Finding Lost Apples and Reviving a Beloved Cider

Well, New Jersey is not the armpit of the Union after all. Jersey folks have some delicate taste buds and intelligence.

I drive by an orchard on my way to and from work every day that has a huge trailer in the yard painted with "Ugly Apples Taste Better". Ulster county is full of apple orchards and I try to patronize all the family friendly ones. I am however, descended from a very, very old New Jersey family that farmed in the Rahway/Elizabethtown/Newark area and I'm sure Newark Cider is my ancestral beverage. I will have to try some.

Doing the lord's work. God bless!

There are a lot of great things happening in Newark right now. I think it would be fantastic if Amazon chose the city for its HQ2. All those empty skyscrapers and department stores would be a great start. Followed by improved transit and new development.

I read somewhere that apple trees and cider were popular because settlers often did not have access to clean water. Hard cider was the fluid that saved their lives. It was clean, healthy and easy to make. Johnie Appleseed had customers who were eager to buy his wares.

There are so many wonderful old varieties. Ashmead's Kernel for one. It's great to see some of these old apples revived. They tend to be not so pretty, but they more than make up for that in flavor.

Sounds like a trip out east is in order. I love a good cider, and this sounds like the ultimate. Also, I remember driving in that central area of New Jersey when I worked in the City decades ago, and thinking this is why it is called the Garden State. Also, agree with Planetary Occupant. It is an all-around great story.

A wonderful tale, especially in our current political / social climate. Good for the proprietor for hiring former convicts. I wish him good luck with this enterprise.

Back in the day my wife and I lived (care taking) on "farm" in the mountains east of San Diego (~4000') that had an acre or so of very old apple trees with amazingly ugly, misshapen apples whose name I do not remember. They were the best apples I've ever tasted. Most we sold to a local bakery and restaurant which made apple pies. Some we used to make cider. We used natural fermentation and over night freezing to make a really tasty drink. The more the cider froze, the stronger it got. The local county ag person really liked it, and constantly warned us about exceeding a certain alcohol level... Bravo & Kudos to Mr. Rosen.

I brew homemade hard cider on my farm in western Oregon (and no, I don't spray anything and everything is organic). I use a blend of apples, including Gravensteins, Honey Crisps, and Amere de Berthcourt. It's real simple to make: 5 gallons of cider and two lbs. of brown sugar with 1 packet of champagne yeast. Keep it 3 weeks in the fermentation bucket, then bottle it, blending all of it with a simple syrup of 1 c. water and 3/4 c. brown sugar (to give it fizz). Let it sit 3 weeks in the bottles and you will have a delicious refreshing drink. I sometimes do 3 gal. apple cider to 2 gal. pinot noir grape juice - now THAT is beyond delicious! One historical: cider was the preferred drink of the colonials, and John Adams reportedly drank 2 tankards of it daily. With the advent of Irish and German immigrants in the 1840s cider was pushed out in favor of beer. Prior to that, well, you don't think Jonny Appleseed was going to make pies with all those apples? I am so happy to see it making a come back. As one who used to love Italian wines and still does (although I have a native preference for Oregon wines now), there is almost nothing I would rather drink than my yeasty and fruity home-brew - even other local ciders don't cut it for me any more. So: brew your own. It's easy, rewarding, and delicious. Now, off to bottle my seventh batch of this autumn's poma dulcissima.

This is great. Also, not mentioned in the article is the interesting alignment with the Iberian/European heritages that prevail in the Ironbound of the 20th century. There are large Portuguese and Spanish communities, the latter of which in particular have an association with drinking cidre/cider (which very much resembles the elegant ciders of northern France).

this really bums me out. i love apples and cider but hard cider for me is not a happening thing. a blended non-alcoholic cider would be a treat.

Cider is All American we drank it long before beer.

This Jersey resident appreciates the cultivation of local farms and businesses, as well as giving exconvicts respectable employment. Please consider a non-alcoholic variety so that teetotalers can also enjoy and support this project.

It is difficult to have a good apple crop without chemical spraying. What is this orchard doing in that regard?

As owner of a small farm in Georgia, I too am growing apples for cider though on a much smaller scale. Southern apples grow best on the northern side of the hill. Yates, Hewes Crab apple, and varieties of the Limbertwig are some of the apples. Good luck to you!

What a great story! I started drinking hard cider years ago in the summer as a substitute for beer, which I've never liked. I now drink it year round--often instead of a glass of wine with dinner. I look forward to trying Ironbound and wish them great success.

