Drink recipe

Homemade Grape Juice

Name: Homemade Grape Juice
Total time: 60 min
Cuisine: Drink
Ingredients: ripe purple grapes (a few green ones are fine) (as many as you have); that's it: no added sugar

Pure juice from homegrown grapes with zero added sugar, vacuum-sealed so you can enjoy it all year round.

Did you know? Bottled grape juice was invented for church. In 1869, dentist Thomas Welch pasteurised grape juice so it could replace wine at communion. Read my story →

VegDrinkFrom the gardenPreserving⏱ ~1 hr (+ optional overnight rest)▶ Subscribe on YouTube

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Ingredients

as many as you haveripe purple grapes (a few green ones are fine)
that's it: no added sugar

Equipment

large pot and a potato masher
strainer, a plate or small weight, and cheesecloth
glass bottles with lids, a funnel and tongs
steam oven (or another way to sterilise the bottles)

1
Sort the grapes. Separate the good ones from any that are spoiled. Ripe purple grapes are best; a few green ones are fine.
2
Wash the grapes well.
3
Into a pot. Grapes ripen in phases, so you may do several batches over the season.
4
Heat on high. The grapes soften and release their juice. The heat also loosens the skins and separates the seeds from the pulp.
5
Mash gently with a potato masher to help release the juice. The whole cook takes 10–15 minutes, depending on quantity.
6
Strain now, or rest overnight. Resting lets it cool to room temperature, which makes straining by hand easier, especially for big batches.
7
Strain. Press with a plate or a small weight over the strainer, then filter again through cheesecloth for a beautifully clear juice.
8
Sterilise the bottles. Steam oven at 100°C for about 15 minutes, adding the lids for the last 5 minutes. Include the funnel and tongs.
9
Reheat the juice. Start during the last few minutes of sterilising, so the juice and bottles are both hot at the same time.
10
Fill and seal. Pour the hot juice into the hot bottles, leave a little space at the top, and seal tightly straight away.
11
Listen for the pop. As the bottles cool, the lids pull in: that's the vacuum seal forming.
12
Store at room temperature. The bottles last beautifully for months.

Tips from the video

Don't crush the seeds. Crushed seeds make the juice bitter. That's why heating and gently mashing works better than a juicer.

Hot juice + hot bottles. Both must be hot when you fill them, or the vacuum seal won't form.

Time it together. Start reheating the juice during the last few minutes of sterilising.

Sterilise everything that touches the juice, including the funnel and tongs.

Rest overnight for big batches. Cooled juice is much easier to strain by hand.

💡 Extra tips, not in the video Bonus tips

Lid didn't pull in? That bottle hasn't sealed. Keep it in the fridge and drink it within a week.

No steam oven? Boil the bottles and lids in a large pot of water for about 10 minutes instead.

The story behind the dish

Grape juice without the bitter seeds

Ah, the classic juicer problem: the seeds always seep in, whatever you juice. I wanted grape juice without that bitter taste, especially because our grapes have a lot of seeds, even though they're the sweetest ones.

I had already learnt the perfect method for jam (see my cherry jam video), so I wondered whether the same style, heating and then resting overnight, would work for juice. It did, and it was so tasty I can't describe it.

I love opening a bottle of our grape juice in winter and showing off to guests that it's organic, home-grown juice that was never kept in the fridge, haha.

I'm also so happy with the response to this video, and I love reading your comments.

Curry++ · 7 November 2026

💡

From the hacks library · added 6 Nov

Make your own chai masala

Toast whole spices for 5 minutes, blend to a powder, and add a pinch whenever you make tea. It's homemade masala chai in seconds. From Masala Chai →

Browse all hacks →

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Homemade Grape Juice

Ingredients

Equipment

Tips from the video

💡 Extra tips, not in the video Bonus tips

Grape juice without the bitter seeds

Make your own chai masala

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