I never knew how easy it is to make your own apple cider! I found the instructions in beloved Imbibe Magazine (who are based here in Portland!). I whipped up this bottle to bring to the weekly craft night I’ve started going to.

I have this amazing apple corer that I love. We were at Sur La Table one day and I decided I needed an apple corer. They had an ok one that fit the bill and was about to buy when this one caught my eye. It was almost twice the price, but it was so much heavier, sturdier, and more professional. Not that $23 is that much, but still. Your first instinct is to go with the $12 one.

But once I’d held the nicer one, the first one suddenly seemed cheap and flimsy and I could see the clear difference in quality. Kenn thought I was a little crazy for paying more for such a specialty tool, but as it turns out, I cook with apples a LOT. I’ve used it countless times since then, and love using it.

I’m a big believer in paying for quality in your tools. I don’t mean always buying the most expensive thing, but just judging quality along with price, because often cheap tools have hidden costs: they break or wear out or cause a lot of frustration. Nice tools also bring a lot of enjoyment to the process of making something, whether that’s a piece of art, or a jug of cider!

On to the how-to!

You can use many varieties of apples for this, with different varieties producing distinctly different flavors. Some will be more sweet, some more tangy and crisp. The article recommends some possibilities: braeburn, fuji, gala, granny smith, gravenstein, jonagold, or pink lady. I used about 4 lbs for the bottle above.

Wash, core, and cut your apples into wedges.

Puree them until you have a fine pulp, then let the pulp rest for about 30 minutes.

Take three layers of cheesecloth, and place your pulp inside. Squeeze and twist the little sack, squeezing the juice into a bowl or saucepan. I found it best to use a bowl and squeeze the pulp over this little sieve, just to catch any pulp escaping from the cheesecloth.

Try and get out all of the juice. You’ll probably need to work in batches until you’ve done all the pulp.

Now you will pasteurize it. Heat it up to 160 degrees, but just briefly, so you don’t cook out the fresh flavor.

That’s it! We funneled it into this nice swingtop bottle, or you can put it in a jar and store it in the fridge. You can serve this cider hot or cold, or make mulled cider with it. Though I think it’s best without the masking of spices, because the flavor is so fresh and lovely on its own.