What Is The Difference Between Apple Juice And Apple Cider

Let’s find the answer to the ageless question in autumn: What is the difference between apple juice and apple cider? How to spot the difference between these 2 apple juice drinks.

What is apple juice?

In the beverage industry, apple juice is one of the most widely popular fruit juice drinks, produced and traded globally. It has a delicious taste and health benefits for all ages.

Crafting apple juice begins with the same crushed apples that serve as the foundational material for cider production. These apples undergo a meticulous process involving multiple rounds of filtration and straining, followed by a thorough boiling phase. This transformative boiling process introduces notable alterations to the liquid’s texture, flavor, and hue, resulting in a final product that is notably clearer in appearance. In essence, apple juice distinguishes itself by its inherent lightness, crystal clarity, and heightened sweetness, setting it apart from its cider counterpart. Some enthusiasts even augment their natural apple essence by incorporating sugar or alternative sweeteners.

The shelf life of apple juice, once it has conveyed pasteurization and is securely sealed in glass containers with a vacuum seal, boasts a longer shelf life, remaining fresh and pristine for an extended period. Apple juice can be placed on shelves or in cupboards for several months.

Read more: 12 Amazing Health Benefits Of Apple Juice

What is apple cider?

Although the term cider is used for the fermented alcoholic drink in much of the world, it often refers to fresh “apple cider” in North America.

Cider uses the entire apple, including the core and apple trimmings. It’s a seasonally produced beverage, traditionally served throughout autumn—particularly on Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.

The resulting liquid is sometimes pasteurized before being bottled or exposed to UV light to kill bacteria and extend its shelf life. Unpasteurized cider should be kept cold and finished within a week or two. However, traditional raw, untreated cider is still quite common. Whether pasteurized or not, the result is a cloudy, caramel-colored liquid with a complex, sweet, tart flavor. It’s much tangier than apple juice.

It’s a versatile treat that can be consumed as a beverage or ingredient. So you can drink it straight out of the bottle, chilled or at room temperature. Or you can bake it into cakes, sweet rolls, monkey bread, and doughnuts to make apple cider-flavored desserts. Or you can drink it mulled—slow-cooked and infused with the fall flavors of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, star anise, and cardamom. If you want an alcoholic beverage, mulled cider can also be spiked with bourbon, brandy, or rum.

Read more: Top 15+ Best Apple Juice Brands In The Word 

The difference between apple juice and apple cider

To spot the difference between apple juice and apple cider, You can consider the following factors:

Color

The most obvious difference between apple juice and apple cider is the color. Typically, Apple Juice is light in color while cider is darker in color.

Some commercial unfiltered apple juice products are as dark as apple cider. However, unfiltered Apple Juice is often cloudy and concentrated, with small patches of pulp and apple particles. Meanwhile, cider is usually clear and not cloudy, similar to wine.

Processing

Apple juice is usually made by extracting juice from apples through a pressing and filtering process. The process typically involves crushing the apples, extracting the liquid, and then pasteurizing them to extend shelf life.

Apple cider, also known as “sweet cider” or simply “apple wine”, is usually raw, unfiltered apple juice. It is a liquid that comes directly from the apple pressing process without further processing or pasteurization.

Clarity

Apple juice is usually clear and can be filtered to remove any solids, creating a smooth and translucent liquid.

Apple cider is often cloudy because it retains apple solids and pulp. It can also undergo natural fermentation if not treated with preservatives.

Taste

During the production of apple juice, people often add sweeteners and food stabilizers, so apple juice is often sweeter and has a more stable flavor than apple cider. Apple cider is often more tart and has a fresher, more complex flavor profile due to the presence of apple solids and natural enzymes.

Shelf life

Due to pasteurization and filtering, apple juice has a longer shelf life and can be stored for an extended period. Apple cider has a shorter shelf life than apple juice because it is not pasteurized and can ferment hard if not consumed relatively quickly.

If you’re not a connoisseur of the drink, it may be difficult for you to tell the difference between apple juice and apple cider. Nawon hopes the above article can provide useful information for you about these two wonderful drinks. Enjoy apple juice and cider to experience their true taste.