I just made apple cider

[Mike]

Got my press made and came out with 3 gallons so far.
Oops, I don't have that many gallon jugs.
So 1 gallon for cider, 1 gallon for hard cider (I have plenty of beer bottles and caps) and one gallon for jelly.

I'm having a hard time believing that the waterbath the Sure-Jell instructions suggest does anything.
Last time I made cherry jam the instructions said to turn them upside down while cooling (so the fruit wouldn't all float to the lid). There was no canning to it.
Seems to me that 9 cups of sugar and 7 cups of liquid brought to a full rolling boil is going to be hotter than boiling water. This was the first time ever that my water bath kept on boiling during the addition of jars.

Anyone know who sells gallons of bottled water with screw tops? I don't drink much so turning it all into hard cider isn't my favorite choice and one gallon of jelly will already have me giving it away (I should have at least 6 gallons more).

[LadyFirelyght]

You should be able to find those bottles at any grocery store. At least all the ones in my area carry them.

You know, I've been wanting to try cider for years now but I've never gotten around to it. What does it taste like?

[MoniDew]

do you have a dairy in your area? they may consider selling you (or even giving you) one or two of their empties. especially since you are not competing with them.
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[Mike]

I found out my sister goes through a gallon of bottled water a day and the kind she uses has screw tops.

You know, I've been wanting to try cider for years now but I've never gotten around to it. What does it taste like?

Sort of like apple juice but fuller.
Cider tends to be a blend of apples (my last batch was not) so it's impossible to get really specific about the taste since each blend would be different depending on the apples used and the growing conditions (just like grape wine).

If you mean hard cider I'm not that into drinking. With fermented beverages the yeast and alcohol usually overpowers all other tastes for me. Fruit wines are better for that then grape wines. I think I need sugar to taste things.
It's been forever since I made hard cider and then I was young and more willing to drink so I kept adding sugar until the yeast made so much alcohol it went dormant and then added more sugar. That was good but it would be way too strong for me now.

[lelvsdgs]

Yum... hot mulled cider is so good...