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Tribest Slowstar Vertical Review

This exceptionally expensive juicer performed very poorly and we would caution against purchasing it
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Tribest Slowstar Vertical Review
Price:  $400 List
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Manufacturer:   Tribest
David Wise
By David Wise ⋅ Senior Review Editor  ⋅  November 8, 2017
Contributions From: Austin Palmer
50
OVERALL
SCORE
  • Juice Quality - 25% 5.3
  • Soft Produce - 20% 4.8
  • Hard Produce - 20% 3.0
  • Leafy Greens - 20% 6.7
  • Cleaning - 15% 5.0

Our Verdict

The Tribest Slowstar Vertical earns one of the lowest scores in our juicer review while simultaneously carrying one of the highest price tags. This model only shows an above-average performance when it comes to juicing leafy greens. But even there, it is outperformed by other products that cost significantly less. As a result, this is not an appliance we would recommend by any means.
REASONS TO BUY
Good at juicing leafy greens
REASONS TO AVOID
Expensive
Poor performance at juicing hard produce

Our Analysis and Test Results

The Tribest Slowstar Vertical is a masticating juicer that performs well at juicing leafy greens — and not much else. While this may be a draw for folks that love their green juice, the price of this device is just too high to justify its weak performance in other areas compared to the juicers in our juicer review.

tribest slowstar vertical - a vertical masticating juicer, the tribest slowstar.
A vertical masticating juicer, the Tribest Slowstar.   Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Juice Quality


In our first test to judge overall juice quality, we created a juice blend called “Can't Beet It”, consisting of beets and apples, carrots, celery, cucumbers, and ginger root. The Slowstar Vertical created a drink that was the worst overall. It had by far the most pulp and tasted off, with the ginger root completely overpowering the rest of the other fruits and veggies.

tribest slowstar vertical - the slowstar produced an average quality juice.
The Slowstar produced an average quality juice.   Credit: Jenna Ammerman

It did a little better with our second recipe, a blend made up of romaine lettuce, apples, and oranges. The finished drink was still extremely pulpy, but it tasted alright and had a good texture and consistency.

tribest slowstar vertical - the slowstar had better yields of leafy greens over soft and hard...
The Slowstar had better yields of leafy greens over soft and hard produce. The “Romaine - Apple - Orange” juice we made had a potent leafy green taste.   Credit: Austin Palmer

The Slowstar Vertical continued to improve in our third test, creating a slightly above average “Sunset Blend.” This juice cocktail consisted of beets, apples, carrots, oranges, and sweet potatoes. The Slowstar still produced a surplus of pulp, but the final drink tasted fine. It had a slightly too strong beet taste and was a bit watery, but all in all, it was a decent beverage.

tribest slowstar vertical - the tribest had an even flavor in our "sunset blend" test.
The Tribest had an even flavor in our “Sunset Blend” test.   Credit: Austin Palmer

Soft Produce


In our first evaluation for this metric, juicing apples, the Slowstar Vertical delivered a very subpar performance, generating a below-average amount of juice with moderate amounts of pulp. The juice also had a non-trivial amount of foam that did not separate.

tribest slowstar vertical - apples proved troublesome for a handful of juicers.
Apples proved troublesome for a handful of juicers.   Credit: Jenna Ammerman

The Slowstar did much better at juicing oranges, yielding more juice than the average with only mild amounts of pulp. It also did well at juicing celery, producing a well above average amount of juice that did not separate and had no foam, with only mild amounts of pulp.

tribest slowstar vertical - the tribest did poorly for apple juice yields.
The Tribest did poorly for apple juice yields.   Credit: Austin Palmer

Unfortunately, the performance of the Slowstar plummeted in our final assessment for this metric: juicing cucumbers. It received one of the lowest scores of the entire group, yielding well below an average amount of cucumber juice. This juice also had mild amounts of foam, though it only had minimal pulp.

tribest slowstar vertical - the tribest had poor performance for cucumber juice, but made up for...
The Tribest had poor performance for cucumber juice, but made up for it tying for first in celery juice yields.   Credit: Austin Palmer

Hard Produce


Unfortunately, the Slowstar Vertical did particularly poorly with hard produce.

With carrots, the Slowstar Vertical yielded about 16mL less juice than the average with only mild to moderate amounts of pulp. This model also performed exceptionally poorly with beets. It produced almost 40mL less than the average and created about a half-inch of foam in the process. Continuing to struggle with harder produce, this juicer also struggled to juice sweet potatoes, producing well below the average juice amount.

tribest slowstar vertical - carrots were not a strong suit of the tribest.
Carrots were not a strong suit of the Tribest.   Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Leafy Greens


The Slowstar Vertical did well leafy greens, performing above-average at juicing kale, spinach, and wheatgrass. It produced about 15mL more spinach juice than the average, but about an inch of foam was created. However, it did a phenomenal job juicing kale, tying for the top spot overall. The Slowstar produced about 20mL more kale juice than average with about a half-inch of foam.

tribest slowstar vertical - the performance of the tribest jumped considerably when it came to...
The performance of the Tribest jumped considerably when it came to juicing leafy greens, but it wasn't enough to earn it an award.   Credit: Jenna Ammerman

However, the Slowstar essentially failed to create any wheatgrass juice whatsoever, hurting its score by a few points.

Cleaning


The Slowstar Vertical isn't particularly easy to clean. The various components of this juicer are not safe to clean in the dishwasher, though it does include a cleaning brush. The brush feels somewhat durable, much better than some other included brushes, but still substantially flimsier than others. The majority of the components of the Slowstar are easy enough to clean by hand, except for the strainer bowl. The squeegee can accumulate food remains and be a little difficult to clean, leaving fruit or vegetable pulp caked on if you aren't careful.

tribest slowstar vertical - out of the masticating juicers, the tribest was the most difficult...
Out of the masticating juicers, the Tribest was the most difficult to clean.   Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Should You Buy the Tribest Slowstar Vertical?


Overall, we would recommend steering clear of this product. While it did juice kale well, you can get the top-scoring model of the entire review for significantly less than the Tribest Slowstar Vertical. The Slowstar Vertical is an abysmal value option, scoring very poorly and having a very high price point.

What Other Juicer Should You Consider?


Depending on your juicing goals, you might be looking for a masticator or a centrifugal machine. The Ninja Never Clog Cold Press is a less expensive, better-performing juicer that provides impressive test results for most of the tested produce. If you don't have the budget or were hoping for something centrifugal, we love the Breville Juice Fountain, which is significantly cheaper than the Omega and the Tribest. This machine offers the best hard produce processing and is easy to clean.

David Wise and Austin Palmer