We Like Cider.
Read more about GOOD CIDER at Edible Manhattan: Good Cider to Toast New York’s Hard Cider Boom Brace yourselves. Good Cider is coming.
Get your tickets NOW via www.ediblemanhattan.com and Brown Paper Tickets.
Check the list of official events at www.ciderweeknyc.com and ask your favorite dining and imbibing spots and shops what they have planned for Cider Week NYC.
Get Social With Cider & Join The (hard) Cider Revival:
Facebook: Cider Week
Twitter: @ciderweekny
Instagram: @ciderweekny
Cider: BECKHORN HOLLOW DRY CIDER
Maker: Eve’s Cidery Origin: Van Etten, New York
website: www.evescidery.com
ABV: 8% Bottle: 750 ml
Makers Style/Bottle Notes: “Naturally sparkling cider, fermented in this bottle”.
Fruit: Apple Cider Maker: Autumn Stoscheck
Our Tasting Notes: First glass, drinking at about 52 degrees.
In The Glass: Clear, pale, white-gold with a small, steady bead that settles to no visible bubble.
Aroma: Apple peel, marzipan, honey, raw apple, baked apple, grassy, powdered sugar, citrus peel and spice.
Taste: Tart, sweet, slightly spirituous and warming, with stone fruit, dried apricot, and anise & fennel.
Overall Impressions: Refreshing with pleasing tart acidity, balanced by sweet, sour, and subtle bitter notes. Intend to taste this cider again if we can find – it’s a special blend – we discovered ours at Eve’s Cidery’s New York GrowNYC Greenmarket stall at Union Square. This cider is currently not listed on Eve’s Cidery’s website.
BONUS MIXOLOGY TIP: Eve’s Cidery Beckhorn Hollow Dry Cider with a splash of Eden Ice Cider Orleans Bitter is delicious and tremendously refreshing. Makes an easy apéritif or the start of an interesting cocktail.
Watch an informative video about Eve’s Cidery’s orcharding practices: Orcharding with Autumn from Eve’s Cidery on Vimeo.
Eve’s Cidery: www.evescidery.com
Find Eve’s Cidery’s stall at the GrowNYC Union Square Greenmarket www.grownyc.org: Friday Map & Saturday Map.
Eden Ice Ciders: www.edenicecider.com
Cider Mixology: Whiskey Smash! Millstone Cellars Blossom Cider at Woodberry Kitchen.
Wending our way back to New York from Virginia – with precious cider cargo in tow – we stopped for refreshment at Woodberry Kitchen, located in a refurbished 19th century mill complex outside of downtown Baltimore.
Woodberry Kitchen bar artisans embrace the charms of cider, allowing us to start the evening properly with a cider cocktail, The Whisky Smash!
Mixologist C. Connor Rasmussen, kindly shared the recipe.
The WHISKEY SMASH! How To:
Read a bit about Woodberry Kitchen (here).
For another cider cocktail from Woodberry Kitchen, with MIllstone Ciderberry Cider, see The Brewer & Keep Cocktail.
A Slow Food Russian River Cider + Cheese Tasting Scholarship Fund Benefit Event
When our resident Cheesemonger crafted a fantasy-cheese pairing featuring Tilted Shed Ciderworks 2012 GRAVIVA! Semidry Cider, our cider pen pals at Tilted Shed responded by hosting the First-Ever Sebastopol Cider and Cheese Challenge and invited Apple Sauced Cider to join in. You can read about their cider+cheese pairing adventures here.
Actual Cider + Cheese Pairings are definitely more fun.
Want to enjoy a guided cheese + cider pairing featuring Tilted Shed Ciderworks & Devoto Orchards Cider? You Can!
Sign up for the upcoming SLOW FOOD RUSSIAN RIVER Benefit Event.
Link: EVENT: CIDER & CHEESE PAIRING OCT. 27, 3-6PM, SEBASTOPOL
“Devoto Orchards and Tilted Shed Ciderworks, two Sebastopol-area farm-based cider producers, will join six local cheesemakers in showcasing craft cider’s amazing range and versatility.”
Yes. The cider artisans and orchardists behind Apple Sauced Cider and Devoto Gardens are launching a new brand,: Devoto Orchards Cider. This first seasons releases of farmstead ciders will include: Gravenstein, 1976, and Cidre Noir.
Pomme Fruit: Gravenstein Apples In The Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, California.
