Kent Ridge Orchards  

Our Sweet Apple Cider

Apple cider is an amazing drink and one of the freshest tasting juices available.  We believe it is very important to know what you are drinking.  In the USA , we refer to “cider” as the sweet, fresh, unfiltered juice from grinding and pressing apples.   In Europe the word ‘cider’ refers to the fermented hard cider.

What is in our cider:  100% tree-picked, organic apples; that is all.  Our apples are not sprayed with synthetic chemicals and we use only apples picked off the tree,  and no ‘drops’.  The varieties we use change slightly during the season, but the base remains Empire and Mac.  Because we are small we taste the cider during production, to adjust the flavor.

Many cider makers buy ‘drops’ or leftovers from various sources in the USA and Canada or overseas.   Some growers with orchards still buy in cheap ‘drops’ from conventional orchards and make cider under their own label while other growers send their drops out and get cider in return.  Many cider makers don’t have orchards, and buy 100% of their apples on the open market, for the lowest price possible.   In all these cases, it is clear that nobody can tell what went into those juices.   Pasteurization does not remove synthetic pesticides.

UV processing:  The FDA regulates that cider should be treated by pasteurization or, more recently, UV treatment.   Most stores will only sell it that way.   And based on the points made above, this is a good regulation.   Exposure to UV light has been proven effective in destroying food borne bacterial pathogens, especially E.coli.   It does not heat the cider, does not therefore destroy other nutritive elements such as enzymes and vitamins and does no damage the natural pectin.  At Kent Ridge Orchards we have experience using both UV treatment and heat pasteurization and prefer UV treatment for the health and flavor benefits.  It also uses considerably less energy to run a UV lamp than a pasteurizer with a boiler. 

Shelf life and fermenting cider:  We claim a 25 day shelf life as a “best used by“ date.  After which, the natural yeast will be consuming the sugars, converting them to alcohol and producing CO2 as by product.  This is natural fermentation and the jug will begin to bloat, and the cider, while safe to drink, tastes fizzy and tangy.  Poured over ice, some prefer it this way!  If you don’t like the taste, discard it, or by a small fermenter and try making some hard cider.  Don’t like hard cider?  Open the fermenter, let the oxygen in, and turn the hard cider into vinegar.  To get a head start, spike it with unfiltered organic vinegar which contains ‘the mother’.  The mother contains acetobacter, a natural harmless bacteria that converts ethyl alcohol to acetic acid (vinegar acid).   Keep it covered with a fine mesh cloth or the vinegar flies with love you.   Email us for tips, it’s only slightly more complicated than that.

Freezing Cider: Indeed, sweet apple cider freezes very well.  Freezing cider let’s you keep some stock for the off season months.  Pour about 10% off the top so the jug won’t burst.  Later thaw it, shake it and serve it.  It tastes nearly the same as the day you froze it.  We fill our large chest freezer with cider and drink it year round.