City Fruit harvests an abundance of apples every year, and congruently owns three cider presses.  Of these three, two are manual (meaning everything is done by hand) and one is electric (meaning most of the work is done by machine), and all are available for the public to rent from July to November.  The dates of press availability are of course dictated by the season itself, as fruit harvesting is dependent on weather.  Along with the rental, cider-quality apples (those not taken by food banks because of size, pest damage, or other imperfections) are available for purchase at 50 cents a pound.  Most requests for the press without the purchase of apples come from local tree owners with fruitful trees in an attempt to prevent waste.  The rental fee of $50 dollars for one to three days covers maintenance and staff efforts, and goes directly back to support City Fruit’s harvesting efforts.  Many local community organizations, like schools and churches, rent the press for educational purposes and to engage the public in this climate region’s favorite fruit.  For community events and City Fruit members, the rental fee is $35.

A person would need approximately 20 to 25 pounds of apples to make one gallon of cider.  Once apples are pressed, they yield a juice that is unpasteurized and unfiltered.  This is the distinction between juice and cider, as apple juice from a store (unless purchased from the refrigerated section) has been pasteurized and filtered.  One may perform these actions at home after freshly pressing apples for cider to extend the longevity of their efforts.