Do you know what goes into making that healthy glass of orange juice you drink every day? The process begins with the orange variety. Oranges grow on evergreen trees in many tropical areas of the world. Of the oranges grown for juice processing, 80% come from Florida and the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The harvesting season in Brazil lasts from July through January, or midwinter to midsummer. The harvesting season in Florida runs from October to June, depending on the type of orange. Hamlins and Parson Browns are the early varieties. The Pineapple Orange matures midseason, from December through February, and the famous Valencia orange matures from March to June.

Citrus fruit must ripen on the tree. Once oranges or any other citrus fruits are picked, they will not continue to ripen, unlike other fruits. Therefore, determining when to pick the oranges is critical. Before picking, growers will sample about 40 pieces of fruit from a 40-acre block. The fruit is tested for its sugar-to-acid ratio, which determines the flavor of the juice. All orange juice must meet the minimum sugar-to-acid ratio standard to be called 100% juice.

A hydrometer is used to determine the soluble sugar content by measuring the specific gravity. The result is expressed as “degrees brix.” The method for determining the percent of acid in the juice is called the titration method. The ratio of brix to the acid content is calculated to determine if the oranges are ready for harvesting. The minimum maturity level required to pick the oranges varies, but is usually around 8.50 degrees brix with a 10.0 to 1.0 ratio. Often juice processing plants establish standards that exceed the minimum.

Once the orange juice has been made, there are three main ways to package it. With frozen concentrate, water from the juice is evaporated and then added back or “reconstituted” by the consumer. Refrigerated, ready-to-serve orange juice may be made from such a concentrate but the processor adds back the water. Fresh juice, which has not been reconstituted, is labeled “not from concentrate.” The reconstituted forms tend to be a better value because transportation costs decrease dramatically when water is removed from the juice before shipping.

So what does all this mean to the consumer? Since different processing plants have different standards for the oranges and different processing and packaging methods, the taste of each brand will vary. Our panel of sensory tasters tasted the top-selling brands to find out which ones are the best.

When we conducted the taste test several years ago, the calcium-fortified juices were new on the market. At that time, our tasters felt that they tasted chalky and less flavorful than their original counterparts. For people who do not otherwise consume enough calcium, orange juice is a logical place to get calcium because the vitamin C and the natural acids in the juice aid absorption. Each calcium-fortified glass of orange juice has the same amount of calcium as a glass of milk.

This time, our tasters sampled From the Grove with Calcium and Juices Best with Calcium. They were pleasantly surprised to note that both companies had changed their formulas and that the chalky taste was gone. However, they still felt that adding the calcium slightly alters the flavor of the juice.

According to our panel, orange juice should have the aroma and flavor of a fresh orange. It should not taste cooked, over-processed, or syrupy. Neither calcium-enriched juice had a fresh-squeezed taste, but both were flavorful. If you want fresh-squeezed taste, your best choice is From the Grove Original. From the Grove with Calcium was as good as the original brands of Juices Best and Freshest and better than Market Fresh and Golden’s, but not as good as From the Grove Original. At $.30 per serving, our panel felt that it was a far better value than Freshest at $.34.