By Erika Janik
Forget the juice; we’re talking about the hard stuff. Here are 11 facts everyone should know about good old-fashioned apple cider.
1. Back in the 14th century, it is believed that kids were baptized in cider since it was often more sanitary than water.
2. An apple beverage a day? President John Adams drank a tankard of cider every morning because he believed it promoted good health. And it must have—Adams lived to 90, making him our third longest living president, behind Ford & Reagan.
3. Cider was so important to early Americans that one in every ten farms in New England operated its own cider mill by the time of the American Revolution.
4. But why didn’t the drink stay popular over the years? The Temperance movement killed the business. Fired up by speeches from ministers and politicians, many farmers destroyed their “demon orchards,” sparing only the trees used for sweet juice. During the years when Prohibition was enacted, American cider production in the fell by 76%.
5. The best cider apples seem to have the best names: Hangdown, Chibble’s Wilding, Kentish Fill-Basket, and Glory of the West.
6. If you want to make great cider, be sure to practice your wassailing. The English custom, used to appease the deities of the apple trees, was believed necessary to ensure healthy crops. Here’s how to honor the spirits: Place a jug of cider or piece of cider-soaked toast on the biggest apple tree. Then sing a chant or song. Finish by banging on kettles and blowing horns to scare away any evil spirits lingering in your orchard. It’s that easy.
7. Also, you’ll need lots of apples. It takes about 36 pieces of fruit to make one gallon of the good stuff.
8. When Caesar and his invading soldiers stormed through England in 55 BCE, they found Celts sipping a brew made from crab apples. The troops were quick to pick up the habit and take it back to Rome.
9. Other fruits can be used to make cider-like drinks, too. Perry comes from fermented pear juice, cyser is cider fermented with honey, and plum jerkum—made from plums—supposedly has some strange intoxicating effects. According to legend, it leaves “the head clear, while paralyzing the legs.”
10. Looking for the proper way to care for a dead genius’ brain? For more than 40 years, Einstein’s cranium was stored in a box labeled Costa Cider. Actually, it was stored in two mason jars in the Cider box, under pathologist Thomas Harvey’s sink.
11. Of course, if this moderately alcoholic beverage doesn’t do it for you, it’s possible to make hard ciders even harder. Apple brandy and applejack are distilled ciders, and applejack, in particular, is really potent. It’s nicknamed the “essence of lockjaw.”
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Now mind you, they’re not talking about apple juice. I’ve made hard cider with a half gallon of fresh cider to which I added about 1/4 teaspoon of champagne yeast. I left it loosely capped at room temp for a couple of days. Yummmmm……
posted by PJMoore on 11-18-2009 at 11:09 am
Shameless plug:
Check out this article I wrote about the difference between apple juice and apple cider. It’s listed above.
posted by Andy on 11-18-2009 at 11:11 am
The link on my name, that is.
posted by Andy on 11-18-2009 at 11:20 am
I love apple cider, and made some apple cider donuts a couple weeks ago. They were the bomb, and reminded me of home.
posted by Josh on 11-18-2009 at 11:25 am
Cider fact: Careful how much you drink. Like tequila, if you get sick on it once, it is ruined for you forever.
posted by MN on 11-18-2009 at 12:15 pm
Something left out of the Johnny Appleseed story most of the time when it’s told in schools is that the apples that Johnny was seeding weren’t table apples or juice apples, but cider apples.
posted by Melissa on 11-18-2009 at 12:22 pm
I have to wonderful producing pear trees. They produced so much this year that many are laying on the ground wasted. The pears almost taste like apples they are sooo yum. Next year I’m thinking I should make some Perry. Any idea where I could find out where to do that. I din’t think about doing it until I read this artcle.
posted by Alecto on 11-18-2009 at 2:34 pm
Now I want to make some Perry. Where do I find out how to make that. I have two pear trees that make Yummy pears. They taste almost like apples. This year they mostly went to waste becuase I only threw them over the fence for my horses. That would be a great thing to serve for the holidays!!!
posted by Alecto on 11-18-2009 at 2:36 pm
sorry for the almost dual posts. my computor was being a turd.
posted by Alecto on 11-18-2009 at 2:39 pm
Making perry is as easy as making cider. Take the freshly pressed juice and add yeast (either champagne or ale yeast works great)and let nauture take it’s course. We usually make ours in 6 gallons glass carboys. Once you’ve got a good amount of sediment on the bottom of the jug, rack it into another and wait for more sediment to settle. Keep doing this until there’s no more sediment (a few weeks total). At this point we bottle it and let it sit for a month or so to age a bit and then enjoy.
posted by Andy on 11-18-2009 at 3:03 pm
I love hard cider, I started drinking it when I was in Ireland a few years ago. I prefer a more dry cider than the really sweet ones. Strongbow is probably my favorite. Hmm.. maybe I’ll stop by the liquor store on my way home.
posted by Brit on 11-18-2009 at 6:09 pm
I started my beer drinking via perry and cider. I still love them, though I don’t drink them much. With fall in the air, I should pick some up!
posted by nutmeag on 11-18-2009 at 6:32 pm