Vander Mill Hard Cider

With autumn in full swing and the apple orchards reaping the benefits of their yearly crop, now is the time to enjoy a glass of apple cider.  Just the feel of the season puts you in the mood for this classic drink.

Did you know that cider was the most consumed beverage during colonial times because water was believed to be unsafe for drinking?  In fact, cider has been popular across the world for centuries with England leading the way.  Now it has reached popularity again for different reasons. Lately, this classic apple drink has trended toward "hard" cider, with all kinds of cider producers launching their own versions. 

So in keeping with the trends, you will be able to enjoy a glass of Vander Mill Hard Apple cider for the next few weeks at the Uptown.  Vander Mill Cider is from Spring Lake, Michigan. The cider brewery works with a local apple farm for supplying their yearly production. They have been making both hard and sweet cider from high quality Michigan apples since 2006 and already have found the need for expansion.  Their cider is never pasteurized and contains no added preservatives.

This is why cider is becoming so popular. As Americans have moved toward consciously watching their health, cider has now become the drink of choice. Being fruit based, people associate it with a more positive nutritional value. Plus, with the gluten-free movement, cider is naturally gluten free.

Most people do drink cider and apple juice for their health benefits. Remember the old adage, an apple a day keeps the doctor away? Well scientists have proven the same goes for cider. It helps protect against cancer and heart disease.

But what is the difference between cider and apple juice? What I thought would be a quick Internet search turned out to be more confusing than I hoped. My first thought was that cider contains alcohol, and apple juice does not. Seems like the easy answer right? However after reading a few articles, I guess I am not 100% sure that is the case.

According to Wikipedia, sometime after prohibition the word cider came to mean unfiltered, unfermented apple juice, whereas apple juice means clear, unfiltered and pasteurized. Ciders can vary in alcohol content ranging from 1.2% to over 8% and sometimes can be called apple wine. They can be classified from dry to sweet and can range in appearance from cloudy to clear.

No matter how you define it, we can guarantee that our hard cider comes with an alcoholic kick.  So come try a glass of Vander Mill hard cider. Just do the good doctor a favor, and pair it with one of our healthy, made from scratch meals!