1872 Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks (Mixellany)

Cider. 109 will require about 2 tons weight to render the resi- duum completely free of juice. The necessary pressure is obtained very easily, and in a powerful manner, by the compound levers pressing upon a lid or sink made of wood, about two inches thick, and rendered sufficiently strong by two cross-bars. It is made to fit the opening of the box exactly; and, as the levers force the lid down, they are occasionally slacked or taken off, and blocks of wood are placed on the top of the lid, to permit the levers to act, even after the lid has entered the box itself. Additional blocks are repeated, until the whole juice is extracted. The pressure may be increased more or less, by adding or diminishing the weight suspended at the extremity of the lever. The liquor thus obtained is allowed to stand un- disturbed twelve hours, in open vessels, to deposit sediment. The pure juice is then put into clean casks, and placed in a proper situation to ferment, the temperature being from forty-five to sixty degrees. The fermentation will commence sooner or later, depending chiefly on the temperature of the apartment where the liquor is kept; in most cases, during the first three or four days, but some- times it will require more than a week to begin this