[Sca-cooks] Cider

[Tara]

>>Yes, cider is period.  Most cider would have been hard cider, since
>>they lacked the preservatives that prevent sweet cider from
>>fermenting.

It doesn't ferment all that quickly, though.  We buy unpasteurized cider
from a local mill.  My dad always bought several gallons per visit to
the mill, and kept it in the stairway that led into the cellar from
outside.  It rarely froze, but it got darned cold there.  The cider
would keep for weeks.

> They probably also lacked any inclination to prevent it :-)
> I'm curious as to when the US began to use "cider" to refer to a non-
> alcoholic drink -- does anyone know if it was before Prohibition?

I wonder if the word, as it does today, meant both?  I know of no other
word for a "cider press."  And long before the Volstead Act, there were
an awful lot of very staid protestants in America who, even if they
drank themselves, didn't give alcohol to children.

Personally, I adore both alcoholic and non-alcoholic cider.  I can't
stand apple *juice*.  I find it insipidly sweet, without the rich apple
flavor that makes n/a cider so yummy.  Mmm-mmm-mmm... we're coming into
apple cider season.  I'll be stocking up for both n/a drinking and cider
making.  :)

-Magdalena