|
How
Cider Is Made |
 |
Carlson Orchards
Premium Blend Cider is made from only the freshest apples
available-- grown mostly here in New England. We take a
special blend of apple varieties and wash them well. |
 |
After a thorough
cleaning, the apples are crushed into a fine juicy mash.
Rice hulls are added to the mash to act as a press aid.
Press aids help to keep the apple juice flowing under the
extreme pressure in the press. |
 |
The mash is then
sprayed into one of 45 porous bags that hang vertically in
the press. Each bag is surrounded on each side by a plate
and these plates are squeezed together with a maximum of
2000 psi or 2000 pounds per square inch of pressure! That'll
get the juice out. |
 |
All of our
cider, once pressed, is pasteurized prior to bottling. We do
not manufacture any "raw" cider and are very attentive to
the health of our customers and the safety of our products.
Our entire operation is governed by a strict HACCP ( Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control Point) plan that insures
quality and safety at every point in our production cycle.
Pasteurization is just one of many critical points we
maintain to insure this level of quality for the consumer.
Flash pasteurization brings the juice from a chilly 45
degrees Fahrenheit up to 165 degrees and then back down to
an even chillier 38 degrees, all in about a minute and a
half!! |
 |
Once the cider
is pasteurized, bottles are prepared with our label -- the
sign of quality cider -- and sent along the bottling line to
be filled. |
 |
Pure, fresh
pressed apple cider, newly pasteurized and ready for
drinking flows freely in our mill into gallon, half-gallon,
quart, and pint containers. On a busy Fall day in Harvard,
we will bottle upwards of 8000 gallons. Now....that's a lot
of cider. |
 |
The Carlson
family has been making fresh apple cider about as long as
they've had apples to pick and a press to squeeze them in.
Father Carlson started farming in 1936, on a remote hilltop
in Harvard. Turned out to be about as perfect a place for
growing apples as anyplace on earth. But don't take our word
for it -- try it yourself. Take a big sip of our cider and
see if you don't feel the crisp cool air of a beautiful Fall
day in New England. It goes into every one of our bottles of
pure fresh sweet apple cider. |
