City Farmer Pressings – Grape Juice

By Bronwyn Smyth

My dad makes this juice every year from our small, Alberta grown purple grapes. We then freeze it. At Christmas time, we take it out and have it with Christmas dinner or at New Years. Sometimes, we add sparkling water, soda or ginger ale to it for fizz and flavour.

1. Place your grapes in a bucket and fill the bucket with water. Let your grapes stand for an hour, so that any insects and insect bodies will come floating to the surface. Skim these off, then remove your grapes.

2. Take the stems off of the grapes and place the grapes into a pot. Using your hands or a potato masher, mash the grapes well. This helps release the juices and flavour.

3. Over medium heat, heat the grape mash and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Place a strainer (a fine mesh one is best) over top of a bowl to catch the juice. Pour the simmered grape mash into the strainer. Place a Ziploc bag or a jar filled with water on top of the grape mash. This helps extract more of the juice.

5. Cover the bowl and strainer well, so that fruit flies cannot get in or place the bowl and strainer in the refrigerator. Let the mash drain overnight.

6. The next day, remove the mash from the strainer and place in a big bowl.

7. Measure out how much juice was obtained and set aside. The amount of juice obtained will equal the amount of water added to the grape mash.

8. Add the water to the grape mash and stir vigorously. Next, place the strainer over a bowl and let the mash drain once again with a weight on top. Leave for 10-20 minutes.

9. Next, use a spoon and press the grape pulp against the strainer to extract any last bit of juice. Finally, discard the pulp in a composter or wormbin.

10. Add the “grape water” to the earlier extracted grape juice. Sugar can be added at this point, generally 2 tablespoons per cup of juice, depending on the sweetness of the grapes and your personal preference.