EFFORT, Pa. — Jugs of apple cider fill refrigerators inside the farm stand at Heckman Orchards near Effort.
The store is stocked with the sweet fall favorite drink. It's a good sign for cider lovers, but lots of work for employees.
"We start just after Labor Day. Right now, were pressing two to three times a week, which is a lot. Today, for example, we're hoping to do 240 bushels, which will end up being just under 1,000 gallons of cider," Amber Borger, with the orchard, said.
On press days, apples get washed, sent through the grinder, then pressed.
The cider then runs through a filter and gets bottled up into all different-sized jugs, labeled, and shipped out.
Employees say the long Summer drought took a toll on the crop.
"Last year, we had an exceptional apple crop which was super helpful," Borger said. "This year it's not quite as good as it was last year, so we had to, you know, work around those challenges to make sure that we can get people plenty of cider, plenty of apples. Everything they want to enjoy this fall."
There's been such a demand for apple picking and apple cider that the Farms had to purchase apples from elsewhere just to be able to fulfill orders.
"There have been some instances this year where we've had to go outsourcing cider apples because we have such high demand. Mazezilla is very busy all the time, as well as Klein farms, lots of places, have our cider as well as here," Borger said.
And demand for this sweet stuff isn't slowing down.
"We are just getting started on doing the wineries and breweries. A lot of them locally come to see us and get our cider, and then they go and take it and make it into the wine and hard ciders that everyone loves and enjoys," Borger said.
Don't worry; there is still plenty of cider to go around. Heckman Orchards will be pumping out apple cider through December.
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