Apples are iconic in our culture; they have been for years. As American as apple pie. The apple of my eye. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. How ’bout them apples? Comparing apples and oranges. Colonists in the 17th and 18th centuries drank hard cider like water (literally—the water wasn’t safe to drink, so they turned to fermented fruit), and apples have since then always grown easily on the East Coast. So it was only a matter of time before the boozy beverage—which essentially vanished during the prohibition era and was the redheaded stepchild of the alcohol world with the upswing of wine and craft beer—came full circle.