My nan used to send me out with a bowl to pick blackcurrants off the bush, one cluster at a time, and I would come back with purple hands and a stained t-shirt. The reward was a jug of dark, sharp squash, the kind that made the shop stuff taste watered down. I had forgotten all about it until the first time I put raw blackcurrants through a juicer and the whole kitchen turned purple. On their own they are so sharp they make you wince, which is why most people only meet them cooked into jam or cordial. Two sweet apples sort that out in about ten minutes, and that is this recipe. I make it when a cold starts whispering in my throat and, honestly, sometimes just because I like the colour.
Why these ingredients work
Raw blackcurrants carry around 180mg of vitamin C per 100g, more than three times what an orange manages, gram for gram. One glass of this juice comes out north of 200mg, which is over five times the 40mg adults need in a day. The deep purple colour comes from anthocyanins, the plant pigments behind the antioxidant reputation of dark berries, and they survive juicing well because the fruit is never heated. That is exactly why I juice blackcurrants raw rather than simmering them into cordial: heat is what knocks the vitamin C out of them. The apples do two jobs here. Their sugar tames the sharpness of the currants, and their juice gives the glass some body so it drinks like a proper juice rather than a mouth-puckering concentrate. The cold water just stretches both methods out to a full two glasses.
One honest note, the same one I put on every juice here: this is a top-up, not a treatment. It is a pleasant way to get a serious amount of vitamin C, and the anthocyanins are a nice extra, but it is not a cure for a cold and it does not replace eating the fruit whole. It also has about 22g of sugar per glass, all of it from the fruit, which is worth knowing if you are watching your intake.
FAQ
Can I use frozen blackcurrants?
Yes, and for most of the year I would say frozen are the better bet. Fresh blackcurrants are a July and August crop in the UK, but the frozen ones in the supermarket were picked and frozen at their peak, and they juice perfectly straight from the bag with no thawing needed. You lose nothing in flavour, which is rare for frozen fruit. Just tip them in and allow an extra minute.
Is blackcurrant juice good for you?
It is a genuinely strong source of vitamin C, around 225mg per glass, several times the 40mg adults need each day, and it brings potassium and the anthocyanins that give the berries their colour. The vitamin C is the fragile part, it breaks down with heat, which is why the raw juice beats cordial on that front. The honest trade-off is the sugar, about 22g per glass, all of it natural from the fruit, so treat it as a fruit juice rather than a vegetable one. As with any juice, it tops up your diet instead of replacing real food.
Can I make blackcurrant juice without a juicer?
Yes. The blender method on the card does the whole job in one go: blend the blackcurrants, chopped apples and cold water on high for 45 to 60 seconds, then strain through a nut milk bag or a fine-mesh sieve, squeezing the bag well to get the last of the juice out. You keep a little more fibre than the juicer version at the cost of a few minutes of squeezing. A food processor works in a pinch if you blend in two batches.
More immunity recipes: see the full Immunity collection.
Blackcurrant Apple Juice
Equipment
- 1 Juicer masticating or centrifugal
- 1 High-speed blender for the blender method
- 1 Nut milk bag or fine-mesh sieve to strain the blender version
- 2 Airtight glass bottles for storing
- 1 Budget cold press juicer a great value alternative
- 1 Budget blender a great value alternative
Ingredients
- 250 g blackcurrants, fresh or frozen strip any stalks first; frozen ones need no thawing and juice just as well
- 2 medium sweet apples such as Gala or Pink Lady, cored the sweeter the apple, the less sharp the glass
- 200 ml cold water for the blender method, plus a splash through the juicer at the end to push out the last drops
Instructions
Juicer method
- Wash the blackcurrants and pick off any stalks. Core the apples and cut them into quarters that fit your chute.
- Feed the apples and blackcurrants through the juicer in alternate handfuls. The wet apple pulp helps drag the sticky currants through.
- Splash the cold water through the juicer at the end to rinse out the last of the purple, then stir the juice well.
- Pour into two glasses and drink straight away. It is best within the hour, before it loses its edge.
Blender method
- Put the blackcurrants, chopped apples and cold water in a high-speed blender. Blend on high for 45 to 60 seconds until the fruit is completely broken down.
- Pour through a nut milk bag or fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Squeeze the bag firmly to get every last drop of juice out.
- Stir, pour into two glasses and drink. The blender version keeps a little more of the fruit's fibre than the juicer version.