Vermont

The Vermont Juice Company in Burlington Has a Bright Future

Published

2 years ago

March 12, 2024

Press Room

The Vermont Juice Company in Burlington Has a Bright Future

click to enlarge

Daria Bishop
Vermont Juice Company owner Jehan Dolbashian with a tahini mocha smoothie

The Vermont Juice Company offers packs of bright green, orange and red cold-pressed juice with aspirational names promising immunity, abundance, energy and strength. They’re not cleanses, though. They’re plans.

“Because plans change,” Jehan Dolbashian said. Hers certainly did.

Dolbashian, 31, was the first employee Hannah George and Matt Guba hired at their Burlington juice bar when it opened at 77 Main Street in 2014. Then a senior at the University of Vermont, Dolbashian dreamed of working in social and environmental justice nonprofits. Almost a decade later, she was still working occasionally at the store while pursuing a master’s degree in public administration when the company’s founders told her they were ready to move on.

“I couldn’t say no,” she said. “I’ve had a connection to this place since day one.”

In April 2022, Dolbashian became Vermont Juice Company’s owner-operator. The shop — and its core lineup of cold-pressed juices — has been “super consistent” over its 10 years, she said. Now, she’s expanding its local partnerships, sourcing ingredients from women-run businesses and farms such as Burlington’s ALKAME CO and Charlotte’s Head Over Fields.

click to enlarge Cold-pressed juices - DARIA BISHOP

Daria Bishop
Cold-pressed juices

Dolbashian is also reflecting on the business’ role in the often-fraught health and wellness industry, where people can feel excluded or intimidated and a focus on diet culture can be harmful. Instead of targeting a specific demographic, she said, “we’re for everybody with a body.”

The language change — from “cleanse” to “plan” — is a big part of that. Dolbashian said she supports customers who want to follow the ritual of a juicing plan, spending a day (or three or five) consuming just raw fruit and vegetable juices in hopes of releasing toxins and restoring nutrients. But personally, she doesn’t do them anymore. They don’t make her feel good.

If you set out to spend the day drinking juice and your body tells you that you’re hungry, “You should eat,” Dolbashian said. “Changing our relationship with food and beverage is so vital, and it’s a lot of undoing.”

Juice is still the shop’s focus, but under Dolbashian’s ownership, Vermont Juice Company has started offering more snack items, including housemade vegan desserts such as PB&J cups, cheesecakes and tahini cups. The latter ($5) inspired me to double down on tahini-filled items when I stopped in on a recent rainy day, after navigating past construction on lower Main Street.

I paired the sweet treat — which Dolbashian said nods to her family and Armenian heritage — with a tahini mocha smoothie ($13). The combo of oat milk, Lumus Bread & Coffee cold-brew, ALKAME CO mushroom chocolate, banana, Vermont maple syrup and cocoa nibs with a tahini-maple smear around the cup was on the savory side of sweet. It reminded me of the peanut butter-banana smoothie I drank for months straight when I ran a coffee shop in New York City. That drink, from a cart outside a busy subway stop, often made me late for work.

This one gave me the boost I needed to meet a deadline — early, in fact — and reminded me that the cheery shop is worth a stop.

Source link

Related Topics:Burlington cold-pressed juice Featured Juice The Vermont Juice Company

Click to comment

Vermont

Wrong-way driver stopped on I-89, charged with DUI

Published

3 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Wrong-way driver stopped on I-89, charged with DUI

BOLTON, Vt. (WCAX) – A wrong-way driver was safely stopped on Interstate 89 overnight Sunday.

Vermont State Police say just before 12:30 a.m., they stopped the car near marker 77, near Bolton.

The driver, Denise Lear, 60, of Revere, was charged with driving under the influence and gross negligent operation.

Lear is expected in court Monday.

Source link

Vermont

Women’s Lacrosse Bested in Burlington by Vermont – University at Albany Great Danes

Published

15 hours ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Women’s Lacrosse Bested in Burlington by Vermont – University at Albany Great Danes

Score: UAlbany 4, Vermont 14

Location: Virtue Field | Burlington, Vt.

Records: UAlbany (10-5, 5-1 America East) | Vermont (8-6, 4-1 America East)

Short Story: UAlbany women’s lacrosse fell to the Vermont Catamounts on Saturday afternoon.

Key Stats

Grace Cincebox recorded a total of 14 saves with 13 goals allowed for a .565 save percentage.

Ravan Marsell led the Great Danes with two points on one goal and one assist.

Four different UAlbany players scored in the contest.

Reggie Williams was the team’s leader with three ground balls.

Delilah Mile caused a team high three turnovers.

How It Happened

The Catamounts came out of the gates hard and heavy, scoring all three goals between both sides in the first quarter.

Vermont would take an 8-0 lead in the second quarter before Amanda Williamson found the back of the net on a women-down goal to put the Great Danes on the board and make it 8-1.

The Great Danes would allow one more goal in the first half to trail 9-1 after 30-minutes of play.

Grace Cincebox would enter the half with 10 saves.

Riley Forthofer started the Great Danes off in the second half to make it a 9-2 game, before Vermont put up three more goals to take a 12-2 lead entering the final quarter of play.

Mya Carroll and Ravan Marsell both scored on back-to-back free-position goals to make it a 12-4 game.

The Catamounts finished the game with two more goals to take the win 14-4.

Up Next
The Great Danes will next have a bye week and wait to see the outcome of next week’s Vermont vs UMass Lowell game to see who will host the America East Tournament.

Social Central: Stay up to date with UAlbany women’s lacrosse by following the team on Instagram (@UAlbanyWLax), Facebook (UAlbany Women’s Lacrosse), and X (@UAlbanyWLax) for all of the latest news and highlights throughout the year.

Source link

Vermont

Vermont lands two cities in America’s top 15 happiest list

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Vermont lands two cities in America’s top 15 happiest list

Is creativity the missing key to better health?

Research suggests creative activities like art, music and crafts may benefit mental health as much as other key health habits.

Here’s another reason Vermont is the best New England state: It’s home to one of the top 5 happiest cities in the United States.

Plus, it has another within the top 15.

Massachusetts, on the other hand, doesn’t even break the top 50. Nor, does Connecticut or Rhode Island.

The personal finance website analyzed 182 of the largest cities in the country, and ranked Boston 63rd overall. Although the city is home to some of the nation’s top universities, high-ranking hospitals, and well-regarded companies, it didn’t break the top 50.

To get the rankings, WalletHub compared the cities using 29 metrics, including life-satisfaction index, depression rate, poverty rate, job security, and acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, and cities were assigned an overall happiness score.

Here’s a look at how the cities ranked.

South Burlington is No. 4 happiest city, Burlington is No. 11

South Burlington came on top for Vermont in WalletHub’s list of the happiest cities in the United States, ranking at No. 4. In scored very high for emotional and physical well-being coming in at the No. 4 spot, which made up for coming in No. 48 for community and environment. It was No. 9 for income and employment ranking. That gave it a total happiness of score of 70.15

Burlington wasn’t far behind at all, taking the No. 11 spot on the list and a happiness score of 67.54. It’s highest score was for income and employment ranking where it came second. It ranked No. 13 for community and environment and No. 21 for emotional and physical well-being.