The Best Juice I’ve Ever Had Is Served At Florida Breakfast Joint

I'm passionate about food but when it comes to drinks, I'm somewhat more limited. I mostly stick with water, coffee, and the occasional adult beverage, that's about it. However, upon visiting Skillets breakfast in southwest Florida, I tripped across the best juice I have ever had the joy of trying.

Before I get into the details of this delightful and cheerful beverage, let's set the table for the overall experience. Upon visiting family in who live in the area, they insisted upon us going out for breakfast just once during the week-long trip. We were not given options as to what our preference would be. It was more along the lines of, "This is a place we need to take you to while you are here."

We get seated inside a packed house. With ice waters already on the table I simply order a standard hot coffee. My kids, who usually opt for apple juice or chocolate milk then had the orange juice suggested to them by our fantastic waitress. "You're going to want to try this," she says, and they surprisingly obliged.

When I saw this tray of sunshine in glass get placed down on the table, I was immediately drawn to it. It's just orange juice, right? Wrong. It was more like an orange juice experience, unlike anything else I'd ever tried.

As a kid, my grandparents, who lived in Naples, would send us boxes of fresh (and huge) Florida oranges each winter. Somehow, even straight out of the delivery box left at our doorstep, they seemed cold and bursting with juice. It was a rush of taste that nothing else compared to in my area.

On this particular morning, I had to order my own. It must have been at least 25 years since I ordered a fruit juice for myself at a restaurant.

The orange juice at Skillets is just that—simply orange juice. No other flavors are added, it's not mixed with anything, and it's not fancy. What does put it on another level is that it is served in a frozen mug. Much like your favorite draft beer, the mug is frosty, but the drink inside is still liquid but ice cold.

Orange juice at Skillets is fresh-squeezed juice by Kennesaw, who is based out of Pompano Beach. Dating back to 1923, they pride themselves on creating 100% fresh-squeezed orange juice from the grove. "Most store-bought juice has been stripped of all the things we truly love about a fresh squeezed orange juice and pumped with flavor packs," they explain.

I'm sure it would be much easier and perhaps more cost-effective for Skillets to source their orange juice, something so seemingly small on their menu, from a location that is not all the way on the opposite coast. But the care that they put into the juice truly pays off.

It's been just about a year since my visit, and I don't recall what I ate for breakfast at Skillets (I'm sure it was good, though). However, I can tell you every detail about the best orange juice I've ever had and will return for.

I suppose there was a sentimental value to indulging in this citrus experience. The way Skillets takes pride in and serves their orange just results in a mug that beautifully represents a joyous Florida morning.

You can get a glimpse of this sunshine in a glass via Skillets' Instagram post here.

Ben and Jerry's new flavors couldn't be more different from each other. The popular New England based ice cream brand has added three options to their creative family so far this year, and here I will rank them all.

Coincidentally, I tried each of these in one sitting. This was an unplanned taste test. With a house full of young kids, a visiting friend recently stopped by and knew the way to quickly win over the youngsters. Pints of ice cream.

Before I get into explaining which was best, I should note I am not an ice cream (or dessert) enthusiast by any means. Dare I say, I hardly seek out ice cream, even in the summer months. However, if it is put in front of me, I will eat it if it's one of my favorite varieties.

If I'm going for ice cream, though, Ben and Jerry's is easily my brand of choice. Being a New Englander, I have toured their Vermont location a handful of times. Their half-baked in a cone is my go-to choice.

If you are not familiar, these are the Ben and Jerry's new flavors that have rolled out in 2024. Impretzively Fudged, PB S'More, and Marshmallow Sky. Now, it's important to note that Marshmallow Sky is new just to pints. Meaning, it was available in their scoop shops only.

Another flavor entitled Strawberry Cheezecake was also unveiled earlier this year. This did not qualify here as a new flavor ranking because it had been an ice cream flavor (branded "cheesecake). The new "cheeze" version is a vegan dairy-free dessert.

Upon seeing these at my house, I realized they were new. So, instead of selecting one pint to scoop, I took one for the team and realized I needed one proper scoop of each.

My process was to try one at a time and not have all three in the same bowl. Blending flavors might compromise the intended taste.

As a result, there was a flavor where one bite was enough. Another where I couldn't get enough, and the third was somewhere in between.

Here is my official ice cream ranking of Ben and Jerry's new flavors.

It's chocolate ice cream with fudge covered pretzel pieces and pretzel swirl. The problem here is that I do not like chocolate covered pretzels. Oddly enough, I love pretzels alone. Dip them in sugar and ice cream and it either compromises the flavor or classifies as "too much." So, this was my least favorite.

Here we have toasted marshmallow ice cream with peanut butter cups, graham cracker pieces, and marshmallow swirl. The graham crackers are the star of this show. They pair better with the ice cream and chocolate than the typical marshmallow of a S'More. This was certainly a tasty delight, but I feel if the marshmallow swirl did not need to be invited to the party.

Admittedly, I was a little cautious about the blue ice cream color thinking it could suffer from cotton candy syndrome (where too much equals upset stomach city). That is not the case here. It's marshmallow ice cream with swirls, and then chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough. The latter of the cookie dough bites just brings this to another level. Some sweets get forced together and some just belong together and make each other better. That's the case here. It's no wonder Ben and Jerry's decided to promote this flavor. It tastes as cheerful as it looks.