Every time I walk under our grape arbor in this season, just the smell of those ripe grapes conjures up memories of childhood—wolfing down a PB & J, slurping a rapidly melting frozen grape juice bar (mom was way more into those than neon popsicles), or greedily munching on a grape flavored jelly bean, Lifesaver, or any of those turn-your-mouth-purple candies that we loved. We used to make grape juice from Welch’s frozen concentrate; sometimes the lid didn’t come off so easily and splat there went a purple goopy mess all over our shirts. If you have never had fresh, homemade grape juice, I assure you, you are missing out; it’s nothing like anything you can buy in a store! It’s more like nectar than store bought juice, thick and smooth.
Homemade Grape Juice Is Best Enjoyed Fresh
We like to dilute ours a bit with sparkling water. Over the years we’ve learned that our homemade grape juice doesn’t really freeze well; it just doesn’t taste nearly as special upon defrosting. So when it’s in season, we drink it up.
Use Concords or Other Grapes
This recipe uses Concord grapes which, according to my friends in Concord, Massachusetts, still grow wild around those parts. I’m pretty sure you could use this grape juice recipe with any kind of sweet grape you like. If you are using ripe concord grapes, no added sugar is necessary, the juice is more than sweet enough. But if you are using a more tart grape, you may want to add sugar. I would just taste the juice and add more sugar to taste if needed. Keep in mind that 1 pound of grapes will yield a little less than 1 cup of juice. After about 1 week in the fridge I find that the juice starts to ferment, not in a bad way, it just adds some natural carbonation. If you let it sit around too long it could eventually turn to vinegar. This is why we try to make just as much as we would use up in 1 week. When we have made more than that we have frozen it, but the defrosted juice isn’t nearly as good as the fresh juice.
