Apple Cider
August 28, 2024 we hope to start pressing for the season the first weekend of September!
Everyone tells us Kapnick Orchards has the best cider! We took 1st place in the Michigan Sweet Cider Contest on December 6, 2017 in Grand Rapids! You always tell us its the best now the whole state knows! We also had a 5th place finish in 2012 and 2018!
We are still pressing fresh cider!
There is nothing better during the fall in Michigan than apple cider and donuts. Kapnick Orchards is one of the few cider mills that continue pressing cider nearly year round. We start pressing cider usually during the 2nd week in September because we wait until we have a good blend of apples. We press all fall, winter, spring, and usually do not stop until early summer. There are only a few months a year when our sweet cider is not available.
How do you make cider?
The first thing we do is select a quality blend of tart and sweet apples. These apples are washed and sorted. The apples are then ground up and pumped into our Good Nature Cider Press. Our press squeezes the apples, and the cider flows into a catch tray under the press. From there it is pumped into a holding tank from which it is bottled.
Why does cider taste so good?
Our cider is 100% all natural; we add no sugar, water, or preservatives. We make our cider the two following ways: 1) The old fashion way that we all grew up on 2)The newer method which involves a UV light machine. During this process with the UV light machine, we run our regular cider through the UV lights to accomplish the same effects as pasteurization without heating the cider to 160 F. The UV machine only raises the cider temperature about 3 F which kills any harmful bacteria that might be present without altering the taste of the final product.
Why do we offer UV treated cider?
Often the elderly and parents of young children have concerns about the safety of raw cider. For this reason, we decided several years ago to make cider both ways. We also sell some of our sweet cider to other markets and stores. The law mandates us to treat the cider with a UV light or a heat pasteurize machine when doing this. All of our apple cider served on our school tours has been processed thru the UV machine.