Cold Press Gets Hot Through Tonic Juicery in Carbondale

The cold-pressed juice craze came to Carbondale in July 2014, when Lindsay and Micah Mills opened Tonic Juicery in a courtyard tucked off Main Street. Less than a year later their business is taking off.

“It keeps us pretty busy, selling smoothies and juices,” Micah says.

Tonic Juicery serves cold-pressed juices, smoothies, tonics and nut milks derived from a variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs. Like the Emerald City, made with cucumber, celery, green apple, kale, collards, parsley, ginger and lemon. Or Thyroid Balance, a combination of cucumber, celery, pear, fennel, young Thai coconut, dandelion greens, parsley, ginger and lemon. Or Super Fresh, made with grapefruit, pear, pineapple, chia seed and lime.

The menu divides the drinks into four groups: “Greens” are made mostly but not entirely with vegetables. “Refreshers” are primarily made with a mix of fruits. “Tonics” combine roots, garlic and ginger, honey and more. And finally “Mylks” are made with nuts, dates, cacao, Himalayan sea salt and alkaline or filtered waters.

The cold-press juicing system is a decades-old process that involves grinding fruits and vegetables into a slurry. Every drop of juice is then squeezed out under the tremendous pressure of the press. Cold pressing maintains the temperature of the fruit and limits oxidation, according to the Tonic Juicery website. “The cold press method yields the purest form of extracted juice with the highest density of nutrients and flavor.”

Lindsay is trained in holistic health coaching, so she helps customers with juice cleanses along with running the business side of Tonic Juicery. Micah is in charge of customer service and daily operations.

The shop’s Norwalk cold-press juicer is currently running nonstop from open to close, so they are investing in a commercial scale juicer, the FS20, manufactured by Freshly Squeezed.