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5 From The Hi5e: Summertime ‘Bee Inspired’ Gift Guide

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We bees know what we like when it comes to the hive-and-honey stuff. And with end-of-year teacher-present time just weeks away (and plenty of reasons to pre-stock hostess or birthday gifts for the summer), we’re having a little summertime funnertime with a roundup of beeautiful honey-inspired stuff we love.

Whether it’s for your face, your belly, your bod, or your walls, there’s honey- and bee-inspo all around. And we luv that, since, yaknow, we think bees are the proverbial bees’ knees.

(And hey: Since we can’t possibly try everything out there, if you’ve some things you want us to shine a light on, reach out and touch us by contacting TJS’s Content Director Jen Chase at jen@juicestandard.com and we’ll consider your suggestions. After all…#ItTakesAHive!)

May Lindstrom’s Honey Mud 

As creamy and dreamy as a TJS nut milk, this mud might be your new favorite way to get clean by getting dirty.

What? Daily wash and occasional enzymatic face mask for bees with temperamental skin.

Why? If your complexion requires orchid-like care, this magical mud is a gentle yet potent combo of raw honey with bee pollen and propolis; white halloycite clay; colloidal silver; and witch hazel, mixed with a variety of the most exotically concocted oils that smell like a cross between sweetly chocolated molé sauce and a rain forest. Made in small batches in Los Angeles by May Lindstrom (who created her treats to salve her own problem-child skin and now has a cultish following), when asked about the mud, the company’s wholeheartedly helpful Director of Care, Elena Alarie, wrote to specifically say that, “hormonally reactive skin will especially love the Honey Mud.” It’s divine.

Mike’s Hot Honey

This. This on everything. Use it. A lot.

What? Spicy honey made in Brooklyn, New York, by infusing the sweet stuff with chilies.

Why? “Sweet heat” at its finest, this crack-in-a-bottle truly is hella versatile. We like it for topping off avo-toast; dribbling it over nut-studded Greek yogurt; stirred into tea; and for drawing our initials on every blessed slice of our favorite well-done take-out veggie pizza.

 

Medicine Mama’s Sweet Bee Magic™

For when you want that one thing that does errything? Grab this.

What? An all-in-one balm designed to relieve skin irritations and is safe for the whole family.

Why? This one-‘n-done jar of goodness quiets the chatter of your noisy, over-stuffed medicine cabinet by replacing different lotions, potions and salves with one thing that’s safe for pretty much every skin issue. From being a regular old moisturizer to an ointment for burns, cuts, scrapes, buggy-bites, cold sores, and even sunburns, similar to May Lindstrom’s Honey Mud, Sweet Bee Magic™ also contains honey, bee pollen, propolis, and royal jelly…all of which, when combined, are incredibly healing.

Hexagonal Shelves by Grace Sarris

Grace Sarris’ hexagonal shelf, hung solo.

What? A set of five hexagonal-shaped shelves that are as useful as they are beautiful…especially for the bee-lover in your life.

Hexagonal shelves, grouped.

Why? Whether hung singly, in groups or all together, these shelves made from reclaimed wood by artisan Grace Sarris can be used to create an eye-catching focal point or as a thematic link connecting different rooms in a

house. Plus, they’re all the better for being sold in Sarris’ Etsy store, since we here at TJS love to #supportlocal. (The Internets is considered local, right?)

 

Bee Pollen by Moon Juice

Chewy, citrusy and kinda floral, this is the tastiest straight-from-the-jar pollen we’ve tried.

What? A month’s supply of jarred bee pollen, sold by veritable adaptogen alchemist Amanda Chantal Bacon’s California-based company, Moon Juice.

Why? This stuff? So not your mother’s bee pollen (and if you were fed this stuff as a kid it’s not your bee pollen, either!). With a consistency unlike most of what’s out there, Moon Juice’s bee pollen is chewy and almost citrusy with a floral nose (and yeah, sounds like we’re talking wine). We’d normally stick to local bee pollen for its allergy-fighting properties, but this stuff is so bomb—and, so rich with protein and vitamin B-everythings—we don’t care that it’s not from our neighborhood…we crave it straight from the jar.

