we went organic. Cost a little more but well worth it. That first taste made me a believer." On SocialNature, the enthusiasm was contagious. "Really enjoyed this juice and felt very good drinking it because it is organic. The taste was so good. It was so fresh and delicious." "It's hands down the best OJ available," gushed a comment on Influenster. "The taste is orange juice, plain and simple: no sugar, no weird taste, just light and delightful."

Uncle Matt's won our reviewer's heart simply on great taste, but you might also pick up this juice over others if you value the virtues your OJ brings to the table as well. Short of buying an electric orange juicer and making your own stuff, Uncle Matt's is, for our money, as good as it gets.