APPLE JUICE Vs. CIDER

Okay, Jim. Help me and my roommate settle a dispute. Is there a difference between juice and cider, as in apple juice or cider. I realize this is one of the less interesting questions you'll field, but we have no idea.

That's easy. I grew up in a town whose major agricultural product was apples.

Technically, there is no difference between apple cider and apple juice. The FDA or whoever is in charge of those things, have no rules or definitions for either cider or juice and neither does Noah Webster. The terms are interchangeable.

There is, however, usually an implied difference. When you grind up apples and press them to release the juices, you end up with a brownish liquid that contains a sludge that will settle to the bottom. That is what most Americans consider cider. If you take that juice, filter it and pasteurize it, you will have a clear golden liquid that is usually considered apple juice. If you were to take that same cider and let it ferment, it will turn into "hard cider". Your cider that comes in bottles that look like beer is just that. Woodchuck Cider is a hard cider.

So usually, "sweet" cider is brown and cloudy, apple juice is clear and golden, and "hard" cider is fermented and has an alcohol content, but you (and the product vendor) can use those terms interchangeably.