Fresh Apple Cider

We had an awesome experience tonight making fresh apple cider with some friends. They had built their own apple press, and we got to help them test it out, and oh man, was it ever good. So pure and fresh and sweet and wonderful! It's now spoiled me for the store-bought stuff.

Here's a little peek at the process...

 Quartered apples were ground (using a rigged up garbage disposal) into a rough applesauce.

 The ground apples discolored quickly, but that's why cider is brown, so it's ok. The mixture was placed into mesh bags inside the press.

The juice immediately began to drain out into the bucket. At this point, we sampled the fresh cider, and wow, was it good.

The juices drained out on their own for a while, and then every last drop was pressed out using weights and a jack system.

What we didn't drink fresh was pasteurized in glass bottles so that it will keep longer... though I don't think the bottles we came home with will last very long anyways!

It's so great to have innovative friends like this, and we loved having this experience!