Black+Decker CJ625
The $25 motorized citrus juicer that handles a party’s worth of limes without making you do the work. Plastic-bodied, single-cone, dishwasher-safe parts. Not a pro tool, but for the home bartender batching juice before a Mai Tai night, it’s the starter electric juicer that earns the counter space.
The cheap-and-fast option for batch juicing.
The Black+Decker CJ625 is the bartender’s entry electric citrus juicer—the one that costs $25, plugs into the wall, and turns the chore of juicing fifteen limes for a Saturday-night Mai Tai session into a five-minute task instead of a thirty-minute one. It is not a Breville. It will not last a decade of daily commercial use. But for a home bar that does the occasional party batch, it is the right tool at the right price.
What it does
The mechanism is the simplest possible: a motorized reamer cone in the middle of a juice-collection cup, a press handle above. Press a halved citrus down on the cone, the motor spins the cone, juice runs into the cup, you tilt the cup to pour. The pulp screen is fixed (not adjustable); the cone fits limes, lemons, oranges, and (with some effort) grapefruit halves. Total throughput is roughly a citrus half every five seconds with the motor running clean.
The whole unit is plastic-bodied, including the working parts that contact the citrus and the juice. The motor is small but adequate. The unit weighs barely two pounds; it does not stay put under aggressive use unless you brace it with your free hand. The juice cup holds about 16 oz, enough for ten or twelve limes’ worth before you need to empty.
Where it fits
The CJ625 is the party juicer. For everyday cocktail-making at home, the Amco Mexican Elbow or the Dreamfarm Fluicer handle two-to-four citrus halves per drink faster than the Black+Decker would, with better control and no power cord. But for batching—you need 20 oz of fresh lime juice for a Saturday-night session, or you’re making a punch bowl, or you’re juicing 30 oranges for a brunch crowd—the electric flips the math. The CJ625 will do that batch in five minutes, ungracefully but effectively.
What you trade at this price point: build quality, longevity, and capacity. The motor will burn out after a few years of regular use. The plastic parts can crack. The juice cup is too small to truly batch through. None of these are deal-breakers for occasional party use; all of them are reasons to upgrade if you’re juicing this volume more than once a month.
To go deeper
- Daily-use alternatives: Amco Mexican Elbow, Dreamfarm Fluicer — the hand-juicer essentials for everyday cocktail-making.
- Step up: Cuisinart CCJ-500 (~$50) — same idea, larger capacity, better motor. The next tier of electric juicer.
- The pro tool: Breville BCP600 (~$150) — restaurant-quality citrus press. Overkill for home but the lifetime tool.
- Where it fits in The Path: Read the Stocking Your Home Bar guide for the broader citrus-juicing context.