TJ cherry juice

We were plunking our bounty on the checkout counter at Trader Joe’s when the cashier spied our bottle of cherry juice. “Oh, you’ll love it!” he gushed. Since the bottles were in an end-cap display, I reached over for two more. Okay, so I’m easy to upsell, no biggie…

The cashier was right! The juice is delish. And I was impressed with the calorie count – 150 calories per eight ounce serving, no calories from fat. Something this good usually has at least 150 calories from fat. I know this from long label-reading experience.

But the very best part is that Trader Joe’s sourced the cherries in GEORGIA!  Even people who are familiar with agriculture here may be surprised that Mercier Orchards in Blue Ridge has probably the biggest cherry orchard south of Virginia. And they allow visitors to u-pick the cherries during season (usually late April-May).

My advice to you… go to Trader Joe’s and buy their bottled “Product of Georgia” cherry juice. Drink it straight or mix yourself a cocktail. Then, follow the Mercier Orchards Facebook page; and, when it’s time, go pick yourself some fresh-off-the-tree cherries. Incorporate Georgia Grown cherries into your life. YUM!

UPDATE 4/3/2013! Wrong, wrong, wrong!!! Last time I went into the Athens Trader Joe’s, the cherry juice was on an endcap. And a poster next to it had a description of the area in Georgia RUSSIA it was sourced. So it was NOT sourced in Georgia USA… it was shipped to the US from thousands and thousands of miles away. It’s up to you whether that suits your lifestiyle now that we know.