Concord Grape Syrup/Grape Squash

How many of you remember growing up enjoying the cold drinks made out of the fruit syrup also known as SQUASH?  The Kissan brand was very popular during my childhood days.  The mango, lemon and pineapple flavors were our favorite.  My mom would always make some kind of fruit syrup depending on the availability of the fruits.  I think it was a common drink in many homes at that time that was served to the guests, before the intervention of TANG.  Since it was just as easy as mixing the syrup with water and add few pieces of ice, we used to fix our own cold drinks whenever we wanted.  So Mom had to store a bottle of squash in a safe place so that it could be served when the guest comes...lol.

When we hauled a wagon load of concord grapes back in October, many recipes were in my mind and grape syrup/squash was one among them.  My kids had no clue what I was making with the grape puree.  Once I made it and fixed the cold drink for my kids, they loved it so much.  They reminded me of my childhood days when we used to enjoy the homemade cold drink.  I loved how the concord grape flavor got enhanced when we used some lemon juice with the drink.  Check out how we used this syrup to make the cold drinks.  I hope you will try this recipe when you get hold of some Concord grapes.

Yields - Three 33.3oz / 1.05 Quart/ 1 Liter bottles

Ingredients

8 cups - concord grapes

4 cups - sugar

3 cups - water

1/2 cup - lemon juice

Directions

Wash concord grapes thoroughly under running water and separate them from the stem.

Pulse the grapes with 3 cups of water in a blender.  Don't over blend it.

Strain the pulp and transfer the juice to a big pot.

Add 4 cups of sugar and 1/2 cup of lemon juice and boil the juice.

Let the juice boil for 5 minutes.  Turn off the flame and let the syrup cool down.

Transfer the grape syrup to sterilized bottles and store it in the refrigerator.

How to use the syrup

Method 1

1/4 cup - Concord syru

1 tsp - lemon juice

3/4 cup - water

Method 2

1/4 cup - Concord syrup

3/4 cup - plain soda

Method 3

1/4 cup - Concord syrup

1/2 cup - water

1/4 cup - any carbonated lemon drink like Sprite/Mountain dew

• Mix these together and add some ice cubes and enjoy!