JuicesAlcohol-freeModerate confidence

Verjus

Verjus is the pressed juice of unripe wine grapes, unfermented and unsweetened. Its acidity is mostly tartaric rather than the citric acid of lemons and limes, so it is sharp without the perfume of citrus — closer to the bite of a dry white wine. That makes it the most useful acid in alcohol-free drinks that are meant to taste of wine rather than of fruit juice.

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Common uses

the acid in alcohol-free drinks built to resemble wine or vermouth
a softer, less perfumed alternative to citrus in stirred drinks

Buying & storage

Weeks once opened: Unpreserved grape juice. Keep it in the fridge once opened and check it for fizz before use.

Buying: sold as verjus blanc (from white grapes, the more versatile) and verjus rouge; look in delicatessens or wine shops

Storage: refrigerate once opened; it is unpreserved grape juice and loses its freshness over time

By the numbers

How cocktails use Verjus

Counted from the 2 published CocktailHQ recipes that include it, 2 of them alcohol-free. Measures are per serve.

Its job in the glass

Recipes: 2 — the 70th most used of 131
Role: sour element in 2
Families: Martini (1), Spritz (1)

Taste, on a 0–5 scale

The same scores CocktailHQ uses to judge whether a swap keeps a drink balanced.

Sweetness: 1
Acidity: 4
Bitterness: 0
Intensity: 2

What goes wrong with it

What it does: Acid without citrus perfume: tartaric rather than citric, so a drink reads as wine-like rather than fruity.
Freshness risk: moderate: Unfermented, unpreserved grape juice. Refrigerated it holds for a while, but its fresh green-grape edge fades and it can begin to ferment. How to tell: Any fizz, cloudiness or yeasty smell means it has started fermenting.

Swaps that don't work

Lime Juice: Lime is far more aromatic and more acidic. It turns a drink meant to taste of wine into one that tastes of lime.

Used in fewer than 3 recipes, so no technique split or partner list is drawn — a pattern needs more drinks than this.

Before it goes

Use up verjus

Ranked by how much of it each drink uses and how little else it needs — the ones at the top will not send you back to the shop.

Verjus Spritz
Uses 40ml. Also needs alcohol-free sparkling wine, dry, soda water.
Alcohol-Free Bamboo
Uses 20ml. Also needs alcohol-free dry or white vermouth, strong black tea, cooled, saline solution.

Recipes