5 From The Hi5e: Earth Day’s Dead Sexxxy

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From time to time The Humble Bee runs a feature with five items about one topic we think is relevant to your health or well being (…or, something funny; or a swath of info you shouldn’t live without). Called 5 From The Hi5e, our hope is to give you the skinny on stuff you’ll find rad. This month?

For all you likeminded bees who do your best to recycle, to put your money where your intention is and just be a good worker-bee renter on this planet for your time here, in honor of Earth Day on 22 April we discuss the ways that TJS gives back to the universe through mindful practices we employ at our three stores. Hopefully, learning a little more about what we do will make you even happier that you choose to juice with us. Beecause remember: #ItTakesAHive. 

To The Juice Standard, every day is earth day.

That’s not to sound trite; but our simple juicy truth is that the environmental practices that TJS employs to stay kind to Mamas Nature and Earth are so important to this company, some of ‘em are written right into our standards. (Need a refresher? Click here.)

To us, that there is a day dedicated to global awareness of the actual globe is as good a reason as any to wax poetic about some of the high-fiveable things our company does to help our corner of Nevada—the world, really!—tread as lightly on this earth as possible.

1) We Know How To Pulp, Pulp It Up.

We’re extremely proud that from the get-go, the produce TJS has pressed into pulp has been donated to our local farmers’ and home gardeners’ composting collections to the tune of about 40 gallons a week. (Hooray, desert farming!)

We have families come in on the reg from places like Pahrump to get buckets of compost for their chickens—carrots are a big winner, so we hear—and as the spring unfolds, we’re even more proud that we’ll be actualizing a long-held hope of co-founders Jamie Stephenson and Marcella Williams when TJS partners with Glen Taylor Elementary School (go, Titans!) and its garden club by donating pulp and peels to help feed the club’s “red wrigglers” (worms!) through worm tubes that Glen Taylor’s girl scout troop built and implemented throughout the school’s five-bed garden. (The school also sports an herb spiral and hummingbird habitat.)

TJS is eager to infiltrate neighboring local school systems to support kids’ gardening programs just like Glen Taylor’s…one compost donation at a time. And since each of our 16-ounce glass Singletons hold the juice of roughly 2-3 pounds of produce, you bet yer sweet bippy we have a lot to share!

All of this pulpy stuff brings up a tender point: People sometimes harp about the waste with juicing (like this old article from Modern Farmer did a year ago). But the truth is, there’s waste in pretty much all corners of the culinary world, from the citrus we peel to the fat we trim to the chaff we separate from wheat. As our bees know, TJS holds environmentalism near and dear. Hopefully other areas of restaurantdom will, too, as media shine a light on mindful topics like composting and how much more can be done to reduce waste in this world.

2) Our Glasses Are Always Full AF.

Last fall, Jamie and Marcella made the choice to end TJS’s 3-and-a-half year program of accepting back our bees’ empties, sanitizing them, and re-bottling TJS’s juices and nut milks into responsibly recycled 16-ounce glass “Singletons.” (Get the full down-low here.)

So why’d we stop? Keyword in that above sentence was “responsible,” as in it was no longer responsible to use so much water to complete our Singletons’ #CircleOfLife. We are in a desert, after all. So, yeah: Not responsible.

Two good things came out of shifting TJS’s environmental perspective from recycling to water preservation: Singletons dropped in price by a buck, and since our neck of Nevada started curbside recycling pickup, there were still options for our bees to do the right thing. Cuz remember: #ItTakesAHive. #AndSimba.

3) Like Sands From The Juice Glass….

Speaking of Singletons, did you know that when our glass bottles break down, they turn to silica? Dasright: Glass is basically silica. So even if bottles weren’t recycled (which we know you bees would never dream of not doing), our Singletons will someday become, yaknow: a beach.

