The Flavor of Fall

New Salem Preserves in Franklin County, Massachusetts, is best known for its sweet cider, which owner Carol Berkley Hillman ’49 makes by pressing “drops”—fallen apples—in the cider mill at her farm.

This year Hillman is kicking things up a notch with the introduction of hard cider. “It’s on the cutting edge,” says Hillman, who, at 92, still works full time. (That‘s her pickup in the photo.) “I’m not a drinker at all, but hard cider is ‘in,’ and people love it.” Apple, rhubarb, raspberry and strawberry are the farm's first varieties of hard cider; all are fermented onsite. They’re available by the glass or the 32-ounce growler at the farm, where a new cider garden is open seven days a week through Thanksgiving. Can't make it to the Pioneer Valley this fall? Hillman's preserves, jellies, apple butter and beautifully bottled apple cider vinegar can all be shipped nationwide.

This story originally appeared as part of the Smithies Create column in the Fall 2019 issue of the Smith Alumnae Quarterly.

Photograph by Adam Laipson