One of my 2015 new year resolutions was to give juice cleansing a try. I have been looking around and I didn't want to just follow what other people purchased because most of them were either 1-day or 3-day sessions. I wanted a 2-day session and I found a 2-day Omakase Set from Gorilla Press Co. I found them through Instagram and to be honest, I was most intrigued by their glass bottles. Yah, very superficial, but if I were to make an order from Instagram/facebook, the visuals got to be impeccable right?
You can find them at @gorillapressco on Instagram.
Also, before I start this post proper - I was not sponsored in any way. I was curious, then found them on Instagram, then I ordered. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Service
I was incredibly impressed with their service standard. I sent them an email regarding my interest on their juices and they responded in less than 24 hours with a more in-depth explanation of the company and provided their juice menu. At that point in time, I was on a 28-day teatox, and I enquired if it was advisable to be drinking the juices and the detox tea together. Through a phonecall, they explained how some people experienced various withdrawal symptoms like headaches, and these may be worsened by detox products. So, I decided to finish the teatox session first before trying my very first juice cleanse experience.
The most admirable thing is how they were not pushy at all. They don't pressure you into buying their juices and they don't rush their answers when you ask questions. The lady who talked to me on the phone (thank you Valerie!) was very patient and she answered my questions with thorough details. A lot of effort went into spelling out the nitty gritty to make sure that I understood what I was going to buy. She explained the types of superfoods that they had in their inventory and how their juices were made and packaged. It was overall a very informative phonecall, and I don't feel pressurized to buy a set immediately.
When I finally did place my order (2-Day Omakase Set), they replied with a lengthy email on what to expect in terms of juice flavours and the withdrawal symptoms. I was really excited for my juices to arrive because the menu provided was too intriguing!
Delivery was prompt and the juices were delivered to my door step.
After the juice cleanse, Gorilla Press Co. contacted me again to find out how it went. The service was top-notch and I would certainly recommend Gorilla Press Co. for anyone who's looking for a positive juice cleanse experience.
Packaging
When the delivery came, I was told to immediately place the the bottles in the fridge. With bottles like these, of course I cannot pass up the chance for an Instagram photo. Some more the natural lighting so good! So I spent a good 10 minutes transferring the bottles from the dining table to the floor area nearest to my living room windows and I started to snap away.
I adore these bottles! They are very simple 500ml glass bottles that are super multi-functional! You can reuse them for storing other liquids or condiments, or you can use them at parties (because these bottles got hipster-feel leh, very cool HAHA) or you can even use them as decorations. I still have 10 bottles with me (I left 4 bottles in office and the cleaning auntie accidentally threw these 4 bottles away. *heartbreak*) and I use them daily to force myself to drink enough water. I would fill 2 bottles up with water and place them in my room, and then make sure I finish every single drop by the end of the night. It's working quite well so far!
Very chio!
Juices
Each bottle is labelled 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 etc. so that you know which bottle to grab for your juice cleanse.
For this juice cleanse, I didn't start with 1.1. Instead, I started with 2.6. That's because at the end of my second day, I have a dinner gathering to attend and so confirm I will eat one right? So instead of starting my juice cleanse on Monday morning, I started on Sunday night with juice 2.6!
Juice 2.6 contains kale, cucumber, seasonal greens, lemon, apple with superfood chia seeds.
- I regularly take "green" juice, so this was delightful. Some people cannot take the taste of vegetables in their juices, but I absolutely love the taste of vegetables in my juices! How awesome is that? No need to chew your vegetables, just gulp, gulp, gulp!
- The excitement of finally starting my juice cleanse also contributed to my extremely positive review of this juice - I LOVE IT.
Each bottle had individual stoppers. Super brilliant for those who want to bring some juices along when they are out and about. No need to worry about spillage!
Juice 1.1 and Juice 2.1 contain pear and lemon with superfood cayenned pepper.
- This was my least favourite drink because of the cayenne pepper. The fruit juice was very sweet, not cloyingly sweet, but like you spent a lot of money on Japanese fruits kind of sweet. However, I couldn't get used to the spicy after-taste, especially after a really sweet gulp of juice.
- The good thing is this juice certainly woke me up in the mornings. :D
Juice 1.2 contains coconut water and coconut meat with superfood goji berries.
- As with "green" juices, I also regularly drink coconut water and I really love the taste of coconut water so this juice was easy to down. I actually finished it way too quickly (like under 5 minutes) because it was so good. The coconut meat and crushed goji berries provided some chew and created the facade that I was "eating" something. I loved it and I wanted more of it. But na na nee poo poo, only got 1 bottle. :(
Juice 1.3 is avocado nutmylk which is dairy-free and contains almonds, cashews, medjool dates with superfood coconut sugar and avocado.