This point really goes back to Jamie’s and Marcella’s choice to not bottle in plastic…opting for the vessel that keeps on giving for, like, ever. You can do your part, too: bee like us and choose glass whenever you can.

4) Feed The Bees, Feed Thyself.

File under advocacy: You can help increase the bee population by planting shrubs and trees that attract our little fuzzy-bodied friends. With the bee beeing TJS’s mascot (and the underlying reason for being for Jamie and Marcella), we care hella lot about the plight of the bee (click here for more on this topic in this month’s newsletter). Thanks to organizations like The Honeybee Conservancy, we can learn how to help attract them so they can bee all they can bee, too.

5) Feed Thyself, Heal Thyself.

Think that food can bee a first line of defense in how we care for our WHeatlh™? Earth Day is the perf day for thinking about the choices you can make about where you shop, and what you get once you’re there. And ultimately, how you stock your kitchen, pantry and medicine cabinet is how you’ll stack your gut against disease, malaise, and all kinds of other words that end in “se.”

Tomatoes at the Charles Square Farmer’s Market in Cambridge, Mass. (aka, near Hahvid Yahd).

So what can you do? Hit a farmers market; grow container herbs; plant a garden; buy organic when possible (or consider sacrifices in other areas of life to feed your organics habit). And what about once you get all that goodness at home? How can you feed thyself to heal thyself…from the inside out? Drink water! Or, donate to a water conservancy; volunteer at a food pantry; serve food to the homeless; replace something in your med-cab with an essential oil that came from a source that takes good care of its farmers; buy fair-trade coffee; hell, buy local coffee (like what we get).

From what you eat to the doctors you seek, a thousand little choices about where you shop, what you buy, who treats you, and what you do with with your knowledge adds up to a WHealthy™ handful of things that not only support the people you love…but they support the people who provide the things you love. There’s positive power in that on Earth Day, and it’s positively powerful to pepper these elements (and more!) throughout your everyday life.

(Can you feel the love tonight or what?)

5 From The Hi5e: Recipes We Love

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From time to time we run a feature with five items about one topic we think is tip-top relevant to your health, or your well being, or something solid funny, or info you just shouldn’t live without. Called “Five From The Hi5e,” the hope is to deliver the skinny on stuff you’ll find more than moderately rad. Like this featurette on how some of us TJS bees do our best to insert comfort into our lives during what’ll probably be the last legit month of winter.

Ed. note: This month? More than five. Couldn’t help ourselves. Sorry. Bonus for you.

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Jamie Stephenson (Co-founder/COO)

For Jamie, “soothe” is the word when it comes to winter care for her bod and belly that keeps her comfortable no matter then temps. “For my health, I drink juice daily (even at home); I love TJS’s Lipospheric vitamin C packs; and I love adding collagen to my coffee.”

As for her self care? Indulging in soft-spun natural fabrics like cashmere keeps her skin happy while sticking to beeswax candles (right?) scented with gardenia or jasmine sets the tone for any room she’s in. And her final tip? “I put coconut oil on the ends of my hair at night and wrap my hair in a bun. Then, I shampoo/condition as usual the next morning.”

If you’ve seen her hair you’ll start doing this, too.

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Mallory Dawn (Creative Director)

Mallory’s artistry isn’t limited to how she beautifies the TJS brand as her other pursuits include creating art for her #girlboss company Ice Cream and Cupcakes…and, making up recipes at home. This busy bee had these concoctions to share. One’s for when you’ve got a sore throat or sickness you just can’t kick. The other is a kickass hair tonic. (What’s up TJS girls and hair?!)

MD’s Garlicky Grateful

1) Mince 2 large cloves of raw garlic and let it aerate on your cutting board for 5-10 minutes (this activates the microbial properties of raw garlic). Then combine it with 4 ounces of TJS’s Bee Grateful.

How so simple? Garlic is powerful natural antibiotic and reported to be roughly one-fiftieth as powerful as penicillin. It’s also a known anti-fungal and anti-viral, so downing it as a preventative will keep the doc away better than a peck of apples…but you have to eat it raw. Garlic has a compound called allicin, AKA the “odiferous” oily liquid that seeps from garlic when you crush it. Cooking garlic kills allicin’s potent healing properties, but eat it raw and you could potentially stave off pretty much anything that could ail you.

