THE Most Easy METHOD FOR MAKING The BEST CIDER. By J. W. Gent. Licenced, June 16. 1687. Rob. Midgley. LONDON, Printed for George Grafton, at the Mitre in Fleetstreet, near Temple-Bar, 1687. THE Most Easy Method For Making The Best Cider. IT is generally known, That few Foreign Drinks as they are handed to us, are comparable to our English Cider well made: Those being so adulterated in the several hands through which they pass, that they corrupt instead of repair, the Natures of them that drink them. By Cider well made, hath been found to be a much more excellent and salubrous Liquor, and more suitable to our English Bodies, than any of those corrupt and adulterated Wines that are daily consumed. Nevertheless, the different and erroneous Methods that are used in making of it, (which like Medicines for Agues, are become innumerable, and rather confound than inform the Judgement) through the Ignorance of some, and the Covetousness of others, have very much impaired its Reputation; and rendered this Liquor not so universally acceptable as it might be, if made of the most proper Apples for that purpose, and duly prepared. Wherefore, to undeceive the too credulous, and gratify the Curious, and such that are willing to promote so good a Work as the improvement of so excellent a Liquor, and so great a part of our English Husbandry. I intent here to give you such an easy Method for making the best Cider, as Experience the Mistress of Arts hath taught; that instead of a laborious and difficult way of compounding and corrupting, you may naturally and easily make it: And if rightly observed and followed, will cause this Liquor to be so generally esteemed, that in a little time it may supplant the shallow credit of the sophisticated exotic blood of the Grape. I. The Choice of the Fruit. § 1. APples that are hard and lasting make good Cider, although their parenchymous or fleshy parts are White, as the Deuxans, or John-Apples, Oaken-pins, Westbury Apples, etc. The Reasons are, that they hang long on the Trees before they are Ripe, which digesteth their Juice the more, and are or aught to be, kept longer than softer Fruit after they are gathered, before they are ground, for the same intent: And their tough Skin preserves their copious Spirits from perspiration, more than in tender Fruits. § 2. Such whose Parenchymous, or freshly parts are Yellow and Firm, yield very good Cider, whether they be Ripe early or late; although the later they are Ripe, the richer Liquor they yield: As Pippins of all sorts, especially the Golden, Orange Apple, Golden Rennets, etc. The Redness is caused by the heat of the Sun digesting the Liquid matter on the extreme parts of the Fruit. It also giveth a Tincture to the Cider; as the red Skin of the Grape doth to Wine. The outside of any Apple yieldeth the best Cider; but the more coloured the better. II. The Times for Gathering and Grinding Apples for Cider. § 1. MAny Judge of the ripeness of Apples by the blackness of the Kernels. This holdeth in Fruits that are not long lasting, but in some Apples that hang long on the Trees, they must be taken before the Frosts hurt them, although the Kernels are not through Black. § 2. The maturity of some Fruit is discerned by their yellow Colour; which with the blackness of their Kernels, is a good indication. But some Apples are white when through Ripe, and improve not their Colour till they have lain sometime gathered; and some are yellow before they are Ripe. § 3. Most Apples discover their maturity by their Scent; for if they have a Mellow smell, they are undoubtedly ripe enough to gather. Some Apples nevertheless, yield no Scent, or very little, whilst on the Trees: but these have other indications of their Maturity. § 4. When Apples are apt Spontaneously to drop from the Trees, they are undoubtedly Ripe: For then the Tree ceaseth to give any more nourishment to the Fruit, by means whereof, the Ligaments by which the Fruit is united to the Tree, and receiveth its nourishment, grow feeble, and in a little time are dissolved. Some Winter-Fruits there are, that are so strongly united to the Trees, that the Fruit is many times prejudiced by Frosts before their Ligaments are dissolved; therefore they must be gathered before the extreme Cold invades them. § 5. Therefore by these indications, or some of them, it is not difficult to know when it is fit to gather your Fruits. When they are gathered, it is convenient to let them lie on heaps, or in Vessels within Doors, or elsewhere out of the Rain, for some time before they are fit for the Mill; for the lying of Apples sometime after they are taken from the Trees, begets the expense of the more phlegmatic Juice by Sweeting, and ripens and meliorates that which remains; and also weakeneth (by a degree of putrefaction) the Branchery or Veins that so strongly unite the Parenchymous parts of the Fruit, making them more easily to be broken in the Mill, and more freely yield their Juices. Such Fruits that are ripe before, or about Michaelmas, may lie two or three Weeks: And those that are not ripe till after, may lie till November, as Gillyflowers, Marigold Apples, etc. Some till December, as Deuxans, Westbury Apples, Oaken-pins, etc. And then will they yield the more and better Cider, which if they should be ground soon after their gathering, they would yield a thin acid Juice not fit for use. III. The manner of grinding and pressing of Apples for Cider. § 1. THe best Mills for grinding are those described in Vinetum Britannicum, being the most expeditious and advantageous way for the good of the Liquor, that hath been yet discovered. One Man may grind