The Sebastopol Gravenstein, a vividly colored, aromatic, flavorful heirloom apple is historically important in the Russian River Valley. So dominant in the region, the ribbon of roadway running through the acres of orchards became known as The Gravenstein Highway – honoring the apples prolific presence. Declining prices for processing apples, the increasing popularity of other more ‘commercially viable’ apples, and a booming West Coast wine industry, all led to Gravenstein orchards being ripped out to make way for the extremely lucrative wine grapes that now populate the region.
David Karp, writing for the LA Times:
“Gravenstein is still a favorite in northern Europe and is cultivated from Nova Scotia to the Pacific Northwest, but it reaches its greatest perfection in the Sebastopol district of western Sonoma County, at the border of the maritime and inland climatic zones, where the morning fog gives way to a moderately hot afternoon sun. The area’s fine, sandy loam soil is well suited to apples. The huge trees, grafted on seedling rootstock, develop roots deep enough to survive the dry summers without irrigation.”
Concerned Sonoma County cider makers are working to revive interest in this heirloom apple by focusing on the Gravenstein’s many desirable cider worthy traits, crafting ‘Gravs’ into unique ciders that celebrate and express the heritage of the apple and the region.
Saving Apples by Making Cider. Drink a Gravenstein Today.
Find A Gravenstein Cider:
Tilted Shed Ciderworks: Graviva! Semi Dry Cider
Apple Sauced Cider: Save The Gravenstein! Cider
Devoto Orchards Cider: Gravenstein first release October 14, 2013
Gleanings (sources for further reading):
LATimes: The future of Gravenstein apples hangs on a thin stem by David Karp
NPR: Gravenstein Apples: The End Of Summer In A Fruit by Nicole SpIridakis
Zester Daily: The Fight To Save Sonoma’s Gravenstein Apple by Tina Caputo
Slow Food USA Ark of Taste: Sebastopol Gravenstein
Slow Food USA Sebastopol Gravenstein Apple Presidia
Gravenstein apple image (detail) – credit: “U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705”
Link: The future of Gravenstein apples hangs on a thin stem. July 12, 2013 By David Karp. Special to the Los Angeles Times
Cider: FARNUM HILL CIDER DOORYARD STILL CIDER BATCH 1214
Maker: Farnum Hill Cider & Poverty Lane Orchards Origin: Lebanon, New Hampshire
website: www.povertylaneorchards.com
ABV: 7.5% Bottle: 750 ml, wine cork
Style Notes: The Dooryard series are cider batches that departed from the flavor profiles of established Farnum Hill blends. Each keg or bottle of Dooryard Cider is marked with a batch number, allowing you to look up the details of your specific cider, giving you a glimpse into the cider making process at Farnum Hill.
Fruit: Apples. Golden Russet is a featured apple in this blend.
Cider Maker: Nicole LeGrand Leibon.
Makers Notes: Dooryard No. 1214 – Still, in Bottles:
Our first Still (no bubbles) Dooryard in a while, this opens with citrus and sweet florals. We used a high proportion of Golden Russet in this, and its fruity sweetness and full body comes through in the mouth, with pink grapefruit, sour cherry and quinine. The finish is long and fruity, with citrus and their peels carrying. (NL)
Our Tasting Notes:
Farnum Hill Dooryard 1214 Still Cider pours a bright and shining rich roman gold, with gigantic bubbles that immediately fall dead still.
Slight smokey notes of tobacco leaf, whiskey, and oak meld with citrus peel, baked apple, roast honey, chalk and green pepper. A quick swirl offers up toasted hazelnuts, and a hint of pineapple.
The first taste is smooth, silky, pleasingly bitter, lightly tannic, a bit salty, with subterranean lingering apple tones.
Deliciously complex aromas confounded at first. On reading the cider makers tasting notes, the quinine with pink grapefruit peel became more clearly identifiable.
The floral aromas were more green than sweet reminiscent of lilies and tulips, herbaceous and slightly pungent.
Reading the cider maker’s tasting notes can be very helpful. Accurate, well written information from the cider maker can increase your cider knowledge, and enhance the cider drinking experience.
Overall Impressions: Extremely intriguing smokey and green floral aromas. Vinous and crisp, with refreshingly bitter flavors of quinine and grapefruit. An aromatic, complex and challenging cider. If you enjoy a brisk Gin & Tonic, and white wines with sharp minerality, this is a cider for you.