Just be aware that breath and bod can emit garlic’s unique daresay “bouquet” long after you’ve swallowed. To be kind to those around you (and trust us…they’ll notice), here are some good n’ funny tips on how to beat g-breath. (Hint? Mustard. Who knew.)

MD’s Fantastique Tonique

“I have a homemade hair tonic I’m totally obsessed with: I mix 3-4 drops each of organic peppermint, rosemary and geranium oil with 6 ounces of spring water, and I put it into a small spritz bottle that I leave in the fridge.

“After showering, I lightly spray it directly into my scalp, massage it in for a few minutes, and using a wet brush, I brush my hair upside down.It’s done wonders for my hair’s volume and stimulating my scalp! Especially after years of extensions and working in the sun and heat!

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Marcella Williams (Co-founder/CEO)

For our multitasking mum of three who beeautifully balances her TJS duties with arguably her most important job, Marcella’s comfort comes from keeping her brood (and herself) healthy. On her list? One old-timey remedy, and one for the modern age: Good ol’ fashioned chicken noodle soup, and TJS’s shot flight.

If you haven’t indulged in a TJS shot flight yet they’re potent, 2- to 3-ounce designed to be a simple and fast addition to your health protocol…whether as a preventative, or as a something you take once you’re already a little under the weather. TJS serves three recipes, which can be enjoyed individually or in succession: the Wellness Shot, Flu Shot and E3LIve® Shot. (You can read more about how good they are for WHealth™ here in this Vegas Seven feature from last year.)

Bennie of the shots? You can indulge in them at any time of day…though some bees like to one-and-dun-’em first thing in the morning.

As for Marcella’s shout-out to chicken noodle soup, if you haven’t tried your hand at making homemade broth for said soup, read below because our last installment has a recipe for that, too. (Nice segue, huh?)

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Jen Chase (Content Director)

Jen’s diet of choice comprises nearly no meat and nominal grains, but like Marcella, her go-to food for when she’s a sickie or wants to throw comfort on someone else in a hurry is homemade chicken broth with bites of teensy-cut pasta…think orzo, stars, alphabet letters, or pastina.

Note: Her all-time fave plant-based broth recipe is this tried-and-true from the New York Times, and it’ll make you forget you ever ate chicken. But when only chicken broth will do, here’s Jen’s no-measure Kitchen-Sink Broth:

1) Remove the meat from 1 store-bought rotisserie chicken (preferably organic and without hormones…you know the drill), and save for other uses. Then, into a stock pot add the chicken carcass (with skin) along with two celery ribs, two carrots, one large onion, and one small handful each of whole peppercorns and whole cloves.

(Optional Awesome Add-Ins? A handful of whatever fresh herbs you have on hand—even fennel fronds; if you happened to have made a pre-cooking cocktail with freshly squeezed lemon, throw in half a retired lemon rind (seeds and all…they’ll strain out); and if you freeze your Parmigiano rinds when your cheese is gone—and here’s why you must!—add a healthy hunk into your broth too. Adds killer taste.)

Then, add to the lot enough cold water to cover (4-6 cupsish) and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer for about an hour (longer if you want stock, less time for broth).

When done, strain the liquids from the solids and add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. At this point you can cool the broth to congeal it and scrape away the fat. When you want a bowl o’, comfort, cook pasta on the side and add it to your soup serving, finishing it off with coarsely grated parm, hot red pepper flakes, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

5 From The Hive: Nate Roybal

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Five questions. Five answers. One topic.

From time to time we run a feature we think is tip-top relevant to your health or your well being (or, something we think is solid humor you just shouldn’t live without). Called “5 From The Hive,” the hope is to deliver the skinny on stuff you’ll find more than moderately rad. 