- Slight headache has set in because of lack of coffee. I'm a coffee slave lah so this should be of no surprise?
- I also went to the toilet to ... clear my bowels and I was freaking hungry, so yes, I succumbed to bread. Meh. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- This avocado nutmylk is really something special. I love to eat avocadoes, but I have never drunk avocadoes (even though I come from a country of avocado milkshakes), so this was a surreal experience. Very yummy and there was this strange smoky, savoury after taste that was quite addictive. So after bread and the avocado nutmylk, I was a happy camper.
Juice 1.4 contains kale, cucumber, seasonal greens, lemon, apple and ginger with superfood spirulina.
- I am a green-juice fanatic so anything green and anything packed with loads of vege, I will drink. No matter how terrible. This was fantastic. I also googled spirulina and am amazed at the heaps of benefits. Time to incorporate this in my diet.
Juice 1.5 is a black sesame nutmylk which is dairy-free and contains almonds, cashews, medjool dates with superfood black sesame.
- It is most unfortunate - my headache has set in quite violently. :(
- Taste-wise, this was quite yummy. It's like eating the super delicious but sinful Chinese dessert (black sesame paste) but of course this was much healthier.
Juice 1.6 contains beetroot, cucumber, apples and superfood chia seeds.
- Oh my goodness. This headache is not funny at all. I think I'm way too reliant on coffee lah. My tummy is also bloated from all the liquids that I have been downing. I have decided to turn in early and prepare for tomorrow!
- This bottle was really nice but I realised I should have told them to not incorporate beets into my juice cleanse menu. I have slightly low blood pressure and so consuming beets will only make my blood pressure go lower. I have fainted before last time because I had too much beet juice. Yikes. But other than personal health problems, this was lovely, especially because it has bloated chia seeds. Like eating pudding hahaha.
One more session of the pear lemon juice with cayenne pepper on the second morning. Still couldn't get used to the taste. But I finished it nevertheless! Yay!
Juice 2.2 is cacao and maca nutmylk which is dairy-free and contains almonds, cashews, cinnamon, medjool dates with superfood cacao and maca.
- Wow, this was a really hearty drink that's a perfect replacement for the usual breakfast food. I was very full after finishing this juice and I was pumped up to get some work done!
- Also, an update on the headache - it got better, but it was still lingering on the second day.
Juice 2.3 contains pineapple, cucumber, kaffir lime and ginger with superfood maca and turmeric.
- This was a rather strange concoction and I say that because I have never used turmeric in a juice. It was strange but weirdly addictive. I would take one gulp, thought about how strange the taste was, then I would reach out for another gulp. It's almost like drinking jamu (Indonesian herbal medicine).
Juice 2.4 is a matcha nutmylk that is dairy-free and contains almonds, cashews, medjool dates with superfood matcha.
- You cannot go wrong with green tea one. This was a very welcomed juice because I was feeling a little bit peckish from the lack of food in my system. I was immediately full again and I was back to normal working pace.
- It's stated as a "caffeine alternative" but to be honest, for a caffeine addict like me, nothing can serve as an alternative to caffeine. Oh well~
Last juice of the entire session! Juice 2.5 contains watermelon, grapefruit and mint with superfood turmeric.
- Another juice with turmeric! I was surprised at how much I liked this. The mint was a great addition - I felt refreshed and ready to head out for my dinner gathering even though I just had a long day at work.
- One point to note - my tummy was unbelievably flat. I consumed so much liquid and it was flat. I think because I went to toilet way too many times also. :P
And so, that concludes my 2-day juice cleanse with Gorilla Press Co. juices! The juices were delicious and the entire session was very eye-opening - I got to know of so many new superfoods! I didn't even know "maca" existed before this juice cleanse.
Other than the above juices, Gorilla Press Co. also included two bottles of coconut water for consumption throughout the 2 days.
Will I have another juice cleanse session?
As of now, I'm good and I don't think I need another juice cleanse session. To be really frank, I'm afraid of doing it again because of the crazy headache I had on the first day. It's of course largely due to my sad cells who were so deprived of caffeine.
But then again, Chinese New Year is coming and you know how this festival is damaging to self-control when it comes to food!
For those of you without such over-dependency on caffeine, this juice cleanse experience will probably be quite pleasant and smooth-sailing (different body different reaction but I'm generalising here). The juices were very tasty and I like how they included chewy bits in some juices to create that illusion that you're "eating".
A truly eye-opening and educational experience. I'm now pretty well-informed and I know what I want to add into my diet for that superfood enhancement (quite excited to buy spirulina now haha). Thank you for the great experience, Gorilla Press Co.!
