Liz and Orea, stars of the bottling crew

It was another cold morning on the farm. Down near +18F at dawn. That’s cold. A gang of us were into cider all day. First off we needed to bottle last year’s cider so we could use the barrel again this year. We syphoned the cider into bottles, adding a bit of sugar to each bottle. The sugar causes the cider to become sparkling over the course of the next year. This 2025 pressing will be ready to drink in 2027. Delayed gratification!

At the same time, we were busy grinding and pressing apples in the cider house. Once the barrel was nearly empty, we refilled it with this year’s juice. We left a few gallons of last year’s fermented cider in the barrel like sour dough starter. Today’s pressing included Fuel Service, Redfield, Niedzwetzkyana, Tolman Sweet, Dabinett, Kingston Black, and small amounts of a couple dozen other cultivars we’ve picked over the past month. Once the barrel was full, we pressed an additional nine bushels of Tolman Sweet that we’ll turn into apple molasses. We were cleaning up as darkness descended along with the cold, dry air that’s been a regular visitor this fall. We then gathered around the dining table where all good days should end.