Taster’s Side Note: The fact that this is a very Golden Russet heavy cider, makes us want to explore other ciders that feature this apple.
Dooryard 1214 was featured as one of the The Ciders Of Summer. Our Favorite American Craft Ciders For Drinking Right Now, perfect for summer, but certainly a cider we would drink in these cooler months, if we could find a bottle.
Cider: FARNUM HILL CIDER FARMHOUSE CIDER
Maker: Farnum Hill Cider & Poverty Lane Orchards Origin: Lebanon, New Hampshire
website: www.povertylaneorchards.com
ABV: 6.5%
Bottle: 750 ml, mushroom cork, wire hood
Fruit: Apples.
Cider Maker: Nicole LeGrand Leibon.
CiDER MAKERS NOTES:
Our lightest, most casual cider, pale gold and bubbly, with a stroke of sweetness along with the tart, bitter, and fruity elements that good cider offers. Citrus, pineapple, bittersweet apple, and a trace of the barn. Farmhouse astringency is nowhere near the extreme, but shows a certain tannic edge. Agreeably versatile, sharing certain flavor elements with both beer and wine. A clean, appetizing finish makes it congenial with many kinds of food, from the snackiest to the whole-grainiest and back.
‘Farmhouse’ is more of a pub cider than our others. It varies a bit more from batch to batch, shows less complexity less alcohol than our others, and of course is less filling than beer. It and Semi-Dry are the most popular of our regular ciders. ‘Farmhouse’ is blended from a group of real cider apples that ripen earlier than most. So it’s a bit easier to make and less expensive to buy.
Visit the website to read more about Farnum Hill ‘Farmhouse’
Our Tasting Notes: compiled over several tastings.
In The Glass: Clear, radiant shine. Glowing golden.
First Pour: Slight froth that immediately settles in to a light mousse ring with miniscule bubbles. Distinct legs.
Aroma: Green apple, warm sugar, apple peel, fresh green grass. Black pepper, grapefruit, rooty and a bit barky. Cidery, hint of quinine, ripe apple, powdered sugar, leather.
Swirl: Wood/oak – but not vanilla – slight tropical and dried fruit notes, pleasantly herbal, more quinine and grapefruit.
Taste: Fresh, bitter, tannic, and cidery. BSA. Extremely subtle sweetness. Rustic, nicely rough.
Finish: Long, slow, relatively gently tannins, soft powdery, slight citrus note. Bitter lingers, tapers off, and tannins slowly re-appear. Well balanced. Slightly drying and a bit warming.
2 tasters- (2) different Taste Ratings:
TASTE RATING SCALE: Our (2) tasters experience of the balance of bitter, sour, and umami was different:
Taster 1: Bitter: 7 Astringency: 7 Sour: 6 Salty: 2 Sweet: 1 Umami: 3
Taster 2: Bitter: 3 Astringency: 7 Sour: 4 Salty: 2 Sweet: 1 Umami: 1
Our Pairing-The Tasting Lab: None.
Overall Impressions: Farnum Hill Ciders DANCE. Visually, and in the mouth. Farmhouse Cider is no exception. The tannins and bitter notes tussle and tumble in this cider* and give you quite a flavor ride. Farmhouse is rustic yet focused, with bitter, sour, drying elements all jostling, and giving dimension to the cider. The aromas of this bumptious blend almost insists you drink it. For all its rough-hewn charm, this cider’s profile is very precise and finely honed. When drinking a Farnum Hill, you experience a well crafted, rounded, fully complete cider. There are no wrong notes, and much enjoyment to be had.
*This may be why our (2) tasters had different experiences of Bitter and Sour balance in this cider.
TERMS, DEFINITIONS & LINGO:
BSA Bitter Sweet Apple: Referring to aroma and flavor characteristics of Bitter-Sweet Apple varieties used for cider. Bittersweet apples are low in acids and high in tannins. Tannin accounts for two palate sensations: astringency and bitterness.
From CIderUK.com:
Bittersweet apples impart the characteristic flavour of English ciders; as the name implies they are low in acid and high in tannin. The latter is responsible for two sensations on the palate – astringency and bitterness. In the bittersweet apple, there is a whole range of combinations of these two characteristics, varying from little astringency coupled with intense bitterness to very marked astringency coupled with mild bitterness. