"concentrate" is not actually juice!!!

jamesw · Mar 12, 2015

I have been reading a lot of stuff on here about turbo cider, and being a cider snob I wanted to make the following observations.

Concentrate VS pressed......

Pressed apple juice is great, its apples, chopped up, squished, occasionally filtered or treated to get rid of the brownness.

Concentrate on the other hand IS NOT JUICE!!!

The way they make apple juice from concentrate is they get the dry apple pulp after pressing, then steam it and distill the steam..... then add sugar and flavourings etc. there is no juice in concentrate! At best it is steamed apple water with sweeteners and flavourings.

Just wanted to highlight this to people who werent aware of the process.
Until I found out how it was made, I just assumed it was pressed apple juice that was concentrated and the rehydrated later.

So when making WOW and Turbo Cider, consider this when choosing what "juice" you buy (although I know some people will go for the cheapest which is fine, but it isnt really juice therefore cider)!

tonyhibbett · Mar 12, 2015

Somewhat alarming. I assume that, according to Trades Description law, 'pure pressed apple juice from concentrate' is as described, so some apple juice concentrate must be pure. However, since the legal minimum apple content of cider is only 35%, it would not surprise me to find that some commercial producers may at least include some of the stuff you describe. There is still a lot of flavour in the pressed pulp, but little sugar.

Chippy_Tea · Mar 12, 2015

An interesting read, I don't make cider but have made many gallons of juice wine, I have used pure and from concentrate apple juice (always mixed with something else) and have not noticed the difference.

jamesw · Mar 12, 2015

Well there will be aromatics and small molecules taken up in the steam, so the "essence" of apple will be there, hence why it "tastes" like apples, but it has little of the vitamin content or other larger molecules (even sugar).

While they wont tell you, the supermarket basic stuff is probably 100% steamed apple water, whereas the more expensive stuff may be a blend of pressed juice and concentrate.
Importantly, the word concentrate is misleading, as pure pressed apple juice may be concentrated by removing water, "concentrate" is made through this steaming process, and because it really isnt apple juice.

I only know this to be true of apple "juice", but I wonder what other juices are concentrates.....

Tony, I agree, I think a lot of commercial cider producers would include concentrate apple juice, and sadly the apple concentrate would count as 35%, so perhaps there is no actual pressed juice in them whatsoever!?!
Chippy, Id imagine that you arent tasting much difference because of the other drinks you are adding, presumably they contain real fruit.

tonyhibbett · Mar 13, 2015

And just because there are rules, regulations, standards and inspections doesn't mean that everyone abides by them, especially when profit is the prime motive. Let's face it, the alcohol business is a legitimised recreational drug trade. The wild west was mostly won by crippling the Indians with cheap hooch and for quite some time the British controlled China with opium.
I don't mind confessing that I supplemented my student income by trading 'certain substances', only to find that my satisfied customers were imbibing a synthetic anaesthetic used on monkeys for the purpose of vivisection experiments on monkeys!
I subsequently decided to grow my own and to this day I prefer the produce of my own apples and grapes.

Chippy_Tea · Mar 13, 2015

jamesw said:
Chippy, Id imagine that you arent tasting much difference because of the other drinks you are adding, presumably they contain real fruit.

What i was trying to say (and failed miserably) in reply to your statement -

Concentrate on the other hand IS NOT JUICE!!!

was that it may not be juice as we would normally think of juice but if it works in your wine or cider and you are happy with the taste does it matter?

"concentrate" is not actually juice!!!

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"concentrate" is not actually juice!!!

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