In fact, all the flavor and aroma gets blown off during the process of concentration, and FruitSmart captures it and sells it as “ fruit essence.” A juice-box maker buys both the AJC and the essence and after rehydrating the concentrate before packaging, will spritz the dull juice with a bit of essence to make it taste like apples. The concentrate had even less color-it was just this side of water-absolutely no aroma, was the consistency of water, and it didn’t even really taste of fruit at all.

The processed juice is what you remember from childhood-very light color, perfectly clear, vaguely appley aroma and a one-note, very sweet apple flavor. The unprocessed juice was farm-fresh, complex, aromatic, and viscous on the tongue it also had that slightly chalky mouthfeel that comes from apple skins. During the session I attended, we tasted the regular unprocessed juice, a processed juice that hadn’t been concentrated, and then juice made from concentrate. The effect is, as you would guess, profound. To recap: processed juice is heated three times and broken down with enzymes in its long journey toward concentration. Then it goes through “hot extraction” (juicing), filtration, and then concentration, which is a process like distillation (more heat) where the water is boiled off. The juice is then treated with enzymes for 30 to 90 minutes, which break down those viscous compounds in regular juice. After milling, the pulp is heated to 190☏ or higher. The processed track looks a lot different. (The latter product is new and offered on the request of cideries.) It’s cloudy and viscous-the rustic sweet cider you’d buy at a farm stand. For the unprocessed products, the milled apples are then pressed and either pasteurized or sold unpasteurized. The product lines then diverge, going toward unprocessed juicing or processing. That’s exactly what you’d find in any traditional cidery. When apples come to FruitSmart, the process for all products begins the same way: the fruit is inspected, washed, and milled or pulped. FruitSmart is not principally a supplier to cider makers, but they have lately started getting requests, and Chambers was at CiderCon in Portland, Oregon to explain what the different products were and how they’re processed. These reviews get into the functions and pros and cons of each juicer and can help you make a wise choice when shopping for a new juicer.I had never really put a lot of thought into how juice is concentrated until I sat in on a session at CiderCon – an industry conference – with Terry Chambers, President and GM of FruitSmart, a company that prepares and sells apple juice and apple juice concentrate (AJC) in Yakima. There are lots of great articles on this site that get into the detail of the brands and models of the best cold press juicers on the market. If you’re looking to buy a new juicer check out our article on the best masticating juicers.

These juicers are often times multitaskers and can do more than just juice. Masticating juicers are surprisingly quiet but are much slower more expensive. Cold-press juice is touted to have more available nutrients. This style of juicing is a bit newer to the market. The other style of juicer is masticating to make cold-press juice. They are fast, simple to use and clean, and are also pretty loud. These juicers have sharp blades that spin at top speeds. What most of us have come to know as a juicer is centrifugal. There are basically two main types of household juicers. Deciding on the best juicer for you can depend on many different factors including, the type of juice you most want to make, clean-up and assembly, and of course the price tag. But you might be thinking, aren’t juicers all the same? That is definitely not the case! There are plenty of different methods and styles of juicing. Part of the juicing journey is finding the right juicer.

Sugar apple juice label