Cider vs. Apple Juice

In the United States, cider typically refers to unfiltered and unpreserved apple juice containing pulp or sediment, often linked with autumn and not readily available beyond that season.

In contrast, apple juice undergoes filtration and pasteurization, extending its shelf life and imparting a sweeter taste and smoother texture. Essentially, apple juice is cider subjected to heat to modify its color, flavor, and texture, resulting in a clear appearance and a sweeter taste.

Hard cider indicates the presence of alcohol achieved through natural fermentation, distinguishing it from non-alcoholic apple cider. The term "hard" is likely used to differentiate between the two versions.

Sweet cider also sets apart non-fermented apple juice from hard cider, while similar terms are employed for cloudy juices made from pears or grapes, such as pear cider (or perry) and grape cider, which are devoid of alcohol.
Cider vs. Apple Juice

What is apple cider?

Apple cider is an unfiltered, unadulterated, unpasteurized, unsweetened juice of fresh pressed apple. It is unfermented apple juice.

The term ‘hard cider’ came into vogue means of distinguishing the fresh pressed juice of the apple – sweet cider – from the fermented brew that once flowed by the barrelful.

Cidermaking is an art as old as the cultivation of apple trees. The early English colonists in America brought a great quantity of apple seed with them to plant in the New World resulting in an abundance of apple trees. 

Until about 1930 apple cider was made and consumed in greater quantities than any other juice.

The best cider is usually made from a blend of different varieties of apples. A blend provides an appealing balance of sweetness, tartness and tang as well as aromatic overtones.

Apple cider could be consumed at any time of the day. Most of the apple cider sold in the stores today is undistinguished at best, usually made from cull sweet apples such as Red Delicious and Golden Delicious.
What is apple cider?

Apple Cider

Apple Cider
Cider is a beverage which is universally known wherever apples grow. Unfortunately around most orchards the best apples ate not used for cider making.

They are reserved for sale in boxes or barrels, or sent to the factory to be worked up into jellies, apple butter and dried apples.

As a result of this common practice a great part of the cider which is made in US is from imperfect apples, either undergrown, overripe or decayed.

Cider made from imperfect material cannot be expected to measure up to the standard of excellence required.

When cider is made of select material, under sanitary conditions, it is a beverage more desirable than grape juice, because it contains a much less quantity of sugar and is not so apt to unbalance the ration.

Even cider made from culls may be of excellent quality.

Especially apples that are blown down during a storm and immediately gathered and manufactured into cider as acceptable as they would have been if picked form the limbs in the usual careful way.

If overripe or underripe or decayed apples are used, the character of the beverage produced is very inferior.

Almost any kind of a small press will make small quantities of cider, and it is manufactured in many different varieties of press.

The modern cider press combines an effective rasping machine and hydraulic press of high resistance, by means of which the yield of cider for a given number of apples may be greatly increased.

Cider is often made during the earlier part of the harvest when the weather is still at times excessively warm, and fermentation sets in within 24 hrs.

In such circumstances cider is not a soft drink for a longer period than a day or two at most.
Apple Cider