If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, just imagine the health benefits that can be realized from a glass of fresh-pressed apple cider.
It takes about 36 apples to make one gallon of apple cider and for New York's 200 cider producers, 2008 is promising to be very healthy. This year, growers are predicting a bountiful harvest due to improved conditions in August, with an abundance of rain, which added size to the crop, according to the New York Apple Association. Because of this, there will be no shortage of apple cider as growers and producers are working hard to meet demand for the sweet and healthy nectar.
"Our cider will be outstanding this year. Because of our many flavorful varieties, growers are able to blend many different apples to produce the sweetest and tastiest cider. Drinking fresh apple cider is like pouring yourself an apple," said Jim Allen, president of NYAA.
"Apple cider has much of the same health benefits of a whole apple because of the way it is made," he said, adding that all of the apple's fiber and nutrients are retained since the whole apple is used during the pressing process. "Nothing is wasted."
New York has 695 apple orchards that produce an average of 25 million bushels of apples per year on more than 51,000 acres. New York is ranked second nationally in apple production. The apple industry realizes $185 million annually, according to the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.
More than 4.5 million bushels of apples will be pressed into apple cider this year. The apples are washed, then chopped into a mash and then squeezed or pressed to get the maximum amount of juice from the pulp.
Locally, cider makers are busy pressing apples to quench their customers' thirst.
According to Bill Michaels, vice president of family-owned and -operated Fly Creek Cider Mill and Orchard, the mill staff began pressing apples on Labor Day weekend and will continue to make cider through Thanksgiving.
"We produce over 20,000 gallons of cider annually," Michaels said. "We freeze 5,000 gallons to sample and sell to our spring summer and December visitors as well as our online store, year-round customers."
Fly Creek Cider Mill, located just a few minutes from Cooperstown, and in its 152nd year, is one of the area's largest cider producers and a premiere tourist destination. It was purchased by Charles and Barbara Michaels in 1962 and was sold to son Bill and his wife, Brenda Palmer-Michaels, in 1999. Since retaining ownership, the younger Michaelses have added many features including gourmet food, a bakery and even a winery. As a licensed New York State Winery, the mill has developed hard ciders and apple wines. "We are offering these winery beverages as a return to the cider making traditions of the past here at the mill," Michaels said.
The mill, built in 1856, was strictly a milling and processing facility. "In those days, farmers brought their own apples to the mill to be processed," Michaels said. Today, the mill purchases a variety of apples from several orchards to produce its apple cider and other products.
Also, the mill maintains an orchard on-site that produces Cortland varieties. "The fruit from these trees are juiced and made into apple wine," he said.
While Fly Creek is serving up sweet cider to customers in and around Cooperstown, in Oneonta, Annutto's Farm Stand is also busy doing much of the same. According to Debbie Annutto, vice president of the family-owned and -operated farm stand, its staff will be pressing apples through December.
A lot of hard work and dedication goes into their apple-cider-making process, Annutto said. "The apples are handpicked and put into huge apple bins," she said. "From there they are put into washers and then travel up an elevator to be ground and pressed."
Annually, the family makes and sells more than 15,000 gallons of apple cider. Besides that, the Annuttos offer an array of home-baked goods including apple pies and apple cider doughnuts, and apparently the public cannot get enough of these. "Last year we sold 38,000 apple cider doughnuts from September to December," said Annutto, adding that this year promises to be better than last year.
The Annutto family's passion for apples began in Herkimer 25 years ago, where the family still maintains an apple orchard. The Annuttos also distribute their apple cider and other products to smaller markets such as Pie In The Sky in Oneonta.
Today, all commercial apple cider producers in New York state are required by law to pasteurize or utilize an ultraviolet system to kill germs or contaminants their apple cider may contain. The mandate was in response to a 2004 outbreak of food-borne illness due to contaminated apple cider produced in Peru, where about 300 people became ill. "Four years ago, a severe outbreak occurred in Clinton County," Allen said. "Fourteen people were hospitalized. This was the catalyst toward pasteurization."
Because of this, cider producers have felt a pinch in their pockets to meet the new standards.
Annutto said a pasteurization or UV system could cost between $16,000 and $24,000. "Our biggest challenge was whether or not to buy the UV machine," she said, adding that since their business has grown "substantially" over the past few years the expense could be justified and their family has devoted themselves to producing the "safest and best quality" cider.
"The apple mash is stacked six high and put through hydraulic presses to squeeze the juice out and then the cider is put into an ultra violet light processing system to pasteurize and kill any potential germs or bacteria," she said. "We don't use heat to pasteurize, because (we believe) it kills some of the flavor."
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