as many Apples in a Day by one of these Mills, as are usually ground in two or three Horsemills in the same time. A Horse-Mill will cost near 20 l. the setting up, with the Room wherein it is to be used. One of the least of these Mills, wherein may be ground near 20 Bushels in an Hour, will not cost above 3 l. The larger and swifter more. A Horse Mill is fixed, and will take up a great deal of room, and must remain so from year to year. But either of these Mills stand in a little Room, and is movable and portable from place to place with ease. § 2. After the Apples are ground, if they were mellow, it is good to press the Pulp the same day they were ground, or the next day after. But if the Apples were hard or tough, then let the Pulp stand two or three days. For the Pulp of Mellow Apples is apt to heat sooner than other, and thereby contract an ill Savour; but that of harder Fruit is not; and the standing some time after they are ground, makes it yield the more Liquor, by dissolving the more obdurate Particles, and weakening the Branchery or Veins that pass through the whole fleshy parts thereof, by an advantageous degree of Putrefaction: By which means its Gust is improved, and its Tincture exalted, especially if made of coloured Fruit. § 3. If you desire a rich coloured Cider, take of the reddest sort of through ripe Gillyflowers in November, and pill about a third or fourth part of them you intent to grind, and when you have ground and pressed your Cider, add the pillings to the Cider, and so let it stand Fourteen days more or less, then decant or draw off the Cider, and press the pillings to it, and order it as hereafter is directed, and you will have the finest, best coloured Cider, and richest in substance and taste that can be made of Apples: More especially if you pill all your Gillyflowers, or deep coloured Apples about the thickness of a Crown-piece, and grind those thick Rinds very fine (laying by the Insides you left, to make a meaner Cider) and then digest that Cider on some of the thin Pillings. For all Vinous Fruits have their purest part next the skin or pill, and there is the richest Juice contained, the Sun or Air maturating such Juice more perfectly on the extreme parts, than near the Core: The Pores are also much finer there than towards the middle, as appears in a dissected Apple by the help of a Microscope; which is the reason that Wines proceeding from Grapes lying in large Vessels without any other Pressure than their own Weight, are much more excellent than those that are forcibly expressed, which by all are found to be the poorest. Therefore if you intent to have good Cider of any sort of Fruit, press not your Pulp too hard, as it is usually done in the great Screw-Presses, some of them being made with Iron Screws, by force whereof the Murc is sometimes left so dry, that it will burn. This Cider so expressed, is ill coloured, and not well tasted, for the last run is poor, and carrieth with it too much of the lignous part of the Apple (the inside or coary part of the Apple, as well as the stony part of the Grape being the more rough and harsh) therefore it is better to leave a part of that behind, than to impoverish ten times as much of that which is more pure and rich. Besides, it confounds the Specific Gust and Flavour that Cyder ●…ould have of the Fruit it's made of, making all Cider almost taste alike. And when you intent to make Ciderkin, an easy Pressure leaves the more behind to improve that, which is none of the meanest Drinks. iv The Ordering of Cider after it is Pressed. § 1. WHen your Cider is pressed, put it into a large Vatt, or Tun, with a Tap near the bottom, and after it hath stood two or three Days, draw it off from the gross Settling or Lee into Barrels, Hogsheads, or other Vessels, which place in your coldest Cellars, Vaults, or places, and there let them stand with their Bungs open three or four Weeks, or more, till the Feces or Lee precipitate, and your Cider become indifferently fine. If you have not a Vatt or Tun fit for your purpose, you may strain it from its Trash, and Barrel it up immediately from the Press; but besure to set it in the coldest places; for Cold conduceth very much to the purifying of this Liquor, Warmth occasioning the solution and detention of those Particles of flying Lee, that spoil the Colour and Taste of Cider, which otherwise would precipitate. The leaving the Bung open doth not only add to the cooling of the Liquor, but gives way to the expense of the wild Spirit that is in it, which being penned, would continue the Solution of those Particles, and detain them, so that they would not easily precipitate, but on every occasion beget reiterated Fermentations, until at length not only the more gross, but also the most pure coloured, and desirable parts would precipitate, and the Cider left pale, jejune, and ill tasted: Or which oftentimes happens, the Solution is so forcible, that it remains thick, pale, eager, and ill tasted, unless it be by Art refined, which spoils all Cider that otherwise would be good. As for the time of it standing open, that must be proportioned according to the Nature of the Fruit, and their Circumstances. For if the Fruit were hard that the Liquor came out of the Press indifferently clear, the less time may serve; for than will it let fall its Feces the sooner: But if the Fruit were mellow or pulpy, or the Wether mild and warm, then will it with more Difficulty part with its gross Particles, and so the longer time is required; and therefore it will be convenient sometimes to inspect your Cider, to observe in what state or condition of Fineness it is, from