Why verjus is the cocktail ingredient to know
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It’s the cooking ingredient that’s cropping up on cocktail lists everywhere right now – so what’s the juice on verjus?
“Verjus is basically unripe grape juice,” says Scarfes Bar head bartender Mirko Furci. “It’s great for lending acidity to a drink. We use it as a sustainable and refined alternative to lime and lemon. It has a vibrant freshness without overpowering the palate.” On Scarfes’ menu it brings a pleasing tartness to both a Macallan whisky sour and a vodka-and-berry punch.
The Maybourne Riviera’s bar Le 300 uses Bourgoin Verjus (€20 for 75cl), an artisanal juice from Cognac. “It’s made from Ugni Blanc grapes grown in Charente, and has a pH around 2.5 – so it’s bright like lemon or lime, but with a softer, more vinous profile,” says head bartender Julien Lecharpentier. The verjus figures in Geranium, a twist on a lychee Martini made with gin, peach wine and geranium leaf, and Helio, a Manhattan twist made with osmanthus and brown butter.
If you’re using verjus as a sub for fresh citrus juice, he advises, “you might need a bit more to get the same balance – I usually go for 25ml-30ml in a sour-style drink. Once open, keep it in the fridge and it will stay fresh for two to three weeks.”
James Knappett’s two-star Kitchen Table restaurant in London only uses British ingredients – so citrus fruits are out. Instead it makes its Grape Punch with English brandy Burnt Faith, local Pinot Gris and Verjuice (£14 for 750ml), a family-owned verjus from Sussex made from sparkling wine grapes. “If you have access to a mixed-liquids SodaStream, you can use verjus to make a delicious and quick non-alcoholic sparkling ‘wine’,” says bar manager Amine Azil. “Dissolve 40g sugar (to taste) in 400g verjus and 100g fruit juice of your choice and carbonate.” It’s also good still.
At Rob Roy Cameron’s new West End restaurant Alta, verjus is on the cocktail list. “I love using it in non-alc cocktails especially, as it brings a bit more of a ‘grown-up’ flavour to a drink,” says bar manager Steve Georgiou. One of his favourite products is the sweet-and-sour White Verjus (£60.55 for 50cl) from Canadian producer Minus 8, which sees unripe grape juice leavened with the more honeyed notes of ripe ice-wine grape must. I try it in a Eusko, a non-alc spritz with Vault’s Campari-style non-alcoholic Aperitivo and Something & Nothing Yuzu seltzer. It’s one of the best temperance drinks I’ve had all year. I think they’ve passed the acid test.
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