What a charming & delightful story! "the contentious world of historic apples" made me laugh.

i love hard ciders and once spent a vacation tasting local ciders all over the shires in england. this sounds like something i want to keep an eye out for and hope that someday a local store or pub will carry. sadly, the cidery is too far away for me to get to on a saturday... but my taste buds are ready for the day it comes closer.

love cider! May have to plan a trip to Newark to try tbese out

Want some incredible heirloom apple cider right now? Go to the glorious Scott Farm in Vermont. They know their apples, and they really know how to make cider. Best cider I have ever had. But it changes, what's terrific today may not be as terrific in a week or two....right now - outstanding! And you can also purchase all sorts of hard to find heirloom apples, some of which are insanely good. Easy to eat an apple (or more) a day right now, say Ashmead's Kernel or Esopus Spitzenburg or many others with names as good as the apples taste.

The cider served at the Gramercy Tavern in NYC is absolutely delicious !

We are big fans of heirloom apples here in Upstate, NY. They are harder to find each year. A local farmer used to press an apple/pear combo of non-hard cider which was fantastic. We would love to try some Newark (Hard) Cider. I’m already pestering my husband for a drive to NJ! I salute Mr. Rosen’s determination to track down these 4 apples, to grow them sustainably AND to hire former convicts to aid him in his work. I’m a huge fan of welcoming our fellow citizens back into society (and making sure they have their voting rights). There are many reasons to drink some of Mr. Rosen’s cider - can’t wait! Christina Robison

I've been a fan of Ironbound Cider for a few years now and this story has me very excited. Not only proud of NJ but also of Newark where I spent my formative years, but currently the owner of an old apple orchard in western MA that I'm hoping to restore in retirement, I wish the Ironbound team much success on their expanding ventures!

Franklin County here in Western Massachusetts has an annual “Cider days” event which includes cider tastings, cider and food pairings, educational events and tours. It’s coming up in November and if you’re lucky you can still get tickets. Last year they had a perry (pear cider) tasting I couldn’t get into, but I’m hoping they do that again soon. Cider is one of the few alcoholic beverages almost always suitable for people with celiac disease so I have learned a lot about it out of necessity. My favorite is Newtown Pippin from Original Sin.

Hard cider in New Jersey? Especially from heirloom fruit? Bring it on - can’t wait. Thanks for letting us know we have something to (really) look forward to.

Loved this article. We're a bit apple obsessed in my house with tracking down heirloom apples, making cider and pies and we also have a bit of competition between the fans of the Cornell apples and the U of M apples. But perhaps the most inspiring part of the story is Mr. Rosen's decision to give a chance to the guys who have done their time.

As one used to the european ciders (English and French) of 50 years ago I have long despaired at the loss of American cider varieties. There was a reason New Jersey was called "the Garden State"--it boasted extensive orchards, not a few of which were devoted to cider. Now living in a west coast place where regular cider is lightly alcoholic apple juice and European cider apple fruits are not fermented long enough to produce the dry but smokily rich cidres of yesteryear I find this article uplifting and inspiring.

The only ciders I am familiar with are the French ciders from Normandy. They are excellent thirst quenchers and their varying alcohol content allows one to adjust the type of cider to the mood of the day.

These apples sound interesting. But now in the Midwest, just give me a bucket of Northern Spy and I am a happy camper.

In Elizabeth, N.J., back in the 1950's my grandfather who lived a couple houses away from me and our neighbors (all with big properties) had maybe 15 to 20 old apple trees scattered throughout their yards that produced fruit. As kids we just called them "crab apples" but my grandmother did pick them and made a combination of apple and rhubarb sauce my grandfather would have for breakfast. I remember an old cider mill off Rt.22 near Springfield, N.J. where my parents bought cider but I don't think it was hard. There was and I believe still is the old Applejack distillery in Colts Neck, N.J. too.

This is a wonderful story. I loved reading about the quest, and the discoveries. Thank you.

There's also something called Apple cider Moonshine or apple cider liquor. It's hard to find. I drank some many years ago back when i lived in NYC. A friend would brink gallons of it back from his yearly hometown visits in Western NY state. An elderly gentleman made the hooch by the hundreds(of gallons), all made ilegally of course. Best hard liquor i ever had and i'm not even a regular drinker!!! Got looped after 2 small glasses and never a hangover.

I have read previously about hard ciders is that to get the best flavors out of the apples it take about 25 years after the trees are first planted. That is one of the reasons the prohibition effectively destroyed the hard cider industry when they chopped and burned down those orchards. Before the prohibition hard cider was the most popular alcoholic drink in the United States. Most of the hard ciders in production now are from much younger trees and tend to be cloyingly sweet instead of dry. That being the case, in about 2043 we should have some high quality Newark Ciders.