Cider

[weinoo]

Interestingly enough, the NY Times' Travel Section today has an article on the growth and wonder of ciders produced in New York.   

 

DiggingDogFarm lives right in the middle of the action...

 

I was a few miles from Cayuga Lake, the second-largest of New York’s 11 Finger Lakes, on a small but extraordinarily prolific orchard. The property’s fruit, which ranged from the palest wash of yellow to grapefruit pink to a purple so dark it looked like a fresh bruise, was hanging all around me and rotting underfoot.

[Martin Fisher]

I'm suckin' on a bottle of the Samuel Smith Cider right now.

It's pretty good, I like it, but it's definitely sweeter than what I make and usually prefer.

[takadi]

Just cracked open a Schilling and Company "Oak Aged" Cider. I randomly found it at Whole Foods - it's made in Seattle. I expected it to be just a little better than the god awful "oak aged" woodchuck ciders but it surprised me. Really good, has some lager on the nose, not too sweet, and the oak is very balanced.

[LindaK]

Latest tasting:  a Scottish cider from Thistly Cross.  Nice flavor but rather flat.  I don't know if that's intentional or if I bought an off bottle. I like a bit of fizz. Expensive at $8.

 

 

For the record, I found a photo of a cider-based "aperitif" that I last tasted about a year ago from a small French producer. They make excellent cider as well as a fabulous award-winning apple spirit (can't be called Calvados because they aren't in the proper district).  Their aperitif is a blend of the cider and apple brandy, and it's just wonderful.  I don't know it it's sold commercially but if you are ever in Giverney to visit Monet's home and garden, do yourself a favor and take the short drive to the farm, Le Verger de Giverney, and buy some of each.

 

 

Cute label, non?  Sadly, that bottle has long since been empty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[weinoo]

Latest tasting:  a Scottish cider from Thistly Cross.  Nice flavor but rather flat.  I don't know if that's intentional or if I bought an off bottle. I like a bit of fizz. Expensive at $8.

 

I think it's most likely just a "flatter" cider than many of the US ciders. I often drink Spanish ciders which are flat.

 

Last night we sampled two ciders with our appetizers.  One was a Slyboro (NY State) sparkling, and the other was a Bad Seed (NY State) Belgian Abbey Cider...both were quite good.

[Fernet-Bronco]

Anyone here drink any of the Farnum Hill ciders? They're excellent and run the gamut in styles. My favorite is their bone-dry, funky "Extra Dry" cider: http://www.povertylaneorchards.com/farnum-hill-ciders/the-ciders/xdry/ It should appeal to the beer and natural wine crowd.

 

Mr. Asimov has had a few good cider related articles and reviews in the NYT:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/13/dining/reviews/dry-cider-an-american-favorite-rebounds.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/dining/17pour.html

 

There's a lot of education to be had by drinking through these. Astor Wine & Spirits has an excellent cider selection.

[weinoo]

And this month, on the lower east side of Manhattan, a new bar called Wassail opens. Close to 100 ciders on offer. Can't wait.

 

Wassail.

[Fernet-Bronco]

Wow, very cool. Would love to see a menu for that place...

[FrogPrincesse]

Very cool indeed. It's so hard to find decent cider in the US. I guess I've been spoiled with the ciders from Brittany and Normandy...

 

"Locally" we have Julian hard cider, but it's pretty awful.

[Fernet-Bronco]

Not really sure I'd be fighting to attach Julian, CA, to my product. It has pretty touristy associations for me... which I guess will help them sell bottles to the tourists. Kinda surprised Stone Brewing hasn't waded into cider.

[FrogPrincesse]

Not really sure I'd be fighting to attach Julian, CA, to my product. It has pretty touristy associations for me... which I guess will help them sell bottles to the tourists. Kinda surprised Stone Brewing hasn't waded into cider.

They sell a lot to locals actually. It available in most stores in San Diego and people are familiar with the brand. A lot of restaurants have it on their menu as well. I try it about once a year to remind myself how bad it is.

 

I think there is an opportunity here. I like to daydream about converting my garage into a small cider/calvados factory.

[weinoo]

Wow, very cool. Would love to see a menu for that place...

 

Here's the cider menu from the owners' first restaurant, The Queens Kickshaw.  There isn't a menu for Wassail yet, but...

 

There will be 80 bottles to start excluding ice cider and pommeau. A rotating selection of these bottles will be available by the glass, which opens up the ciders to the public and helps educate our staff. There will also be 12 dedicated tap lines. 

[Fernet-Bronco]

I like the interview. They seem like they'll create a good environment. Will try to check it out next time I'm in the city.

 

The recent February 13 episode of the Guild of Sommeliers Wine Podcast was about Calvados and rum. They spend a lot of time in the Calvados portion talking about cider (though mostly in the course of creating Calvados, not for table drinking). Might be worth checking out.

[liuzhou]

Coincidentally, I came across this today.

 

Four out of five cider-makers under threat from EU tax call

[ChrisTaylor]

My favourite Australian cider. Most locally-made offerings are very sweet and/or taste somewhat artificial. The Henry products always taste like actual fruit.

 

 

I visited the cidery recently, picking up a bottle of each of their current offerings--including a couple I hadn't tried before.

[radtek]

It hasn't been mentioned that cider was once the prefered beverage of our country- pre-statehood, before beer and corn whiskey.

