I have never seen so many fruits in one place - Passion Fruit, Star Fruit, Mango, Orange, Watermellon, Peach...the list of ones I know goes on and on...and there are plenty that I have never heard of before too. The advantages of the juice bars on Avenida 13 are that all use fresh fruits and the juices are made right in front of you. It makes them a little more expensive, but well worth it.

If you have never had Brazilian juices I recommend that you find time to try at least the following: Maracuja (passion fruit), Caju (from the fruit of the Cashew), and Manga (Mango). Most people have had some version of the first and last, but probably not in the way it's prepared here. Caju is new to most people, and I didn't really like the taste at first. But many people do like it and how many of us really knew that Cashews even had a fruit?

Speaking of preparation, there are three real ways it is done - "Com", "Sem", and "Vitamina". "Com" literally translated means "with", or in this case "with sugar". "Sem" is, of course, "without" sugar, and "Vitamina", which means "vitamin", is with milk and sugar.

Brazilians almost always put sweetners in their juices even though they don't need it in my opinion (although passion fruit can be quite sour). Even when ordering a juice 'Sem' the receiver usually puts a sweetner in it called an 'adocante' or a liquid form of NutraSweet. Only a couple drops are required, as this stuff is very potent...probably some form of pure sacrin.