After many months of blending our green juices, we finally decided to buy ourselves a proper juicer. After searching the internet for a while, we decided on the
Philips HR1863 Viva Juicer as we had seen
Jason Vale
using one and he seems genuinely evangelical about them.
After looking around, and with the recommendation of the
Juice Master, we thought the
Viva juicer suited our needs best as it was quite cheap, only 79.99 at either Argos or Amazon, compared to the others on the market but not the cheapest.
After using it for a week, I thought I'd write a few things we've learned about our Philips Viva juicer.
Pros
Most
fruit and veg fit into the chute whole although larger apples, some tomatoes and beetroots will need to be cut in half to go down.
It
produces 750ml of fantastic tasting juice which is perfectly suited to our needs.
It is
simple and easy to clean but takes longer than the 1 minute promised on the box - it takes about 3 minutes by my reckoning, with me being neither ultra fast or slow when it comes to washing up. I don't know where they got 1 minute from but that seems unrealistic for most normal people.
Cons
Firstly, it is
mostly made of plastic and does feel a bit weak but, if you have the money and are worried about build quality, the next model up in terms of price will cost >100 so it's quite a jump in price.
It says makes up to 2L of juice but I'm not sure how this is possible, for two reasons. The first is that
the jug that comes with it is only 750ml max. The second being that
after filling one jug, it needs to be cleaned as the pulp fills up inside so much that it cannot produce juice efficiently thereafter - if you try to make 2 full jugs of juice in a row, the second will be full of pulp and lumpy. For this limited amount, it is better suited to people who live alone or with a partner rather than a family.
Which leads on to my next point -
it needs to be cleaned after every jug of juice made. Not a major problem but a tad annoying as, even if you want the same juice, the extraction of juice is poor when it is full to the point of it pouring out much of the pulp/fibre into your juice.
Summary
In short, the
Philips HR1863/01 Viva Juicer is an
ideal juicer for couples or single people looking for a good quality juicer at an affordable price. It makes good juice but is not ideal for large quantities. It is of reasonable build quality and should
last a few years but if you are looking for a family size, the
XL version
should suffice whereas the
Aluminium model would be perfect for those looking for a sturdier machine. Both of these machines will cost significantly more, however.
That's all for now - any questions, leave them in the comments section! Happy juicing and stay healthy!
A nice idea to save throwing away old bank cards and adding to the waste, take a template from your guitar pick, draw around it on your old bank card with a permanent marker and cut out with a pair of scissors or stanley knife to make your own upcycled guitar pick - I think the photo says it all! 
