The Real Deal: Have You Ever Tried Unpasteurized Cider?

I'm going to tell you something now and it might come as a bit of a shock. Ready? Here it is: unpasteurized cider is the bomb-diggity. Seriously. It's mind-blowing what a difference a little heat, or lack thereof, can make.

Cider started being pasteurized in the 90's following a very sad incident of a child dying from unpasteurized cider contaminated with e. coli. The likely culprit was unwashed windfall apples gathered from an area also used for grazing cattle. In short: bad sanitation.

If good sanitation practices are followed, the risk from unpasteurized cider is negligible. Far less than, say, eating a fast food hamburger. There is no federal law mandating pasteurization of cider, though some states (notably New York) have enacted laws to enforce it. Even so, as Bill Watson describes in his book Cider: Hard and Sweet, producer fears over lawsuits combined with consumer fear of unpasteurized cider means that unpasteurized cider has all but disappeared in the United States.

And this is a very sad thing, friends, because as has been previously mentioned, unpasteurized cider is the bomb-diggity. It's like eating Wonderbread your whole life and then suddenly being handed a slice of Tartine's sourdough. The cider tastes simultaneously sweet and tart, astringent and a little bitter. The flavors are incredibly complex and light up your tastebuds. Suddenly, it makes sense why Johnny Appleseed would travel the frontier selling apple trees and why the new settlers bought them by the dozen.

Scout out your local orchard and farmers markets. Those are your best bet for finding fresh-pressed, unpasteurized apple cider. If you are concerned about the health risks, just talk to the farmer. Tell him or her your concerns and ask about how their cider was pressed. Trust me, they will be more than happy to tell you exactly how safe and wonderful their product is.

If you have a juicer, you can also make your own cider at home. Be warned, though: it takes 15 pounds of apples to make one gallon of cider. If you want to go this route, picking up your apples at a local orchard is going to be the most cost-effective means to cider happiness.

Have you ever tried unpasteurized cider? What are your thoughts?

(Images: Flickr member mtkatiecakes licensed under Creative Commons)

Comments (32)

Yes, grew up in apple country in Western Mass -- cider was never pasteurized when I was young, and the taste was far more intense and earthy. Still have fond memories of watching the press at Bartlett's Orchard in Richmond -- which is still there, fortunately!

Of course - we make cider every year from our orchard and it's always unpasteurized. This kind of real food experiences if why we live on the land.

Oops, that was "this is why."

Naturally, our cows are never grazed in the orchard and we wash the apples first.

I have fond memories of my family making cider together. We had one of those old fashioned presses and would take turns turning the crank to get the juice out. It never lasted long.

In Michigan there are an abundance of orchards and cider mills. I worked at one in high school and we had several customers who bought the unpasteurized cider in order to ferment it into hard cider. I've often wanted to give that a try. Maybe this fall!

I grew up in eastern PA and as kids we always went on field trips to the local orchards in the fall. They were the best fiedl trips ever, with hay rides, bobbing for apples, and yes, delicious cider. I never understood why it was so good, but now I know!

Definitely! I worked at a bakery on an apple orchard (shout-out to Russell Orchards in Ipswich, MA!) for three seasons, and I must have drunk enough cider to float a ship. They have a huge, awesome cider press in the back of their farm-store/barn, and on pressing days you can watch the cider being made!

Pasteurized cider tastes wrong to me - I mean, you might as well just drink regular apple juice. Unpasteurized is the way to go... and it goes all bubbly and zingy if you forget it in the back of the fridge! Mmmmmm, fermentation. :)

YES I have and it's delicious. There was a cider mill just a few miles from where I grew up. We used to have annual "field trips" from school in the fall and always got to sample it.

The best part is when you'd get some and let it get "hard" and fizzy....yum!!!!

no... because I'm allergic to raw apples. (alas, such is my life!)

Yes and it's tasty. There used to be a company in Austin that sold unpasteurized juices and they were amazingly good. Then, the FDA stepped in. :(

I vaguely remember, as a child, getting together as a big group with someone who had a cider press - it was fascinating to watch the process and the cider...well, there's a reason I'm head over heels in love with fall.

It's funny because I don't really remember who we were with, or specifically what it tasted like, or how the press actually worked, but I remember the sensation of having my taste buds shocked and awed.

Now I want to plan a trip to an orchard!

@ericasullivan-- LOVE Russell Orchards!

Also looooove unpasteurized cider... I don't think I've ever had it otherwise!

