Q. How many apples does it take to make a gallon of cider?
A. About 42 of the size commonly sold in plastic bags at the grocery store. A bushel of apples weighing 40 lbs. will yield about 3 gallons of cider.
Q. What is the difference between apple cider and apple juice?
A. Vrest Orton, author of The American Cider Book, defines cider as being the fresh untreated liquid expressed from apples. Anything else is considered apple juice. The U.S. Department of Agricuture does not have a legal definition for the word cider, but once you have tasted the real thing the difference will be obvious.
Q. What is the difference between fresh cider and cider made from fresh apples?
A. There can be a lot of difference. If you want fresh cider beware of labels saying "Made from fresh apples" or something similar, it doesn't necessarily mean that what's inside is fresh cider. All cider mills start with fresh apples, but to be lawfully labeled as "fresh cider" it cannot have been concentrated or heated, processes which diminish its nutritive value.
Cider containing preservatives such as sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate will have a longer shelf life, however those chemicals leave a burning aftertaste. Refrigeration is the best method for keeping cider.
Q. How come your cider tastes so much better than the stuff from that other place?*
A. Different wineries produce different tasting wines and the same is true for cider mills. Each mill presses cider that has distinctive characteristics.
* You may suspect this is a sham question but we really do hear it quite often.
