The Alpine Rhine valley is orchard country, and every autumn its apples and pears go to the press. In Liechtenstein and eastern Switzerland the word Most usually means hard cider, so the fresh, unfermented juice gets a name of its own: Süssmost, sweet must. Cloudy, golden and full of fruit, it is bottled by the village press across the river in the St. Gallen Rhine valley and poured in every farmhouse kitchen in the region. Mixed half and half with sparkling water it becomes a spritzer, gspritzt in the local dialect, and that is what children, drivers and the sensible order at festivals, hiking huts and family lunches.

You can buy good cloudy apple juice and simply add bubbles, and nobody will complain. But pressing your own in a blender takes 20 minutes, uses a handful of apples and a pear, and tastes the way autumn smells. It is the obvious drink for a long, sunny race afternoon, since it is impossible to have one too many.

The fresh apple juice

Ingredients

• 5 medium apples
• 1 ripe pear
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) cold water
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

The spritzer

Ingredients

• 2 cups (480 ml) sparkling mineral water
• 1 handful ice cubes
• 4 thin slices apple

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