Our favorite New England Tradition

Apple Cider Mills
A Taste of New England, Tradition and Family

Gil and I discovered this delicious New England tradition many years ago and it is very special for us because we can only get it between September and the end of December when our favorite Apple Cider mill harvests the last batch of apples.
The Apple Cider Mills have been a New England tradition for centuries, every village with apple orchards had their own Apple Cider Mill, which mostly made hard cider, a fermented apple juice similar to wine, hard cider was for many years the mainly alcoholic beverage drunk in many New England villages, the mill owners rented their equipment to local farmers who used it to make their own cider as well.
During the Prohibition most of the Apple Cider Mills in New England were closed.
Very few Apple Cider Mills survived, and one LAST STANDING STEAM POWERED MILL in the entire United States, B.F.Clyde's in Mystic, Connecticut.



Clyde's Apple Cider Mill, Mystic, Connecticut



Clyde's steam powered Apple Cider Mill, Mystic, CT


We come back to Clyde's every fall to find our all time favorites:



Trust me on this, fresh Sweet Apple Cider tastes nothing like the ones we find in grocery stores 



Awesome Apple Cider Donut sold at Clyde's in Mystic, Connecticut



Clyde's Store on the last day of the season, December 18th



Clyde's store on the last day of the 2010 season



Hard working Clyde's ladies bottling the last batch of Apple Cider for the 2010 season 



Clyde's Sweet Apple Cider bottling



We avoid visiting the place during the weekends, it is insanity to park and huge lines all over the place, some people love that, we avoid the crowds and prefer to go during the week.
The place has huge historic importance and so I decided to also take a picture of the bronze plaque that tells a little bit about this wonderful place's history.

Click on the picture to enlarge it for better viewing

We are such big fans that we follow them on Facebook and we got the news about the last batch being bottled, so, once we have our priorities in all the right places, we dropped everything we drove south to Mystic to buy our last gallons of the best Sweet Apple Cider on earth.So, as we sip our last gallon of this golden nectar's dream I decided to share the pictures and one of New England's best kept secret with you.
They also sell apple butter, apple jam, apple jelly, local honey, apple pies, maple syrup, candy apples, fudge, pumpkins, kettle corn and off course APPLES among many other things.
We usually only buy Sweet Apple Cider and Apple Cider Donuts because you know, we are locals  ;)
The place really is a tourist paradise and tourist from all over the New York and Boston areas flock to Mystic year after year.




: )


Ray