Since it’s the start of a new year and we’ve got all the warm feels about the internal team that helps us do what we do, this featurette shines a light on Nate Roybal, a front-of-house supervisor who’s worked with us for just shy of 2 years. In what feels like no time at all, he earned himself a hallowed rung on the TJS ladder for his golden palate: he helped develop our Honey Nātado bevvie that launched last year to the delight of mouths across Las Vegas as well as other recipes across the brand. (Plus, like many of his TJS colleagues, Roybal’s positive Yelp reviews shows his passion for TJS products come with a healthy dose of personality, warmth and that guiding hand our bees have become known for).  

We love highlighting our colleagues beehind our counters, beecause our bees make their work more than a j-o-b. Below, Roybal shares his knowledge and personal journey toward WHealth™ and glowing self with the kind of friendliness we all want to see out there in retaildom. And we’re glad he’s on our team.

Here are Nate’s “5 From The Hive.” 

TJS: Tell us a little about your background. What brought you to TJS; what in your past history—personal or professional—made you think you’d be a good fit for our juicy lifestyle; and what do you do day-to-day at TJS?

Nate: Well, I was at a point in my life where I was smoking a pack a day, had terrible sleep cycles and horrendous eating habits. I felt I looked like shit, and felt worse then I looked.
Now: I had heard about The Juice Standard before and thought it was a cool idea for a business…especially in this city where health is not something that is taken into consideration very often. So when I happened upon an ad on Craigslist one day saying the company was looking for employees, I just had to go for it. It wasn’t just because I loved the idea of working for new, budding, local company, it was a way out of my then-current health nightmare. (It didn’t hurt that I had 10-plus years in customer service.)

TJS: You’ve been such an integral person here at TJS that a drink was named after you (the Honey Nātado…and it’s delicious). What was the impetus for the drink and the others you’ve helped concoct? What in your personal background led you down your own path toward recipe development and, as you probs know we like to say, “WHealth™ and glowing self?”

Nate: “Hi, I’m Nate, and I’m a coffee addict.”
I’ve always worked around coffee, and I’ve always drunk coffee, so when it mixed with my constant need to be making something or creating something, I just went nuts. Luckily the drinks I’ve developed have been met with some pretty positive reviews. I wouldn’t say that I had set inspirations for the drinks that I have made, but I guess it’s moreso that I can’t shut my brain off, so my head is constantly going through different ideas and combinations that can prove to be awesome…or really bad. Thankfully none of the horrible ones snuck through.

TJS: In your opinion, what’s something you wish people thought of more/did more to help their own health? And what’s the thing in your own life that you rely on most to keep yourself balanced?

Nate: I wish people would be more open minded—more willing to reach outside their foodie comfort zones (and the nonsense that many pill-pushing pseudo doctors tell them) and realize that the best doctor/pharmacist is good ol’ Mother Earth.
I am not balanced in the least—it’s a Looney Tunes cartoon on speed, 24/7 in this head—but what keeps the voices at bay is doing anything creative… drawing, sculpting, writing, making new recipes, etc. I love making and creating things. Am I good at it? That’s not the point. The point is to do it for myself. That makes it much more rewarding.

TJS: What do you think it takes to proverbially “bring it to the counter” at TJS, so to speak? What seems to make customers so comfortable in our stores? You mentioned your customer service experience: Think it helped shape you into the salesperson/educator you are today? Basically…what’s your secret to connecting with our Bees?

Nate: I just like being real with people and for people to be real with me. I like joking with people, and usually it opens them up to have a better time…which makes me have a better time. Life is too short to be serious. Plus, I love passing on the knowledge of nature’s awesome benefits and what it gives our bodies and our souls.

TJS: When you’re talking about TJS, what do you like to tout the most? What does the company do that makes you most proud to be a part of it? What do you think sets TJS from the rest?

Nate: I’m proud that we have an unwavering commitment to our customers’ health, and I’m proud of the quality of our products. We put those first, always and forever.

(And we know this is number six, but inquiring minds wanna know: What’s your fave juice?)

WHealthy™, all the way.