How to cook delicious and healthy currant juice?

Red currant drink is incredibly good for the body. It contains the necessary vitamins for humans and a large amount of ascorbic acid, which is an antioxidant. The health benefits of such berry juice are invaluable.

The benefits of currant fruit juice are revealed both in the summer heat and in winter. In the summer as a tonic and cooling drink, which will give strength, freshness and vitality. In the cold season, currant juice from the currant will strengthen the immune system and will become an indispensable tool in the fight against annoying viral diseases. Red currant berries are rich in vitamin C, so a glass of fruit drink will allow you to satisfy the body's daily need for this element. Harm drink can bring only to people with high acidity of the stomach.

In addition, currant berries contain violet acid, which helps cleanse the body and remove toxins. Useful substances of the drink reduce the likelihood of diseases of the cardiovascular system. The use of blackcurrant fruit drink will also make it possible to replenish the iron and potassium lacking in the body.

Blackcurrant juice is an excellent tool that allows you to remove protein in the urine and, in general, normalize the kidneys. We will share with you examples of simple and useful currant drink recipes for all occasions, which can be easily prepared in your own kitchen.

For the future drink, we will need fully ripened currant fruit. To make sure that the berry is fully ripe, you need to pay attention to the twig, it should be a bit dried out and easy to yield for collection. We recommend you collect berries with branches for the integrity of the berries and ease of transportation. Particular attention should be paid to the processing of fruits, do not postpone this occupation indefinitely, since the currant skin is very thin and easily deformed.

First of all, the collected berries need to be washed out, for this you need a large container, from which it would be convenient to drain the water in several passes. We wash the berries 2-3 times, changing the water each time. Do not overdo the “tilting” of the berries during water treatments, as the fruits are quite fragile, but it is important for us to preserve their integrity. After the berries have been washed, let them dry for about 20 minutes.

We present to your attention a recipe that can rightly be called a classic. In fact, we have to cook syrup. Consider the cooking process step by step.

• To begin, take 300 grams of currant and grind it in any convenient way for you. The use of a blender is welcome when it is available, but it is possible to cope with grinding using a fork or masher. Remaining after processing the juice is poured into a separate container.
• Currant berries do not need pre-blanching (boiling water or steam treatment), as the fruits have a very thin skin.
• Next, with the help of a usual tablespoon, you have to bring the previously chopped currants to a state of homogeneous mass.

• We start cooking syrup, for 300 grams of berries we use 1 liter of water. Add 5 tablespoons of sugar to the water and wait for boiling, after which we add our deferred chopped currant mass.
• Cook the juice for 5-7 minutes over medium heat, stirring the mass constantly.
• Remove the syrup from the heat and filter the drink through a fine sieve. Waiting for complete cooling of the drink.
• In the resulting fruit drink, add the juice of berries, which was postponed at the first stage, remaining after grinding, and mix.

The recipe, which we present below, has established itself among the people as the most beneficial in its vitamin content and the easiest to prepare. The main difference from the previous version is that you do not need to boil the syrup. The proportions are as follows: for half a cup of currant berries, we need one and a half cups of cool water. Pay special attention to water quality, as this factor will significantly affect the taste of the drink. In the water, immediately add sugar in an amount of from 2 to 2.5 tablespoons, and then mix everything in a blender.

After we have brought the drink to a state of homogeneous mass, once again thoroughly mix it with a tablespoon and let it brew for about 15 minutes, so that the sugar evenly and completely dissolved. Next, we have to strain the juice through a fine sieve. The drink is ready to eat.

Honey can be based on either of the above two recipes. The key difference from the recipes already voiced above is that natural honey will be used instead of sugar. The amount of honey in the drink you add to your taste. When preparing a drink, it is important to remember that honey should never be added to a warm liquid, since with such an outcome it loses all its beneficial properties.

That is why the addition of honey should be carried out at the very end of the preparation procedure, when the drink has already cooled enough naturally. Blackcurrant juice with honey can be safely attributed to drinks that enhance immunity, as well as means of preventing viral diseases.

In the people there is no practice of “rolling in” currant fruit drinks for the winter, but this does not mean that you cannot indulge yourself with a vitamin drink in winter. In order to meet the cold and indulge in the taste of summer berries, it is only necessary to pre-prepare these very berries and leave the refrigerator in the freezer to wait in the wings.

To make a drink based on frozen berries, it is necessary to thaw the currant fruit. At the same time, do not rush to defrost, let the berries thaw themselves at room temperature. Remember that any heat treatment will only kill the beneficial properties and make the drink tasteless, depriving it of its natural vitamin content.

After the defrosting procedure is successfully completed, it is necessary to chop the berries. Of course, the best blender is suitable for this, but do not despair if there is no such device in the household. Thawed berries are malleable and can be finely ground even with a regular fork. After that, the pulp of berries and juice must be ground through the grate. The remaining currant cake must be shifted to a separate container and covered with sugar to taste.

Candied cake must be filled with water at room temperature. Leave to infuse for 10-15 minutes. In equal proportions, we take thawed berries, which we do not grind, but use for cooking. It is necessary to boil the syrup for about 10 minutes over medium heat. Then we pass the drink through a fine sieve and combine it with the previously left insisting liquid on the basis of crushed candied berries. Mix thoroughly and leave for 10-15 minutes, after which the drink is ready to drink.

There is also a recipe that does not provide for cooking syrup and is quite simple and quick to prepare. For the preparation of the drink, we will use frozen berries and we will not defrost them. Fill up the berries in a blender, pour boiling water over it, and add sugar to taste. Carefully grind the contents of the blender bowl - the drink is ready.The drink recipe partially loses its vitamin properties and is more likely a “hastily” option.

To properly use the currant drink and preserve all its beneficial properties, it is strongly recommended that you drink it immediately after preparation. If it is necessary to leave a part of the drink in the refrigerator, be sure to tightly close the container. It is not recommended to store currant juice more than a day.

The recipe for currant juice, see below.