Delicious fruit smoothies are Allison Winger’s forte, and as a seven-year employee of Jamba Juice — and the general manager of its new store on 45th — she knows the smoothie making business like the back of her hand. Allison tells all about what it takes to make it in the industry, Jamba Juice’s new home, and their secret menu. She was also kind enough to give all of the Messenger staff gift cards: she knows what’s up.

So, how long have you worked at the new Jamba Juice?

Well, we opened on November 1st, and I started training two weeks before that.

How is the training, what does it entail?

Well, it’s like five days where everyone’s here and it’s like 8 hours a day doing all the learning all together, so it’s pretty fun.

Does the training include instructional smoothie making videos?

No, no videos, just live and in-person.

Are there any smoothies that are particularly hard to make?

Um, I would say the less popular ones are usually harder to make because people don’t memorize the recipe as quickly. So like all the classics everyone kind of knows first, but it’s the less popular ones, like I would say the Raspberry Tea, the Green Tea’ people don’t order as much so we forget how to make those . We all have the recipes out, its just we have to look as opposed to doing it by memory.

What’s the most popular flavor at this store?

I would definitely say like the underground smoothies, like the Pink Starburst, or the White Gummy Bear. The ones that we have on the [secret] menu are the Pink Starburst, White Gummy Bear and the Strawberry Shortcake.

Who comes up with the secret flavors?

Mostly high school kids who have kinda made up their own, or Jamba Juice employees that make up their own, and people ordered them enough that Jamba put them on the register, they’re not up on the menu, but they’re in high demand.

Which is your favorite flavor?

My favorite is probably Pomegranate Paradise.

Do you get to make up your own flavors?

Yeah, we make up our own, that’s kind of how the other ones get started too.

Have you come up with any good ones?

Um, yeah, at the Queen Anne store, we used to do a peanut butter and jelly one, that one was pretty good. We also used to make a pumpkin one which was also pretty good.

So you worked at the Queen Anne branch?

Yeah, I worked there for seven years. I started out as a sophomore in high school and they offered me a promotion when I graduated from the UW, so here I am, got a new store.

Over the past 7 years have you had any crazy customers?

We love all our customers. I mean you get a lot of eccentric people, especially in Seattle. I had a lady ask me for a Razzmatazz smoothie with no seeds, but you know all fruit has seeds, so I wasn’t able to fulfill that request. But a lot of people don’t know that seeds are actually really good for your gums, they get the plaque off your teeth, just like brushing your teeth, but naturally. Someone else once asked me for whipped cream on their smoothie.

What do you say to Jamba haters who think that your smoothies are calorie filled and not as healthy as you claim?

I would say that there are a bunch of different options depending on what you’re looking for. So if you go for Jamba Light or All Fruits, those are healthier. But fruit has calories and sugar no matter what, and everyone needs fruit, it’s part of a healthy diet, so if you choose all fruit, you get four servings of fruit, which is all your fruit for the day. So it just depends on what you’re ordering; if you get Peanut Butter Mood, that’s always high in calories because it’s more of a milkshake and not a fruit smoothie.

Has the store met its set expectations?

Um, I think that it is lower than it was expected, but it sort of takes time for business to build. Jamba Juice is mostly weather dependent, so it’s crappy to be opening in the winter, but we’re doing pretty well and we’re having a lot of fun.

How are Garfield students as customers?

It’s fun, we know exactly, its like clockwork, what time they’re going to come in, all their breaks and lunch and we have the boys come in everyday and make themselves known. But we really have a lot of fun with it because it’s a lot different when there’s a line out the door versus two or three parked cars.

Are there any holiday drinks you offer?

We’re coming out for a couple new ones for New Years, kind of in the themes of New Years resolutions ones, so more geared towards weight loss and energy, but we don’t have any denominational [drinks].

What do you like most about working at Jamba?

I love the people: the customers and the employees. It’s just a lot of fun…very laid back. And it’s a great product; I stand behind the product that we make and we serve. So that makes it easy, because I don’t have to compromise my personal standards for the job.