San Diego Reader

Dear Matthew:

This has been bugging me for years. What is the difference between apple juice and apple cider? They are in identical jars, except for the name. They have identical ingredients listed, and they look the same. I can't tell any difference in taste. I suspect that this is one of those marketing issues, but I'd love to have it confirmed.

-- Barbara Spade, the Net

If it tastes like juice and quacks like juice, it must be juice. Legally, technically, apple cider is apple juice is apple cider. Bottlers can put any name they like on the label. The exception is hard cider, a different fish altogether; fermented juice, five or six percent alcohol. "Cider"'s just an image thing.