Cider from real apples vs cider from supermarket juice

[MagnusTS]

Do you think the end result tastes the same?

 

[Appleyard]

No. Certainly not. I have just commented in the "turbo cider" thread about this. I think it tastes like cider that's previously been boiled. I think that's because it's "apple juice from concentrate" which does not taste very much like apple juice at all! You can buy "fresh" juice, i.e. "not from concentrate", but it's a lot more expensive!

Has anyone tried "not from concentrate"? Perhaps the expense would be less noticeable were it made into apple wine?

 

[Taff]

"Not from concentrate" apple wine on the go here...

"Innocent" apple juice was on offer at Moggies, so I bought a few.

 

[Appleyard]

Ah excuse please, what is "Moggies"?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Ah excuse please, what is "Moggies"?

You beat me to it.

 

[lupinehorror]

morrisons?

 

[Cwrw666]

I like turbo cider just as I like real cider. It doesn't taste the same but can't say it tastes boiled to me. Main difference is the types of apples used I'd guess. Mostly dessert apples so it's a bit bland. And obviously you get fresher flavours from real apples.

 

[An Ankoù]

I like turbo cider just as I like real cider. It doesn't taste the same but can't say it tastes boiled to me. Main difference is the types of apples used I'd guess. Mostly dessert apples so it's a bit bland. And obviously you get fresher flavours from real apples.

Never tried cider made from supermarket juice , but I might try some out of curiosity. When you say bland, do you mean like the difference between, say, Aspall's cider and West Country cider such as Thatchers or Sheppy's, for example, or just lacking in flavour?

 

[terrym]

I made one lot of TC 3 or 4 years ago following a typical recipe from on here. It took six months to mature before it was near drinkable. And even then as bland as you could possibly get (as in lacking in flavour), and nothing like the real stuff. So I haven't bothered again. Many people seem to add fruit syrup to TC and I can understand why.

 

[An Ankoù]

I made one lot of TC 3 or 4 years ago following a typical recipe from on here. It took six months to mature before it was near drinkable. And even then as bland as you could possibly get (as in lacking in flavour), and nothing like the real stuff. So I haven't bothered again. Many people seem to add fruit syrup to TC and I can understand why.

Thanks. That's interesting.

 

[Bobtheblob]

I made a TC recently and think it's tastes a bit bland with a hint of toffee apples rather than real apples. It's ok though and does the job.

 

[An Ankoù]

I made a TC recently and think it's tastes a bit bland with a hint of toffee apples rather than real apples. It's ok though and does the job.

Hmm. I'm fascinated. Going down to Super U tomorrow to get some bog standard apple juice.

 

[Cwrw666]

Never tried cider made from supermarket juice , but I might try some out of curiosity. When you say bland, do you mean like the difference between, say, Aspall's cider and West Country cider such as Thatchers or Sheppy's, for example, or just lacking in flavour?

Can't really say as I don't normally buy cider.
And of course we are all talking like every single brand of juice produces the same result. I always use Tescos `Pure apple juice' because looking through the labels of various sorts this one had the highest sugars content. Comes out at about 6.5% ABV when fermented out. When I say bland it's a bit lacking in acidity and tannins. But I find it very refreshing chilled on a hot summers day.

 

[DavieC]

I'm easily pleased, definitely not a conissuer, for the last three years I've made pressed apple cider and last year also made a few TC variants, ..fruit TC, natural yeast TC(harvested from pressed) ,ale yeast TC and cider yeast TC.I loved them all, no hint of stewed apple but the real pressed apple cider takes longer to mature,I mainly leave it to clear in the garage until next spring before bottling.

 

[MrRook]

The last time I made cider I started with a blend of three different sweet apple juice varieties; one gallon each. Once the primary fermentation was done I got several tart apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces, and added them to the f v.

 

[Bobtheblob]

Super U. I miss that place - when we used to go over to France to visit the in-laws. Wine for about 50p a bottle and crisps as long as they were ready salted, bacon or cheese. Great supermarkets.

 

[Shirley Bassett]

I’ve made turbo cider from juice from concentrate and “fresh“ juice, and I think that there is very little difference in taste. It is just very dry. I’ve never had a boiled flavour.

i find that adding tea bags (10 in a litre of boiled water, left to stew and then rung out on a spoon and added to 18 litres of juice), definitely add a complexity to the end flavour.

I’ve also found that a couple of large Bramley’s blitzed in a food processor and added to the initial ferment, will give the end product a degree of tart flavour.

I’ve also added a few tins of pears in juice similarly blitzed also works.

Honey also gives it a degree of complexity. You can carefully caramelise the honey on the stove if you want a toffee type of taste, but take care as it can suddenly boil out of the pan.

I did read that adding malic acid improves the flavour, but I’ve no experience of this.

However, none of them taste as nice as actual pressed juice from actual apples.

I also found that as many mixed varieties of apples as you can get your hands on tastes far nicer than trying to make real cider from single varieties.

A rough guide is about 25% cookers to 70% dessert apples plus 5% crab apples if you can get them. Or 30% to 70% if you can’t get any crab apples. % are by eye.

I’m going to plant half a dozen cider trees in my garden as a long term investment.

Finally 6 months minimum ageing is a must. I do this in the bottle with 10g/litre of sugar added to carbonate the end product.

 

[prog99]

Hmm. I'm fascinated. Going down to Super U tomorrow to get some bog standard apple juice.

You’ll be buying fancy french artisan stuff though. Do superU sell the cheapy stuff for making booze.

 

[Cwrw666]

As a point of interest a couple of years ago after pressing my cider apples, instead of using camden tablets to sanitise it, I put it in my boiler and pasteurised it by bringing it up above 150F. Unfortunately I let it get way too hot, more like 180F and it smelled strongly of cooked apples.
Still, I made it into cider anyway - the finished cider had no taste or smell of cooked apples at all. In fact it was pretty good.

 

[Taff]

Ah excuse please, what is "Moggies"?

Morrisons, as someone had already guessed.