time to time; for as soon as it is Fine, it is best forthwith to draw it into Bottles, or rack it into other Vessels, lest a new Fermentation happen. § 2. You may try its fineness by taking a Glass Pipe of a Foot or more in length, that's open at both ends, by stopping the upper end of the Pipe with your Thumb, and letting the other end down into the Cider as deep as you think fit, then open the upper end by raising your Thumb, the Cider will rise in the Pipe; then stop the upper end again with your Thumb, and elevate the Pipe, so may you let it run into a Drinking-glass, or return it into the Vessel, after you have viewed it, as you think fit. By this means you may know the different Degrees of Fineness, in the upper, middle, and lower parts of the Vessel, without tapping in several places; for the Cider may not be all alike fine at once; and it is best to let it be alike fine before you draw it off. V The Ordering of Cider in the first Racking. § 4. AFter you have drawn your Cider from its Lee, as is before directed, which you may call its first racking; and may be done into large Glass Bottles of one or two Gallon apiece more or less; let it stand in such Bottles a Month or two, or more; let them be lose stopped, that there may be a free admission of Air though not of Dust or other Filth; set these Bottles in your Cellar, or cold Repository, (yet so that they may not freeze) and there will your Cider undergo a second degree of Fineing, and other Feces will precipitate, which when you observe to be throughly settled in the bottom, and your Cider very transparent, which you may call Superfine, then is such Cider fit for use. For it is observed, that the coldness of the Glass very much accelerates the precipitation of the remaining Lee or Feces, leaving only the true Balsamic transparent Juice of the Apple, which by any other ways or means is hardly separable without impairing the Cider: Therefore if your quantity of Cider be so great, that you cannot easily obtain a sufficient number of large Glass Bottles, you may instead of them make use of Stone Bottles, or glazed Earthen Vessels, the larger the better, which may be placed in Rows in your Cellars or Vaults, and covered with Board's, or the like, to keep your Cider from the Dust, etc. but not from the Air; but in these Vessels you cannot so well discern the fining of your Cider, as in Glass Bottles; so that now you must use your Glass Pipe to try its Fineness. VI The Ordering of Cider after it is Superfine. § 1. WHen your Cider hath attained its utmost Degree of Fineness, which is known by its exceeding Transparency, then with a Crane or Syphon draw it off from its last Feces into your smaller Bottles, and there stop it close, and keep it in cold places for your Use. The best Cranes or Syphons for this Use, are those that are turned of the Glass Pipes that are made for Barometers, or Quicksilver Weather-glasses, usually sold at the Glass Shops in London, being made of the Flint Glass very transparent, and show the true Colour of the Cider as it runs through it; and every Atom of Filth or Nubecula that shall happen to rise. These Syphons you may easily make yourself, according to the Directions given in Vinetum Britanicum. § 2. The use of them is plain and easy; Let the strait Leg of the Syphon sink into the Bottle or Vessel out of which you extract your Cider, gently, till it touch the bottom; then place your Mark or Ring of Yarn on the outside of that Leg, to the height of the Bottle or Vessel; then raise it so that you th●… the lower end of that Leg is above the Feces that are a● the bottom; then draw at the other end of the Syphon, and all your Superfine Cider will arise from the Lee, and descend into such Bottles you intent to preserve it in. When one Bottle is full, you may with your Finger stop the outward end of the Syphon, till another Bottle be applied: Thus may two Persons run off a great quantity of Cider in a day, which Cider thus refined, may be close corked without any danger of breaking the Bottles, or flying of the Cider at the opening of them. If you design any of it for present drinking in the Winter time, set it two or three days thus stopped in an upper Room, not so cold as your Conservatory, but inclining to Warmth, and it will become brisk and nitty in the Glass. Cider thus prepared becomes of a most delicate, pleasant, luscious taste, without any Addition of Sugar or any other thing whatsoever to edulcorate or refine it; and will so continue for several Years (that matter being wholly separated from it which otherwise would make it degenerate to the worst of Drinks:) And although it may appear somewhat pale at the first, yet time alone will raise it to so high a perfection, that it will become of a deep yellow, and continue of so Oriental a Brightness, that herein the richest and finest Canary Wines surpass it not; and this is produced of the bare Juice of the Apple, without the least Addition of any matter or thing whatsoever, and only by a Mechanic Operation, and Natural Observation. So that by observing only these few short and easy Rules, without any Charge (other than Vessels) or extraordinary Labour, may you extract the true and natural Vinous Liquor out of ●…y sort of Apples, preserving its specific Nature and Gust, that you need not any Invention or costly Engine to extract the Spirits, out of the one half, to improve, or rather spoil, the other; nor any Compositions to beget pernicious Fermentations. This being such Cider that no Art can mend. FINIS. ¶ This Subject will be treated of more at large in Second Part of Vinetum Britanicum, now ready for the Press.