Easy and Delicious Mora Juice Recipe

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This mora juice recipe is made from blackberries- with no juicer needed! Packed with antioxidants and flavor, this recipe will be a new favorite at your house!

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About Mora Juice (Costa Rica)

Mora juice is made from blackberries blended with water and sugar. It’s one of the few Costa Rican drink recipes you can make in just minutes.

Full transparency here- this is my all-time favorite of all the Costa Rican fruit drinks ever. Literally, any chance I have to drink this juice, I take it. Just call me a blackberry juice connoisseur. 

Because there is so much high country in Costa Rica, blackberries are abundant in the Central Valley. The same goes for strawberries, although raspberries are difficult if not impossible to find anywhere in the country. Blackberries are not a common fresh fruit in the beach areas of Costa Rica.

Blackberries in Costa Rica are generally sold by the kilo in plastic bags and packed in water, whereas blackberries in the United States are packed in plastic boxes that are generally devoid of moisture. This means that this recipe has been modified to create an authentic Costa Rican drink-in the United States.

RELATED POST: Guide To Costa Rican Fruit

This drink is commonly found on menus in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, especially in San Jose and La Fortuna. It is generally called jugo de mora, fresco de mora or refresco de mora. For a time, you could even purchase bottled blackberry juice in grocery stores and convenience stores, but recently that is not the case as they took it off the shelves. (Does anyone else really miss Tropical de mora?)

Blackberries have tons of health benefits- they are packed with vitamin C and vitamin K, and are also high in fiber. This makes blackberries great for digestion. This recipe does not use a juicer and is easy to make in just a few minutes.

Related post: Traditional Costa Rican Breakfast- Gallo Pinto

Costa Rican Mora Juice Recipe

Ingredients: 

  • 2 cups ripe blackberries
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar, more to taste
  • 3 cups water
  • 1-liter cold water + 3 cups, divided

Instructions:

Wash your blackberries and place in a plastic bag or deep dish. Cover with three cups of water and allow to sit overnight in the refrigerator.

Place the blackberry juice mixture and sugar in the blender and puree for 1-2 minutes. You want this yo be really smooth.

Place your fine mesh strainer over a large pitcher and pour the blackberry mixture over it. Using a soup spoon or a spatula, press the blackberry pulp through the strainer. When you no longer can get any of the pulp through, start to pour the cold water over the strainer, pushing more pulp through.

When you can no longer push the pulp through, discard the seeds fro the strainer and our the rest of the water into the pitcher. Test for sugar and water, and add more as needed. 

Serve your mora juice in a large glass with ice!

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Additional Costa Rican Juice Recipes:

Substitutions

You can always substitute a low or now calorie sweetener for the granulated sugar.

In Costa Rica, we use cane sugar for this recipe, which is also completely acceptable. 

I’m sure you could substitute strawberries or raspberries for the blackberries as well, but I’ve honestly never tried. 

Variations

If you don’t want to “marinate” the blackberries overnight, you can just blend them in water and then strain them through the fine mesh strainer. The mora juice taste is similar, although not exactly the same- it sure does save a lot of time!

You can add half a cup of powdered milk to the recipe for a batido de more en leche, (traditional blackberry smoothie). I also make this mora juice into popsicles in the summer!

Many other countries make homemade blackberry juice by cooking the blackberries and using the blackberry reduction with water to make juice. Super cool- but we don’t do that in Costa Rica.

Serving Suggestions

This blackberry juice is very common on any menu in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, and is served with almost any main meal. Some of my favorite fresco de mora pairings include:

FAQ

Is blackberry juice good for you?

Yes! Blackberries are filled with antioxidants, and of course, water is so good for you. If you use a no-calorie sweetener like Stevia, this juice is a great alternative to soda and tea. 

Can you freeze blackberry juice?

Absolutely. You can then defrost and drink as a juice, or you can freeze into popsicles, which we do a lot in the summer.

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Printable Recipe

Yield: 4 cups

Costa Rican Blackberry Juice

Glasses of fresh blackberry juice with pinstriped straws.

Costa Rican Blackberry juice is packed with antioxidants and beyond delicious. No juicer, easy to make!

Prep Time 12 hours
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 12 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups ripe blackberries
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar, more to taste
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 liter cold water

Instructions

  1. Wash your blackberries and place in a plastic bag or deep dish.
  2. Cover with three cups of water and allow to sit overnight in the refrigerator.
  3. Place the blackberry juice mixture and sugar in the blender and puree for 1-2 minutes. You want this to be really smooth.
  4. Place your fine mesh strainer over a large pitcher and pour the blackberry mixture over it.
  5. Using a soup spoon or a spatula, press the blackberry pulp through the strainer. When you no longer can get any of the pulp through, start to pour the cold water over the strainer, pushing more pulp through.
  6. When you can no longer push the pulp through, discard the seeds fro the strainer and our the rest of the water into the pitcher.
  7. Test for sugar and water, and add more as needed. 
  8. Serve in a large glass with ice!

Notes

If you don't want to "marinate" the blackberries overnight, you can just blend them in water and then strain them through the fine mesh strainer. The taste is similar, although not exactly the same- it sure does save a lot of time!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 128Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 18mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 4gSugar: 28gProtein: 1g

Please double-check this information with your favorite nutrition calculator.

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Christa Jimenez

Welcome! I’m Christa, a Spanish teacher married to a handsome Costa Rican and mother of two bilingual daughters. We’ve spent over 25 years living in and traveling to Costa Rica with our daughters, and this website is my love letter to all things Costa Rica- and to bilingual parenting too. You can read my full story here. Thanks for stopping by!

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