Novis Vita Juicer Review
The Swiss have a good track record as a country for strong design in both form and function. They now think they have cracked the juicer, enabling it to be a multifunctional 4 in 1 system that can output purées, smoothies and juices by hosting a citrus press and a centrifugal blender. But the Novis Vita Juicer really caught our attention because it claims to extract 20% more juice than its competitors, so we’ve put this exact claim to the test.
Design
Unanimously we think the Novis Vita Juicer, available in 8 strong colours (orange, red, yellow, black, green, white, blue and cream), hosts a luxurious exterior design. Only uninterrupted by a single control upon its rounded 100% recycled die-cast aluminium body, with splashes of chrome-like stainless steel. It’s a refined unorthodox juicer design for any kitchen, and fits underneath our kitchen cupboards - at 43cm in height with no attachments equipped.
At 2.5kg it’s likely to be an appliance you’d rather find a permanent home for in the kitchen, and don't worry about leaving it on textured wooden surfaces as the juicer's air-feet absorb vibrations so it remains steady in action. Additionally the removable Drophold spout design assures that after using the juicer excess juice won’t drip out when the spout is lifted horizontal.
Multifunctional 4 in 1 System
You might be wondering just how the Novis Vita Juicer is a 4 in 1 system. Well to best answer that you have to understand that the juicer has two core interchangeable parts, a citrus press and centrifuge disc.
With the latter in gains another function where we can configure an arm to scrape the sides of the centrifugal wall to create thicker produce like smoothies and purées. The final function is Vitatec, a patented dual processing method where citrus fruit is squeezed via the citrus press and then the centrifuge disc processes some of the pulp and all juice, in an attempt to maximise yield with smoothness. Every attachment is constructed from strong Trident plastic; in the industry this type of plastic is known for its strength and rigidity and for not fading.
Cleanup
Whilst the Novis Juicer doesn't beat the simplicity we’ve come to adore from the Retro Cold Press Juicer, which can be satisfactorily cleaned with daily usage just by flushing two cups of water through it, the Novis Vita Juicer's attachments and spout are all dishwasher safe, which is a certification the Retro Cold Press Juicer didn't boast. We thought it was well worth manually discarding pulp around the centrifuge beforehand so as not to clog our dishwasher. If you’re without such a cleaning appliance, it takes around 5-10 minutes to clean all the parts. Regardless of the cleaning method used, the ability to separate the floor of the centrifuge means it always comes up completely clean.
Results
Orange Juice: Our first point of call upon taking the juicer out of the box was trademark orange juice, which we created using the centrifuge attachment. This is when we quickly realised that the citrus press is there for a reason; for after juicing two oranges using just the centrifuge it resulted in the juices' sweetness being clouded by the incorporation of pulp. In total contrast the citrus press alone, which spins at 105rpm, demonstrated purer tasting juice that yielded amazingly well. Interestingly the Vitatec method delivered far more microfibre heavy juices, but the yields were indeed around 20% more than the citrus press alone. Each half orange we held firmly on the spinning press was bone dry in around 20 seconds. In one session we juiced 8 half oranges consecutively, which proved no strain on our hands and a particular surprise was that it’s a clean method - our kitchen wasn't covered in splashed juice.
Grapefruit Juice: We simply made this juice to see if the Citromax conical shape press could be comfortably used with larger citrus fruits like a grapefruit. Indeed it could, and the shape of the press genuinely aided the direction of the juice into the juicer and seeds too are caught in a strainer. The grapefruit juice freshly pressed is a radically different product to that sold by shops, being sweet and silky smooth.
Orange, Nectarine & Carrot Juice: A brilliant juice to see how easy it is to switch attachments; and we discovered that apart from a few drips it’s not a clumsy process, but one that does take time and effort. The juice itself was rich and contained substantial fibre, but most importantly the taste wasn't at all bitter due to the two individual processes, so it was similar in taste to a masticated juice. The orange was juiced by the citrus press and we switched over to the centrifuge for the de-stoned nectarine and carrots. Although a reasonably hard produce, the carrots whizzed through the juicer, and due to their length we noticed that the design encourages hard produce to be naturally pulled inwards, so we only needed light pressure on the tamper to assist.
Apple & Raspberry Juice: Something we adore about the masticating Retro Cold Press Juicer is that whole fruit can be inserted into its fruit chute. In total contrast, one of the biggest drawbacks in design we have encountered with the Novis Vita is its chute when using the centrifugal attachment. Produce of the size of an average apple has to be begrudgingly prepared by slicing it in half so it will fall down the chute. This is an annoying drawback, but nevertheless the particular juice in question was delicately smooth and we did use mildly thawed frozen raspberries to experiment how they would do, and the juicer's centrifuge impressively dealt with these and didn't cut the seeds, instead it prevented them from entering the juice.
Spinach, Broccoli Stem & Lemon Juice: Broccoli stems are a fantastically hard produce to test a juicer's torque. The Novis Vita Juicer self-regulates its speed, based on pulp consistencies, up to 2000rpm from the 240W motor and it didn't even stutter as we forced down a chunky whole broccoli stem into the centrifuge. Before the broccoli we inserted the 2 cups of spinach, and out of curiosity we inspected the juicer to see how much pulp remained, there was roughly half a teaspoon and this initial juice was creamy smooth due to the quantity of microfibre. Admittedly as combinations go it may not sound the most pleasant but the lemon takes the earthy edge off and it’s actually a rather refreshing juice on a hot day.
Banana, Apple & Raspberry Smoothie: Going in we did have some doubts as to how genuine the smoothies produced with the Vita would be, but they’re the real deal. A fact of the juicer is that it doesn’t have a great deal of capacity to hold liquid; around 30ml. This means it does not mix the different ingredient liquids within itself and also that around 30ml is left at the bottom of the juicer after completion; tilting the juicer forwards helps remove this, but doesn't quite work as well as a spoon does. Each ingredient layers itself on top of the former as the juice pours from the juicer into your chosen receptacle, so a final stir is really necessary to combine the flavours because the appliance can't do it for you. This particular smoothie combination was creamy, sweet and made the utmost of the ingredients, hardly leaving any pulp behind. Also we were consuming the one fruit that is unable to be juiced, the banana.
Overall
If your heart's set on a centrifugal juicer, this is one of the most visually majestic designs we’ve yet to see. Granted the nature of the different attachments the Novis Vita Juicer includes is a little bit off-putting, but the system has a noble advantage in that it halts the combination of the bitter pith usually associated with centrifugal juicers because it sports a citrus press. Moreover the centrifuge attachment makes quick work of extracting respectable fibre-heavy juice yields from harder produce. Of course, as well as juice we can also output purées and smoothies and this is where we think the ratio of value the Novis juicer displays is actually a bit more generous than similar centrifugal juicer competitors at its £300 price point.
