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In Appreciation of Delgrosso Apple Juice

Juice has always been a treat for me, so much so that even now, I rarely grab a bottle off the supermarket shelf. Similar to the rebranded Cookie Monster’s statement that cookies are a “sometimes food”, for me, juice—more specifically apple juice—is a “sometimes drink”.

If I’m honest, I don’t remember drinking a lot of apple juice when I was a kid. But I do remember drinking Ribena. Ribena had a stranglehold on every 90s parent. It was put into school lunchboxes daily and was seen as a better alternative to juice that was squeezed out of an actual fruit. Ribena, is labelled as ‘fruit drink’. Upon reading the label, you’ll discover only 5.7% blackcurrant juice (from concentrate) inside. Rest safe knowing that a real blackcurrant has been near the final product.

Apple juice though, was like Vienetta to me.

I remember having Just Juice boxes in my lunchbox, but before that, the gateway to apple juice was birthday parties. A jug filled to the brim with the good stuff—passed around and poured liberally by kids that don’t have the strength or dexterity to pick up and pour such a vessel. At least in a way that saw more than 50% of the liquid end up in the desired cup.

As an adult, regardless of how much I love apple juice, I still barely bring myself to buy it, or pour myself a glass—but there’s one exception, Delgrosso apple juice.

I spent a good amount of my early childhood on the Mornington Peninsula. Living on the Westernport side of the Peninsula, I was often around Red Hill and Main Ridge (apple growing areas) due to my mum’s love of horses. Heading to see the horses we had agisted at Main Ridge, or heading to ‘horsey’ events around the area was a pretty common occurrence on a weekend.

A couple of years ago, serial chip reviewer Mips Chips declared that Boneo’s Hawkes Farm cooked the best hot chips in Victoria. And the crowds went there in droves, me included.

On a weekend it can be up to an hour’s wait for the perfectly cooked hot chips at Hawkes. While one of us waits in line, the other generally chases the kids around, or heads into the Hawkes Farm shop which is filled with freshly grown produce from the farm, along with other delicious products from around the Mornington Peninsula.

While waiting in line to buy some fresh tomatoes, I glanced over at the fridge near the checkout and spied two small bottles of apple juice. These would be perfect for two kids who have been super patient and might buy us some more time. This is the first time I bought Delgrosso apple juice.

What do you do after twisting the lid off a drink destined for your kid? You tax a sip. And that sip changed my life.

I’m 500 words in and I haven’t even described what drinking Delgrosso apple juice is like. And that’s mostly because I can’t.

This apple juice is like no other. No other apple juice manages to maintain its freshness, even when it’s being consumed out of a bottle. They bottle it up in 2L or 600ml bottles, and it’s like crushing an apple above your head and drinking it straight out of the fruit. It is simply the most refreshing drink I’ve ever had in my life.

The Delgrosso family have been growing fruit in the Red Hill area since 1937. “Angelo Delgrosso was one of the pioneers of Red Hill. He set up his fruit and vegetable farm on Stanleys Road when it was a muddy track, no-one owned cars or trucks, and once a week, he used a sleigh with a couple of horses to haul his produce up the hill to Tar Barrel Corner.” states a blog called Brewers Wife.

The next time you find yourself on the Mornington Peninsula, do yourself a favour and seek out the magical apple juice. You can find Delgrosso apple juice at Hawkes Farm, or at their stall at Peninsula markets.


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