In 1970 Ray Meckley started hand crafting his own cider at Flavor Fruit Farms. Since that time he has perfected the blend into something very unique. Although the exact apple blend is kept secret, they will tell you that it includes 4-8 varieties of both sweet and tart apples. Some of the varieties include: Gala, McIntosh, Jonathon, Cortland, Delicious, Jon-A-Gold, Mutsu, Honey Crisp, Ida Red, Northern Spy and Granny Smith. The cider changes over the course of the season. Early cider tends to be a bit less sweet and fuller body – where later cider is lighter in color and much sweeter.
Our cider is “un-pasteurized” and we believe that is what makes it so good. The pasteurization process heats the cider and changes the flavor profile making it a “juice”. Our apples are all hand picked from the trees (NO drops or windfalls used). They are graded, then washed and sanitized to ensure quality standards are maintained. The mill is inspected before and after every batch, and remains under the watchful eye of the Meckley’s.
Our cider press is a “rack and cloth” style press, which have been around for over 100 years. There are very few of this style presses still used today. The press takes at least 3 individuals to operate and creates small batches of approximately 100 + gallons of cider. Production varies depending on apple blend and the time of the season. Our process is very “old school” and we believe that is what makes our cider so unique.
