A better juice for Nova Scotia
Few people know how many apple varieties grow in Nova Scotia and even fewer know how unique each one tastes, even as juice.
Most commercial apple juice is heated to the point where all the special flavour is boiled away, leaving a clear, bland product. Traditional sweet cider, on the other hand, tends to be murky and often musty – an acquired taste.
Our juice, made from freshly harvested fruit, is pasteurized at a temperature that makes it safe to drink without destroying its flavour. It’s a genuine expression of the apple varieties that go into it and ranges in colour from dark amber to gold, in appearance from cloudy to almost clear. Drinking this style of apple juice, much like drinking wine, opens a whole nuanced world of flavours; you will notice that different apples may be more sweet, tart, mild, sprightly or spicy. There’s a perfect apple juice for everyone.
Local, planet-friendly, natural and just plain tasty: why stick to orange juice when we can do better?
Traditional methods for modern times
The old-fashioned orchard featuring stately trees is a whole ecosystem.
- Trees are deep-rooted and don’t need watering or fertilizing.
- Tall trees provide habitat for songbirds.
- A grassy orchard floor protects the soil from erosion, creates habitat for beneficial insects, and enables a healthy soil microbiome.
- No insecticides are used, protecting bees and other wildlife.
- Traditional apple varieties are preserved.
- The visual appeal of the landscape is enhanced.
“Was du ererbt von deinen Vätern hast, erwirb es, um es zu besitzen.”
Goethe
What your forefathers bequeathed you … you must acquire to own.
Nova Scotia and especially the Annapolis Valley still harbour an abundance of old apple trees that merit preservation. Old varieties can be more disease-resistant, more flavourful, less allergenic, more suitable for cooking or juicing…. than today’s cultivars. Tall trees may have fallen out of fashion in favour of short-lived, high-maintenance dwarf apple “trees”, but we believe that the old guard deserves honour! They are our inheritance.
And finally… an ode to THE ORCHARD
Apple trees make my heart sing! A spring orchard in fragrant frothy bloom is heavenly, and an autumn orchard laden with brightly coloured fruit just as divine. In summer, too, when insects buzz around lazily and birds chirp among the branches, there is no better place to be than in the shade of an apple tree. And even in winter, the gnarled black silhouettes of fruit trees give a venerable feeling to a snowy landscape.
By maintaining traditional orchards, we not only enhance the health and beauty of our local environment, but also help to protect the global climate.
Come and see for yourself!
Juicerie Sophie 