This time of year, apples and apple cider, are a tradition for many Western New Yorkers, including one local family, whose West Seneca Cider mill has been around for more than 160 years.
WBFO’s Cheryl Hagen stopped by Mayer Bros. for an inside look at one of the area’s oldest family-owned businesses…
“Can I help you?” asks one of the employees behind a showcase filled with donuts at Mayer Bros. Cider Mill on a recent Tuesday morning.
“Two with the vanilla frosting and sprinkles,” replies a customer named Joanne, who tells us she has been visiting Mayer Bros. in the fall for years.
“Well, the cider is very good, of course, it’s that time of year,” says Joanne. “It’s sort of like a tradition. The donuts are excellent, kind of like grandma made or mom made.”
Shoppers flock to the Mayer Bros. Mill for cider, fresh baked goods and other homemade treats from its opening in August until it closes its doors for the season just after thanksgiving.
“We’re in here restocking everything (laughs), getting ready, after the crazy weekend,” says Colleen Nelson, one of several managers at the mill. “The label of Mayer Bros. obviously is appealing because it’s all homemade stuff and you have your cider which you can’t get it anywhere else really because it doesn’t have the preservatives in it like the stores normally do. Everything that you have here is fresh, especially our baked goods, and stuff we bake every single morning.”
Mayer Bros. Cider has been in the family for 163 years. Vice President Garrett Mayer says his great, great grandfather, Jacob Mayer, purchased the mill in 1852.
“Jacob Mayer was a steeple builder and they did apple cider just in the fall,” says Mayer. “People would bring their apples. It was custom pressing so you would bring your wooden barrel and they would fill it up. You would put it in your basement. You’d have sweet cider for a couple of weeks and then you’d have hard cider all winter.”
Originally, the cider mill was simply known as Mayer’s. Somewhere along the way “Bros.” was tacked on. Five generations later, Garrett Mayer, says the company is also producing bottled water – its biggest seller volume wise – but Apple Cider is still Mayer Bros.’ specialty. So, what’s their secret?
“Oh it’s just years of experience,” says Mayer. “For example, everyone knows what a red delicious apple is. If you made juice just out of Red Delicious apples, they’re very sweet, but they don’t have very much acid so it’d be a very sweet juice but very bland tasting. So you don’t want to use all of Red Delicious. You’d want to use, say Macintosh has quite a bit of acid, Empires. The trick is to balance what’s being picked with also what’s available off of the pack line and in controlled atmosphere storage to balance the taste
The cider making process takes about three hours. Mayer says once it’s bottled, any waste is re-used.
“Peels, cores, skins. We dry that product and grind it and it’s turned into basically an apple flour and that’s used in baking products as thickening instead of people using a starch at big commercial bakeries,” says Mayer. “The other way we handle that product is we’ll sell it directly to farmers without drying and they’ll mix it in with their feed, their corn or whatever and they’ll feed it to their animals.”
Mayer Bros. Cider is well known locally. Mayer says their cider is also sold in stores across the northeast. Customers like Mary Williams say Mayer Bros. has been a tradition since she was a kid and now she brings her own son, Nathan to the Mill.
“I get donuts and I then I get some cider,” says Mary. “My mom and dad did it when I was younger.”
When asked what his favorite donut is, Mary’s son Nathan replied, “Sprinkles!”
Customers are not the only one’s satisfied. Many employees like Paula return to work the three-to-four month season in the fall year after year.
“You know what, it’s a family business and they treat everybody like family,” notes Paula.
Then of course, let’s not forget to mention, employees get to do a lot of sampling.
“Oh I gained 12 pounds sampling,” Paula says laughing. “The fry cakes, and the apple slushies, and the apple pies (laughs). Want me to go on?”