 

 

Most of the American ciders have tasted overly sweet and slightly to very synthetic and are quite pricy to boot. The last couple of years everyone seems to have jumped on the cider bandwagon. I highly doubt it is from any sort of nostalgia. A good cider is hard to beat.

 

I make my own on occasion from either cold-pasteurized or frozen concentrate. Just add yeast. It will completely ferment out leaving a dry sparkling product. However it can be "backsweetened" with more juice and the fermentation halted/slowed by use pf potassium sorbate. 

 

Because commercial juice is actually really poor for making fermented cider oftentimes malic or even lactic acid is added to enhance body/mouthfeel and taste perception. Generally, the best cider is made from apples that are considered inedible when compared to the table apples at the market.

[weinoo]

Well, we've been to WASSAiL a good half-dozen times now...and I see a lot more visits in our future.

 

Hail WASSAiL

[ChrisTaylor]

 

More Henry. Big on the tannins. Reminds me of the skin from a Granny Smith apple. A mild bitterness on the end. I approve.

[weinoo]

The NY Times is on it.

The bar (on Orchard Street, appropriately enough) is the bricks-and-mortar affirmation of a fermented-cider revival that has fueled a rapid growth in producers, drinkers and other cider bars, including Bushwhacker Cider in Portland, Ore.; Upcider in San Francisco; and Capitol Cider in Seattle. Even big brewers like MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch have begun turning out ciders.

 

You won’t find those corporate products at Wassail. Its list is more epicurean and discriminating. And, at least during the bar’s early days, so is the clientele. Though beer and wine are available, on a few recent evenings most customers had come for the cider. “I think a lot of people have been waiting for us to open,” Ms. Lim said.

[rotuts]

Ive placed this in 'beer' as it seems the best fit.

 

Total Wine is new in my area and the have a nice selection of Cider.  Ive had English Cider and Cider from Normandy and a rare one from the USofA

 

this is by far the best selection in my area.    here are some pics   sorry for the blurry-ness, those iCams are so light its hard for me to steady the iCam

 

 

 

 

Ive had the Woodchuck '802'   its not on their web sire for some reason but its on pic # 1.  it had good Apple flavor, but Id like this dryer.

 

I went back today and asked them and there was a sales-guy there that knew a fair amount about this and he steered me to Stella Artois Cidre.

 

Im enjoying one now.  Its more of what Im looking for, dryer than the Woodchuck.  it could use a bit more apple flavor

 

but that might mean more sugar.

 

TJ's had some a while ago., either branded for them or a brand Ive forgotten.   it had a Green Apple on it so it might have been

 

Granny Smith.  it was not dry and had very little apple flavor so it went back.

 

The Cider-Guy did point out  helpfully that they had an area with singles, some of the above, and larger bottles  some might have been

 

imported in that area.   they had 'six-pack' carries and you could pick out a selection and try them that way.

 

that might be my next test

 

Im not looking to make this a Calling, just something from these deletions, icy old.  their prices are as good as Im ever going to find around here.

 

many thanks

 

when I took back my woodchuck empties, I learned that in MA  cider bottles do not have a deposit on them for some reason.

 

Go  Dot.Gov !

 

and my taxes pay the bozo's  graft.

 

 

 

 

[HungryChris]

For a while, I tried to find a hard cider I could enjoy. In my area, most places don't sell single hard ciders, which is pretty much why I stopped buying it. After my first Redds Wicked Apple, I used the other 5 cans as smoked rib mop, just hated the stuff. It was like a cheap cocktail made in a juice box. Crispin, an import, was my favorite based on what little research I did.

HC

[rotuts]

of course the cider I really like is 'local orchard cider' home fermented at room temp.  about 3 weeks  then chill.

 

hard to get during a snow storm.

 

thanks for your insight.   guess cider is not too popular, maybe because there isn't a lot out there.

 

was crispin dry-ish ?

 

Ill post a pic of the TotalWine singles area.   they have larger bottles and some imports and some stuff that;s relatively pricey

[blue_dolphin]

There is an older cider thread that may have some info:  Cider

[HungryChris]

10 minutes ago, rotuts said:

 

 

was crispin dry-ish ?

 

Ill post a pic of the TotalWine singles area.   they have larger bottles and some imports and some stuff that;s relatively pricey

Crispin was the driest I tried. The local hard cider from Clydes Cider Mill, with the catchy name "blackout" is dry too, but not carbonated, but then again, you have the answer to that.

[Tere]

Of the ones I see in rotuts' selection, I recognise Strongbow (the cider of my youth, and often the cider found on tap as a baseline in the UK), Magners (Irish IIRC, has been heavily promoted in the UK) and Stella Artois Cidre. 

 

Of the three I prefer the Stella, I find Strongbow quite chemically. I think Magners is inoffensive. Stella is more French style so different to my palate - I think of it as reasonably appley. I am spoiled for small producers in my area but I would look for one of those and give it a go in preference to any of the big brands, at least for one bottle.

 

The best cider I have had in years is sold from the farmyard door in Wales, but only in quantity, and I need to go track him down when I've run low   (http://www.welshcider.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=145) 

You can see him on the slideshow here  http://www.shropshirestar.com/pictures/2011/09/05/welsh-food-festival-in-pictures/sd3892965po3food-4/