Fresh juices
Fresh Grape Juice & Must (Asir al-Inab)
عصير العنب · 'asir al-'inab
In late summer and autumn, when the vines around Morocco hang heavy, the grapes are pressed into asir al-'inab — fresh, sweet, cloudy grape juice, drunk straight away as 'must' before fermentation can begin. Intensely grapey and honeyed, it is one of the most seasonal of Moroccan drinks, tied to the harvest and to a taste of the fruit at its ripest. It is autumn in a glass.
- Type
- Fresh-pressed grape juice
- Served
- Cool or chilled
- When
- Late summer & autumn harvest
- Key flavour
- Sweet, grapey, honeyed
What Fresh Grape Juice & Must is
Asir al-'inab is fresh grape juice — the sweet, cloudy liquid pressed straight from ripe grapes and drunk immediately, while it is still 'must' and has not begun to ferment. Thicker and more intensely grapey than any bottled juice, it tastes of the whole fruit, sugar and skins and all, at the peak of ripeness.
It is a strictly seasonal drink, tied to the grape harvest of late summer and autumn, when Morocco's many vineyards and household vines come good. Because fresh must does not keep — it will start to ferment within a day or two — it is very much a drink of the moment, pressed and drunk within its short window.
How it's made & served
Ripe grapes are pressed or crushed and the juice strained off the skins, pips and pulp — traditionally by hand or simple press — to give a sweet, cloudy liquid. The best grapes need nothing added at all; their natural sugar makes the juice rich enough on its own, though it may be lightly diluted or chilled for drinking.
The key is to drink it fresh. Left to stand, the wild yeasts on the grape skins begin to work and the sweet must turns towards fermentation, so as a soft drink it is pressed and served within a day. Some households also cook the must down into a thick sweet syrup for keeping, but as a drink its whole appeal is its just-pressed freshness.
In the glass, at a glance
- Ripe grapes, at the peak of the harvest
- A press or simple crushing by hand
- Nothing else — the grapes' own sugar is enough
- Optional water to lightly dilute
- Speed: it is drunk fresh before it ferments
A flavour snapshot of what goes in.
When & where you drink it in Marrakech
Fresh grape juice belongs to the harvest season, appearing in late summer and autumn where grapes are grown and pressed — around the vineyards, the countryside and at seasonal souk stalls when the fruit floods the markets. It is a drink you catch in its moment rather than order year-round.
Look for it among the seasonal fruit drinks when grapes pile up at the market, alongside the autumn's other short-lived juices. Its place in the seasonal rhythm of Moroccan drinks is explored in our guides.
Cultural notes
Fresh grape must is one of the oldest kinds of drink there is — sweet pressed juice, caught in the brief window before it becomes something stronger — and drinking it fresh links Marrakech to a very ancient rhythm of harvest and pressing. It is a taste tied firmly to a time of year rather than available on demand.
It also reflects Morocco's long and layered relationship with the grape. The country has grown vines since antiquity, and the fruit runs through its food and history in many forms — as fresh juice and must, as raisins folded into tagines and pastries, as syrup. This just-pressed juice is the simplest and most fleeting of them. More in our guides.
Frequently asked questions
What is grape must?
Grape must is fresh-pressed grape juice, drunk immediately before it begins to ferment. In Morocco it is a sweet, cloudy seasonal drink pressed straight from ripe grapes at harvest time.
When can you drink fresh grape juice in Morocco?
Mainly in late summer and autumn, during the grape harvest, when the fruit floods the markets. Because fresh must does not keep, it is a short-lived, seasonal drink.
Does grape must contain alcohol?
Drunk fresh, no — it is simply sweet grape juice pressed and served before fermentation starts. Left to stand, wild yeasts begin to ferment it, which is why it is drunk within a day of pressing.