Apple cider

Apple cider, in the North American sense, is the fresh, cloudy, unfiltered and non-alcoholic juice pressed from whole apples and sold or drunk soon after pressing. It is darker, hazier and more aromatic than clarified apple juice, carrying suspended pulp, fine sediment and the full tannic, tart character of the fruit. Pressed in autumn at the apple harvest, it is drunk cold straight from the jug or, just as often, gently warmed and mulled with cinnamon, clove and orange into a fragrant cool-weather cup. It should not be confused with hard cider, the fermented alcoholic drink the word means in Britain and much of the world.