Apple cider
Description
The recipe won't take much time. Apple cider turns out to be a low-alcohol beverage with numerous tiny carbon dioxide bubbles. Depending on the apple variety, it can have a sweet or slightly tart-sweet taste and aroma. Be sure to prepare this drink from early autumn apples so you can enjoy it with family and friends. Cider is usually served chilled.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Prepare the listed ingredients. Choose sweet or slightly tart apple varieties and do not wash them, so as not to remove the yeast from the fruit surface. It's best to use garden apples, not store-bought ones, as the latter are often treated with paraffin.
- 2
Step 2
Rinse the fruits lightly to remove dust, but not thoroughly, so as not to wash off the yeast on their surface. Cut them into quarters and remove the seed cores. Then grate on a coarse grater together with the peel or process through a meat grinder. Grate together with the peel!
- 3
Step 3
Place the apple mixture into a tall jar or container.
- 4
Step 4
Pour in filtered cold water. Stir and cover the jar with gauze or a towel. Leave it at room temperature for 1–2 days to start the fermentation process. You'll know it has begun when you notice a strong apple aroma and bubbles in the apple mixture. By the way, the apple mass will rise to the top, while the juice remains at the bottom of the container. Most importantly, do not seal with a lid, as air access is necessary.
- 5
Step 5
After 1-2 days, strain the contents of the container and discard the solids. This can be done using a double layer of cheesecloth or a fine-mesh sieve. It is acceptable to have some fine residue or a small amount of sediment.
- 6
Step 6
Pour granulated sugar into the container and add back the strained juice. The juice contains yeast, which will feed on the sugar's sweetness.
- 7
Step 7
Stretch a rubber glove over the mouth of the jar (as an airlock). Be sure to make a small hole in one of the glove's fingers with a needle to allow carbon dioxide to escape. Let it sit for 30–40 days in a dark and not overly cool place. As fermentation slows down, the liquid will become increasingly sour and its sweetness will decrease.
- 8
Step 8
When the glove deflates, remove it and screw the lid onto the container. Try to fill the container with cider to the brim to prevent air from entering. Leave it for another 10 days for "maturation."
- 9
Step 9
After the specified time, the apple cider will be completely ready! Chill it in the refrigerator and pour into glasses. The drink will contain small bubbles of air, intoxicating and aromatic.