Want Fresh Weekend Mimosas?

This juicer is the perfect cocktail companion

This So Yummy by Bella Juicer is cute, compact, and inexpensive. Photo courtesy of So Yummy by Bella

I, like many before me, am a Target shopper.

I love the store for its ability to offer an endless array of items that I both need and want. Like most people who shop there, I have been known to walk in for socks and new kitchen tongs, only to come home with hundreds of dollars of merchandise.

So, I’m not sure why it took me so long to finally get around to trying an item from the Target-exclusive So Yummy by Bella kitchen gadget line.

Bella makes the products in collaboration with So Yummy, a site that offers easy and fun recipes and cooking tips. The site, catering to young adults, is a juggernaut, boasting 61 million followers and 234 million monthly views.

The So Yummy by Bella line includes a juicer, a rice cooker, an air fryer, a bullet-type blender, and a pair of mini-slow cookers in bright colors and patterns at a price point that’s under $25 each.

As a singleton, I don’t need expensive, large appliances with a thousand settings that I’ll never use. And who doesn’t want to add some color to their kitchen?

So, when I unboxed the bright red juicer, I was delighted to find it didn’t have a dozen dials or settings — just a simple on/off switch.

The directions are so easy, even I could follow them: plug in the juicer, cut your fruit or vegetables into pieces, and put them into the chute. It’s also recommended that leaves, seeds, stems, and citrus peels be removed.

The juicer was way more efficient than I ever could have hoped for from a tiny machine. In a few seconds, my pink grapefruit, green apples, and celery stalks were all pulverized and juiced. My only problem is that I wished I had more fruit — on a Friday afternoon after a long week, it was pretty satisfying to reduce things to literal liquid and pulp.

When I disassembled the juicer for cleanup, I had a momentary panic attack because it looked like a mess. But, honestly, everything rinsed clean pretty quickly. From now on, I’ll just make a batch of juice to last a few days instead of one glass at a time.

If you’re a serious juicer, this one likely isn’t for you. But if your goal is to have freshly squeezed juice for mimosas and cocktails, it’s 25 bucks well spent.

This little gadget is a bright addition to my tiny galley kitchen: it’s compact and adorable. Plus, it costs as much as a few quarts of store-bought fresh squeezed juice, so it will pay for itself in a hot minute. I can’t wait to make freshly squeezed mimosas this weekend!