Carrot Orange Ginger Juice

Before you start

Carrots give this juice its color and earthy sweetness, oranges bring acid and perfume, and ginger adds a clean heat that keeps the sweetness from turning flat. The ratio here is roughly two parts carrot juice to one part orange, which keeps carrot as the main flavor while making it taste bright rather than vegetal.

You can use a juicer or a blender. With a blender, the oranges are squeezed separately and used as the blending liquid, which avoids diluting the juice with extra water. The main things to watch are woody, old carrots (they taste bland and bitter near the core) and ginger, which varies a lot in strength from one knob to the next.

Ingredients

• 500 g (about 6 medium) carrots — scrubbed, ends trimmed
• 2 large oranges — juiced, about 180 ml (6 oz)
• 15 g (a 3 cm / 1¼ inch piece) fresh ginger — peeled if the skin is thick
• 10 ml (2 tsp) fresh lemon juice — optional, for extra lift
• 60 ml (2 oz) cold water — blender method only, if needed
• 1 pinch fine salt — optional, sharpens sweetness

Method

1. Scrub the carrots under running water. Peeling is optional; trim the stem ends and any green shoulders, which taste bitter.
2. Juice the oranges and strain out the seeds. Keep the pulp if you like a fuller juice.
3. Juicer method: feed the carrots and ginger through the juicer, alternating so the ginger is pushed through by the carrots. Stir the carrot-ginger juice into the orange juice.
4. Blender method: cut the carrots into 2 cm (¾ inch) rounds. Put the orange juice and ginger in the blender, add the carrots, and blend on high for 60 to 90 seconds until completely smooth, adding the water only if the blade stalls.
5. For the blender version, pour the puree into a nut milk bag set over a bowl and squeeze firmly until the pulp is dry and crumbly.
6. Stir in the lemon juice and a tiny pinch of salt, then taste. Ginger strength varies; grate in a little more if it needs warmth. Serve over ice right away.

Tips for success

• Choose firm, heavy carrots with smooth skin. Bendy carrots have lost moisture and give less, duller juice.
• Freeze a knob of ginger and grate it straight from frozen when you want a stronger kick without fibrous strands.
• Juice the oranges last if you can. Orange juice turns bitter faster than carrot juice once exposed to air.

Substitutions

Oranges

Mandarins or tangerines are sweeter and more floral. Pink grapefruit makes a tarter, slightly bitter juice; use half grapefruit, half orange to start.

Fresh ginger

A pinch of ground turmeric and black pepper adds earthiness but no heat. Ground ginger is a weak stand-in and tends to settle as sediment.

Carrots

Swap up to a third of the carrots for a peeled raw beet for a deep red juice with a more mineral flavor, or for a green apple for extra sweetness.

Variations

Sunrise turmeric

Add a 2 cm piece of fresh turmeric with the ginger. It stains, so use gloves and rinse the equipment quickly.

Sparkling

Fill glasses halfway with juice and top with cold soda water for a lighter drink.

Troubleshooting

The juice tastes woody or bitter

Old carrots or green shoulders left on. Trim the tops more generously and use fresher carrots; adding more orange helps balance a batch already made.

The ginger is overwhelming

Stretch it with more orange juice and a little water. Next time start with 8 g of ginger and add more after tasting.

It separates into layers

Carrot solids settle naturally. Stir or shake before pouring; straining more finely reduces it.

Storage

Best within an hour or two of making. Refrigerate leftovers in a full, tightly closed jar and drink within 24 hours; the flavor dulls and the orange turns bitter after that.

Safety notes

Homemade carrot and orange juice is unpasteurized. FDA notes that fresh-squeezed juice can carry harmful bacteria, so serve pasteurized juice to young children, pregnant people, older adults and anyone with a weakened immune system. Scrub produce well first.