Grape Juice

We are blessed with great neighbors. And for this we are grateful. One of our neighbors has a beautiful grape vine and every year they share with us. My kids look forward to this time every year, so they can have fresh grape juice. The process is not hard. It is putsy. And requires time, but it is rather simple.

First you just need to go get come grapes. This may mean a battle or two with the bees who are unwilling to give up their hold over the sweet grapes. We picked about two ice cream buckets full at a time. This yields about 2 quarts juice.

Next, you wash all of the bird droppings and "outside" off of the grapes and stem them.

Then you smash them with a potato smasher until most of grapes break up and you are left with more a grape soup or sorts.

Reduce this down at a low simmer for about an hour, or until all of the grapes have softened and released the seeds and lost their peels.

This is where it gets tricky. You need to have cheesecloth. This is something I do not have on hand and needed to go get, but maybe you regularly use it. Then this won't be tricky at all. I think a nice white dish towel would work too, the fancy ones with stitching on them, but then you will ruin the towel, most likely. Get a bigger pot ready - bigger than the one the grapes are in, and spread the cheesecloth over the top and secure with a rubber band or clothespins. I used a rubber band.

Let it sit and drain overnight.

In the morning, squeeze any remaining juice out of  the cheesecloth and pour the juice from the large pot into a pitcher.

Refrigerate for a few hours.

We drank it as is, just added a little water to equal 2 quarts.

It is tart, just the way my family likes it, but you may want to add a little sugar.

You will be left with a beautiful dark purplish-red mustache after enjoying a glass.