My mission is to find out if Tropical Smoothie Cafe or Jamba Juice is better. Tropical Smoothie Cafe (Tropical) and Jamba Juice (Jamba) are two stores frequently visited by New Berlin West students during Flex, lunch, study hall, and after school. Tropical and Jamba are both known for their varieties of smoothies. Tropical also has breakfast and lunch food, such as egg wraps, sandwiches, and salads. Jamba has breakfast food like egg sandwiches and smoothie bowls.
Tropical and Jamba are both ten minutes away from school. Their smoothie prices differ by quite a bit. Tropical only offers a 24 oz smoothie, which costs $4.99. Jamba offers a 16 oz, 22 oz, and 28 oz for $4.69, $5.39, and $6.09 respectively. So, Jamba is more expensive than Tropical, but it is nice that Jamba offers more than just one size because oftentimes 24 oz is more than what people can drink. So, how many ounces of smoothie you want is more important than prices.
One major benefit that Tropical has is that it has a drive-thru and Jamba does not. A drive-thru is vital for students because they are often in a time crunch and don’t have time to wait in a busy line. The drive-thru is a way to fast-track their orders.
On the other hand, Jamba has the advantage over Tropical in the respect that it has a delivery option. With this delivery option, students don’t even need to leave school to get Jamba. This is especially nice for underclassmen who don’t have open campus. But, most students don’t want to pay extra for delivery, especially since smoothies can melt pretty quickly. Both places have the option to order ahead so you can pick up your order right away. This is a nice option to have, but most students don’t think far enough ahead to place an order in advance.
I visited Tropical first. There was quite a long line, but I did get my smoothie pretty fast. I got their ‘Fan Fav’ Sunrise Sunset smoothie, which is a blend of strawberries, pineapple, mango, and orange juice. The strawberries with the tropical flavors went really well together. The presentation of the smoothie was really aesthetic and the texture was pretty good too. Despite it tasting delicious, I was not able to finish the whole smoothie because I got too full after drinking ¾ of it. I felt like I was wasting some of my money throwing away the rest of it.
Next, I visited Jamba. The person at the register who took my order was very friendly. I got their ‘Whirl’d Famous” Mango-a-go-go smoothie. This smoothie has a passionfruit mango juice blend, mangos, and pineapple sherbet. When I got my order, the cup was filled all the way to the top with a smooth, creamy, fruity smoothie. It had the perfect texture of iciness without being difficult to drink. My only complaint is that it had a few unblended mango pieces at the bottom, but it was only a minor inconvenience.
Due to the fact that Jamba’s smoothie had a better texture and that I could choose what size I wanted, I would visit Jamba again before I went back to Tropical. Having said that, if I was in a time crunch, I would probably go to Tropical since they have a drive-thru. Really, it depends on the situation to determine which smoothie place to go to.
