[CJELD]

It is Fall again and we are seeing a lot of fresh "apple cider" being advertised. Can someone explain the difference between apple juice and this [non-alcoholic] "apple cider" that we see at grocery stores and farm markets?

Also, which is better to use for making Hard Cider?

[kilroy]

Taken from http://www.talisman....ider/index.html

What's all this "juice, sweet cider, hard cider" nonsense?

If you live anywhere but in the US, you have one phrase for the liquid you get when you grind apples and press the juice out of them, and you have another phrase for what you get when you ferment that juice. In England, for example, you press apples to get "apple juice", and you ferment juice to get "cider". In Spain, you press apples to get "jugo de manzana", and you ferment that juice to get "sidra".

But in the US, "cider" may mean either fresh juice or fermented juice, so it becomes necessary to add a qualifier: "sweet" cider is unfermented and "hard" cider is fermented. What is the difference between "juice" and "sweet cider"? There is no general correct answer here. There are distinctions having to do with the amount of processing, but they vary regionally. The most common distinction is that sweet cider is cloudy (unfiltered) and not stabilized or preserved. But this is far from universally true.

How did this confusion happen? It was an intentional obfuscation that resulted from the US "temperance" movement, around the time of Prohibition in the US. They played a word-game to try to confuse an alcoholic beverage with a non-alcoholic beverage, to get people to stop drinking hard cider. (What they got instead was people drinking bad gin, creating more alcoholics than if they'd left cider well enough alone.)

Hereafter, and especially in the digest information, if the word "cider" appears without a qualification, it means "fermented apple juice."


Andrew

[Psyguy]

"If it's yellow, you've got juice there fellow. If it's brown, you're in cider town."

-Ned Flanders

[kilroy]

"If it's yellow, you've got juice there fellow.  If it's brown, you're in cider town."

-Ned Flanders

HHEHEHEHEHEHE

THanks Psyguy

that was great

Andrew

[Greg]

Well, since the first question never really got answered, let me take a crack!

Yes, we in America have really screwed up cider nomenclature. There is a significant difference between Apple Cider and Apple Juice in the US. Nearly always, Cider is simply the pressed juice of the apples. This is usually a cloudy juice with some of the apple solid in it. Apple juice has been filtered to be very clear and is often pasteurized or otherwise stabilized. I would definitely use the fresh cider, particularly directly from an apple orchard if you can.

[Jack Keller]

Greg, that's the best answer I've read. Thanks.

[Psyguy]

Yes, we in America have really screwed up cider nomenclature.

How do you figure? Last I checked, we won the Revolutionary War...doesn't that mean we get to call whatever we want "cider"?

Disclaimer: It's Friday, peeps - I'm just joking around. No - I'm not egocentric (or policentric or ethnocentric or whatever you want to call it)....well, maybe a little egocentric, but that will be under control when I rule the world.

[CJELD]

Thanks for all of the great comments. I finally understand, I think!

Now for a really challenging question. What is the difference between Hard Cider and Apple Wine?

Cheers....CJ

[Psyguy]

Now for a really challenging question.  What is the difference between Hard Cider and Apple Wine?

Cheers....CJ

My understanding (and it could be wrong) is that hard cider is lower alcohol (3 - 6% roughly). It would be in a similar category of drink as beer or wine coolers. Apple wine is, well, wine, and it's alcohol levels would be higher (9 - 13%).

[kilroy]

Thanks for all of the great comments.  I finally understand, I think!

Now for a really challenging question.  What is the difference between Hard Cider and Apple Wine?

Cheers....CJ

To my knowlegde - Hard Cider, can be pretty "rough", and is usually carbonated is a similar fashion to beer.

Atleast that is what I know of cider is. Carbonated, with a hangover potential that greatly exceeds what you would expect it to be

Andrew