Roadside stands have iron juice presses to make juice on demand. The press stands on a portable table, and often a diesel engine, sometimes an electric motor, on a lower shelf drives the press via a belt.

When a customer orders a glass of sugar cane juice, the vendor takes a six-foot long peeled cane out of the inventory of canes leaning against a nearby wall, and feeds the cane through the rollers. The vendor folds the now crushed cane into a more and more compact bundle before each successive trip through the rollers, extracting as much juice as possible. The juice flows down a chute, through a sieve, and then the vendor pours the juice into a glass. Roadside stands use tumblers made from glass, so there is no litter.

Sometimes a passing cow will browse on the pile of crushed cane pulp. In any case, someone finds a use for the pulp.

I drank this juice a few times. It is not overly sweet as my preconceptions of “sugar” cane had led me to expect. This juice is reputed to be a satisfying thirst quencher in hot weather.

I sketched this one in Alappuzha, though I saw these juice presses wherever I went.