Making cider at home is as rewarding as making your own beer, and you’re in luck if you own an orchard or know someone who does. The rest of us, however, have to do the best we can with what’s available, and most of the time that means buying juice. We reached out to cider experts Diane Flynt of Virginia’s Foggy Ridge Cider and Aaron Fodge from Colorado’s Branch Out Cider to learn how home cider makers can get the most from what’s available.
Use the Best Juice Possible
“To make good cider at home you will need to make the effort to obtain juice that has a balance of tannin, acid, and sugar, all of which are essential for a good, or even passable, cider,” advises Flynt. “The best option is to visit farmer’s markets or contact orchards that sell freshly pressed juice.”
Home cider makers who live in apple-growing regions can speak directly to farmers in the autumn and obtain freshly pressed juice. Some orchards even freeze juice for sale throughout the year. Pasteurized juices make perfectly good cider, but some enthusiasts maintain that the heat of pasteurization drives off volatile aromatics and results in a less complex finished cider. It’s up to you to weigh this against the very small, but nonzero, risk of_ E. coli _infection.