The cider making process has changed little in overall substance for centuries. The

fruit is ground to a pulp, after which it is set in racks lined with a filter (typically cloth,

in the traditional methods) for a press to force the juice out of the mass of ground

fruit. The juice is then fermented; older methods would use wild yeast, while

more modern techniques tend to use commercially available yeast strains that convert

sugar to alcohol at predictable rates and volumes. From there, a host of different

methods are used depending on the desired end result. The dry fruit mass left over

after pressing – called pomace – can be used as a fertilizer, though research is ongoing

in Dr. Olga Padilla-Zakour’s Lab at Cornell's Department of Food Science to reclaim tannins that escape the juicing process.