Sprout & Pour to open Nov. 11

Amanda Blake Turner knows the power of juice.

Last November her flu-like symptoms wouldn’t go away. Antibiotics from a misdiagnosis of walking pneumonia didn’t help, either.

At 36 with years of competitive trail racing under her belt, she had never dealt with a serious illness, and now, with a young daughter to care for, her severe fatigue and nausea kept her from getting out of bed.

Relief came at last from her sister, who juices for her kids when they get sick. As it turned out, it was juicing and good nutrition that healed Turner’s body and, in turn, inspired a new dream. 

A year later, she and her business partners are opening Sprout & Pour, a juicing bar in Edgewood, on Nov. 11.

The business started as a stand at farmers markets and an online business last spring. Before long they were selling out at farmers markets and receiving offer after offer for partnerships. Turner, her husband, Andrew, and business partner Carey Baker had spent two weeks using farmers market produce to create juices unique to Birmingham before opening the stand.

 “The more Birmingham embraced our platform, the more we had momentum to establish ourselves as a business,” Turner said, noting that eventually they realized there was demand for a permanent location.

When they started searching for a storefront, they found the walkable, family-friendly community they were looking for in Edgewood. 

“It seemed to have healthy enthusiasm,” Turner said. “People are always running and biking in Homewood. We want it to be a place to hang out, eat something healthy and enjoy the atmosphere.”

Their juices are made by cold-pressing, a process that yields a high amount of nutrition and lasts for four days. Juices also act as an energy booster and supplement made with food, no sugar or preservatives included.

Turner recommends using the juices as a snack between meals, perfect for when you are on the go but want something refreshing. 

“If you are going to spend $4-5 on a juice, you might as well put something in you that uses real food,” she said. “All the benefits you get from eating [fruits and vegetables], you get from juicing them.”

Turner thinks Sunrise tastes like orange juice with its combination of carrot, apple, lemon and ginger, and the Cashew Milk, which crushes raw cashews in a Vitamix blender, tastes like a cinnamon roll in a bottle with its combination of honey, cinnamon and vanilla. Turner’s 2-year-old daughter, Frances, likes the Beet-Nik (beet, carrot, celery, apple and spinach), Spring (kale, cucumber, mint, apple and orange) and Quench (romaine, mint, apple, celery, pineapple and parsley) flavors.

“I have been an athlete most of my life and have seen a lot of trends and people looking for something quick and easy,” Turner said. “Juice is powerful, but it’s part of eating well as a more holistic mission and vision as opposed to a quick fix.”

The juices are priced at $6.99 for 16 ounces, which is two filling servings. It might seem like a steep price, but Turner said it’s the cheapest cold-pressed juice you’ll find. Plus, she notes, it’s made from locally farmed produce, hand juiced, and locally bottled and labeled.

In addition to juices, the new Edgewood juice bar serves up smoothies made with whole foods such as dates, bananas, spinach and peanut butter, as well as smoothie bowls, a concept out of California that blends half of the smoothie ingredients and tops it with ingredients such as berries and granola.

In the near future, they hope to open a “garden bar,” mixing a line of organic spirits, Art in the Age, which come in varieties such as Root, Snap, Rhubarb and Sage, with elixirs made with ingredients similar to the juices.

Turner has worked with Nivada Spurlock at Homewood City Schools to hold juice tastings for teachers in every school as well as offer discounts for their employees. Around Homewood, she is also in partnerships with Salon U, Homewood Friends and Family Chiropractic, Vitalogy and Wheelhouse Salon.

At tastings, Turner said most people are pleasantly surprised and go on to try more flavors.

And it’s better than a multivitamin, too, she said.