Apple Cider Mills in Upstate New York

Cider mills are popular Upstate New York. Drive along the little towns by Lake Ontario in the fall and you’ll find numerous cider mills.  These places are often family-owned businesses. In addition to cider, they also offer produce for sale.  At one cider mill, I counted over thirty varieties of apples, as well as pumpkins and gourds.

My favorite apple is the Jonathan apple. This apple isn’t one you see often see in the stores, but it’s gaining in popularity.  

We bought a Jonathan apple tree years ago after our son was born.  The tree produced apples in late August and early September.  They are tasty eating apples. However, they also made great applesauce and the best apple dumplings!

 I was delighted to find the farmer’s market in North Carolina occasionally sells these apples. Of course, the Jonathan apples come from the mountain areas of North Carolina.

Cider mills offer “liquid gold.” Of course, the main reason why people go to a cider mill is to get the “liquid gold”, the cider everyone loves to drink.  In some mills, you may still watch the old-fashioned process of pressing the apples.  Workers place chopped-up apples on a tray that goes into the press.  Usually several layers of cheesecloth separate the trays.  As the press puts pressure on the tray, the juice squeezes out and collects underneath. A tube allows the apple juice to run into jugs.  

My children loved to watch the process, but I’m not sure if any mills do this anymore.  The government now requires cider to undergo pasteurization.

Unfortunately, pasteurization does kill some of the flavor along with the germs. Is it possible to make cider both safe and tasty at the same time?  Perhaps someone has come up with a better method?  

I hope so because people enjoy a mug of hot mulled cider when the cold winds blow.  Fall just wouldn’t be the same without it!