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Cider apple
Malus domestica · Pome fruit
40 pairings
A cider apple is any of the tannic, high-acid or high-tannin apples grown specifically to be pressed and fermented rather than eaten — bittersweets and bittersharps such as Kingston Black, Dabinett and Yarlington Mill. Too harsh and astringent for the table, their juice is exactly what gives traditional cider its body, grip and depth.
Picking a good onedrag
Rock hard, green, off the treeSweated soft, browning through
YieldingSugar still climbing. A few more days in the heap buys Brix and an easier press.Nearly there
The thumbFirm, the thumb only dents the skin
SkinGround colour yellowing, the shine going
Stalk endStalk pulled free, the scar dry and clean
SmellSweetly appley, nothing more
Reading a just ripe one. Move the slider and the rest of this page — nutrition, pairings — re-scores with it.
What one gives you
100%
Usable yield
about 85 g - whole fruit mills, core and pips too
85 g
Typical weight
one specimen
50%
Juice yield
about 500 ml a kilo
Keeping ittap a band
A domestic fridge holds it about 5× longer than the counter.
Humidity
90-95%
90-95% keeps the fruit plump in the cold. During the warm sweat a drier barn is fine: a little water loss is wanted, it concentrates the sugar.
Airflow
Loose heaps, air moving
Mound it on straw off bare earth, no more than about two and a half feet deep, in a cool barn. A deep sealed pile heats, and rot runs through the middle of it.
Ripens whatever sits beside it
Climacteric, and apples generally gas freely. The heap gasses itself soft, which is the point here, but the same gas yellows leafy greens and turns carrots bitter.