South Zeal Apple Pressing 2022

Images and text - Robin Tilley

How to live to 120

I were brought up on cider

And I be hundred and two

But still that be nuthin’ when you come to think

Me father and mother be still in the pink

And they were brought up on cider

Of the rare old Tavistock brew

And me grander drinks quarts

For he’s one of the sports

That were brought up on cider too.

The poem above and the text below is taken from ‘Farmhouse cider and scrumpy’ by Bob Bunker published 1999 by Bossiney Books, Launceston. (He describes ‘sensible’ cider making: for the reality please see the comments below!))

Traditional West Country scrumpy or farmhouse cider is made from apple juice (using cider apples rather than eating or cooking apples). Orchards typically were planted in small fields that were difficult to plough or to clear of stones. 20 trees could supply sufficient cider for a single farm.  

Cider apples are bitter to taste. However, when pressed the juice is clear and contains a good supply of sugar for the fermentation. Flavour, as opposed to sweetness, is found mainly in the cider apple’s skin which is much thicker than in eating apples. Most ciders are blended from a mixture of varieties. The earliest varieties are not ready for pressing until the beginning of October Depending on what is available, pressing can take place later in November or even December.

Cider apples are not normally picked. Windfalls are gathered first and the rest can be shaken off the tree branches. Mild bruising does not affect the flavour but badly discoloured apples are thrown away. The gathered apples can be stored for a short while and hosed clean before the milling process.

Even when ripe, apples are hard fruits to press and they must first be pulverised in an apple crusher (scratting) to allow the juice to be extracted more easily. This colourful pulp or ’pomace’ is then layered between straw or hessian cloth to build a big stack or ‘cheese’ about 1 metre square (approx 500kg of apple). Great care must be taken to keep it level. The press is wound down onto the cheese by turning a huge lever (takes 4 adults to do this). The juice or ‘must’ is channeled into buckets and then transferred into sterilised fermenting barrels or casks. When filled, airlocks are fitted to allow carbon dioxide to bubble out and prevent airborne contamination. The fermentation relies on sugar in the extracted juice and natural yeast without adding of artificial ingredients. 

As the fermentation progresses a yeast sediment forms at the bottom of the cask and the cider clears. The clear cider is then ‘racked’ or syphoned off into clean storage casks or bottles, leaving the sediment behind. Casks or bottles are filled to the top and capped or a new airlock fitted to prevent the cider turning to vinegar. A tiny amount of sugar added at this stage will help to ensure this and may add a pleasant sparkle to the finished cider. Cider is perfectly drinkable from very fresh (months old ) to two or three years. Cider kept in brandy, rum or sherry casks will take up some of these flavours but sadly is rare today!

Mulled cider recipe

1 litre medium farmhouse cider

Mixture of spices tied in a muslin bag (eg 8 cloves, 8 allspice, small stick of cinnamon)

Heat the cider in a saucepan with the spice bag and add sugar.  

Simmer for 5 minutes (don’t boil). 

Remove spices. 

Drink while hot.  

Additional ingredients may be added (eg ginger wine, orange juice, brandy or whisky).

Cider vinegar (in case it did turn) is said be good to take for arthritis. Horses also benefit from the addition of a small amount of cider vinegar to their feed

The Reality!

Well - that’s the sensible view as I say! This is how we do it - or don’t do it, as the case may be.

The reality in South Zeal is that from 2005 to 2016, thanks to a generous family who had an old orchard near Yeoford, we picked apples there, but that arrangement ended in 2016, and thereafter we struggled to find an orchard elsewhere.

However, quite out of the blue, a chance conversation with Shaun McCaffrey in 2022 led to us to the knowledge that he has a huge orchard in South Tawton and that he would be very happy for us to take as many apples as we wanted! I couldn’t believe that we must have had this opportunity right on our doorstep for so long! 

Shaun couldn’t have been more generous and helpful, and the pictures show the result in October 2022.

So many people got stuck in - were there some 40 people overall I think - and quite a few very friendly new people - that there was a wonderful production line: 

• picking all the apples: 
• running the trailers over to Townend,:
• washing the apples off; 
• gathering them up for the crusher,
• crushing them (and the occasional careless fingers!) ;
• creating a fairly non wobbly cheese wrapped up in a bit of straw;
• pressing the cheese - to such an extent that the pressure board exploded with a terrifying ‘CRACK!’; and
• whizzing the juice into the barrels and containers. 

Team work! Proper job!

We used as many proper cider apples as we could but the astonishingly dry summer meant the apples did not contain as much juice as they normally would, so we used plenty of eating apples to make up the difference. I mean - it all goes the same way anyway!

The juice is now festering away, well perhaps I should say ‘fermenting’ away, and in early summer - probably in June - we will have a tasting party at Townend to which event all helpers will be under a duty to attend! The invitation will also include all those who might be interested in helping in 2023! Oh blow that - everyone is invited! Why not?!

Quite apart from Mike and Shaun, you should know that Ali Vaughan and Terry Russell have been greatly influential in getting the pressing up and running again, and George Henry carried out necessary repairs to the press - although a new pressure board will now be needed! - so many thanks to them. I hope I haven’t missed anyone out.

Ali will, I am sure, send everyone a message when we have a date for the great tasting day!

For those who may not be familiar with the history of the press, there is a brief resume here

(I should add that I remember the journey back from Honiton with the enormous press weighing several tons on the trailer, and it occurred to me to ask Dave (Denford) who was driving if the trailer was braked. “Oh no,” he said. “Then what”, I asked, “ would happen if you had to do an emergency stop?” After a moment’s thought Dave replied: “Well; then the press would arrive at Townend before we do.”)