At an orchard nestled in the hills of Timberville, Showalter’s Orchard and Greenhouse is entering its fifth decade of an annual tradition.

The Showalter family, which operates Showalter’s Orchard and Greenhouse, recently started its 50th season of cider pressing. While the orchard began offering hard cider 13 years ago, fresh-pressed sweet cider has been a mainstay since 1975, according to orchard owner Shannon Showalter.

“It is processed a little bit,” Showalter said. “It used to be completely raw, but now regulations require you to flash-pasteurize it, so it is heated really quickly. That’s just a safeguard measure. But, it is still a fresh product, so it needs to be refrigerated.”

Showalter said he still uses the same blend of apples for cider as his father did when he started making

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