I made hard cider after Thanksgiving last year. It won't work unless you use unpasteurized (not an issue for me) and probably keep the recipe as simple as possible. Mine was more of an apple wine and is almost too tart to drink without cutting it with apple juice.

Also... for an awesome cocktail (hot or cold), just add some Crown Royal to your cider. I don't drink the Crown otherwise, but always have some on hand for these. YUMMM!

We always have unpasteurized cider in our fridge during apple season (we average 2 gallons a week).

The most mind-blowing cider we had came from the orchard of Canada's leading pomologist of many decades, Fred Janson. Sadly, Mr. Janson passed away in 1998, and his Pomona Orchard is no more.

What was so mind-blowing about it was that he grew some 350 varieties of apples, and each week the cider would be different, depending on which apples were ripe at the moment. There could be anywhere between 7 and 14 different varieties in the cider any given week!

I know that on Saltspring Island there is another amazing apple orchard, which grows at least 250 varieties of apples; maybe they too make cider like this.

Here is information on Mr. Janons's apples (and I stand corrected; he died in 1999):

http://www.appleman.ca/korchard/Janson.htm

Yes, it's delicious. I grew up in the DC area and we went to Catoctin Mountain Orchard in Thurmont, MD several times each fall and always got cider, which was unpasteurized, although for all I know it probably is now. But, boy was it good.

I love cider either way...but I love it most with a shot of butterscotch schnapps mixed it. Or adding cider and a grated apple to your potato soup as it simmers. Both are delish and are why I LOVE fall.

i used to have a farm share and we'd full up our own glass bottles. divine.

fill

I've had unpasteurized cider and while it is fantastic, it's really not that much different in taste from pasteurized, but un-homogenized cider.

In most states, it is illegal to sell unpasteurized juices. Even if any half-ways decent cider mill is NOT going to use windfall apples for cider. The best cider comes from good apples. I once tried "pear" cider from a producer of un-homogenized apple cider and the pear cider tasted like overripe pears. It was not delicious.

But yeah, the clear stuff that comes in a giant jug which may or may not contain juice from apples grown in China, Argentina, Chile, and the U.S? Not cider. Real cider is cloudy. And fantastically delicious.

I grew up near a great apple orchard (Krum's) and one of the pleasures of fall was their (unpasteurized) cider. It's a flavor that also has texture.

I don't really understand what pasteurized apple cider is - it tastes exactly like regular apple juice (it's not even the right color, usually, so it even looks like apple juice).

i looove unpasteurized cider! i actually had never had "real" apple cider (other than a powdered mix) until i moved to Michigan when i was 18... for a while i thought all "real" cider was unpasteurized! mmm, a cup of cider with a fresh doughnut warm from the oven... YUM.

Grew up in CT and the cider was never pasteurized until some big named juice bottler got into a lot of trouble with E. Coli-tainted apple juice and they started pasteurizing everything. Ruined my love for apple cider and I don't think I've had it since the switch.

And yes, unpasteurized apple cider is the BOMB.

I've had cider fresh from the press before. Amazing! People are always so surprised by how delicious it is even though it has no added sugar or spices.

@Mid-C Frank- YES! Bartlett's Cider is the best ever! I haven't been in there in years but I still have dreams about that cider and those apple cider donuts...

This is the ONLY thing I miss about living in Michigan was fresh pressed cider this time of year. We would buy gallons and just chug them straight from the jug. SO good.

I grew up on an apple farm, and we have always pressed and sold unpasteurized cider. We also press it as each different apple comes into season, so there is more turnover, and more variety. It's seriously the best stuff on earth. And, if you have it sit long enough, it gets "jumpy" as my grandmother calls it. Yay for REAL apple juice!

Love, love LOVE it! Getting fresh, unpasturized cider from the local apple farms is one of my favorite things about autumn. Between this and that boiled cider post, I'm really wishing I had some right now.

i was spoiled with unpasteurized apple cider growing up in a rural area and now search it out at all farmers markets i go to. It is sadly hard to find in the city

Love it! You can get it at the farmer's market here in Madison, but you have to get there early because it sells out fast!

We drive up to Alfred, ME every year to pick apples at the orchard and then stop by the farm stand for bagged spices and unpasteurized cider. We'll be going the first week of October and I cannot wait. Pasteurized cider just tastes different.

Pasteurized or not, I miss fresh-pressed cider! Hard to come by in my section of Canada's west coast.