The Juice Branch, a Catskill Favorite is About to Branch Out Even More
Natasha Law had long envisioned owning a business where locals could drop in, treat themselves to a delicious beverage, and become part of a tight-knit community.
“I always dreamed of owning my own business — when I was in my 20s, I thought for sure it would be a bar,” says Law. “I just had no idea it would be a juice bar.”
Years later, Natasha and her husband George are now the owners of The Juice Branch, a beloved holistic smoothie and juice spot in Catskill that since 2018 has built an ever expanding set of veggie-and-fruit-based offerings—not to mention acai bowls, toasts topped with lip-smacking spreads, and a range of detoxifying elixirs. Law launched with an already ambitious 80 juices and smoothies on the menu, which has since grown to a mind-blowing 200 offerings, many of which are imbued with unforgettable names such as: the Austin Powers, the Drew Barrymore, or the McLovin’.
So what’s Law’s favorite fresh-ingredient combination out of the hundreds of different juices and smoothies on offer? For her, it’s the Unbelievable. “Spinach, pineapple, avocado, banana, and coconut milk. Soooo good,” she says.
Though the menu offerings today are plenty, the juice bar’s culinary beginnings started much more simply. Years before opening the store, Natasha’s husband George began juicing out of their home. He’d fashion custom blends in the kitchen and offer them to friends who quickly began requesting their favorite combinations.
“Friends started calling asking him to make that drink he made yesterday and even offered to pay him,” says Law recalling how eager people were to taste George’s concoctions. Within a few months, the couple officially planted roots by opening their first juice bar in the village of Catskill. “Catskill is home and I would never have chosen any other space to open my first business.”
And, what a good choice it was. Once the Laws set up shop, the Juice Branch was an immediate success. Regulars came by to pick up their favorite menu items and some eventually dreamed up new recipes altogether. “Members of the community would come up with their own concoctions and if it tasted good we would tell them to name it and it would get added to the menu,” says Law.
To accommodate the stream of visitors who often journeyed across the bridge to get their juice fix in Catskill, the couple expanded the business to Hudson in 2019. And, as with their first, the Hudson location has been such a hit that they hope to open another west-of-the-hudson branch soon, this time in Saugerties. As of now, though, they’re in no rush.
“Maybe in a year or so — we are taking it slow,” says Law, referring to plans for expansion. “We don’t want to take on more than we can handle. We want to keep everything consistent at all locations. It’s hard to control once you surpass more spaces than what we are.”
For Law, a desire to grow is always balanced with a desire to keep it local and invest in the community. For example, they intentionally designed the Catskill location to be a gathering place. “The Juice Branch was like the dope coffee shop in town, but of juice,” she says, of the original shop. “It was a meeting spot for book clubs and a safe place for teens to link up after school, do homework and wait for their parents to pick them up.”
The first shop also became a hub for Catskill’s burgeoning art scene, which was bolstered in August when the non-profit NADA hosted an art fair at Foreland, an exhibition space built in a Civil War-era mill on Catskill Creek.
“All of the artwork at both locations [of the juice bars] are done by local artists,” says Law, adding that the artists include: youth from the local high school, community members and non-violent offenders that are currently incarcerated. Best of all, she sells the art by displaying it in her shops at no cost to the artists.
In reflecting back on the business that she’s created in Juice Branch, Law feels grateful for all that it has brought to her life and to the lives of others. “I feel like I’m making a difference all while doing something that I love. I’ve met so many amazing people since I’ve opened. People whom I now call friends.” She continues: “People tell me that they come everyday to see us because it’s the highlight of their day. And that alone let’s me know I’ve made the right decision.”
Find @thejuicebranch in Catskill and Hudson, New York.
www.thejuicebranch.com
By Nate Freeman
Images by Casey Kelbaugh
Volume 7
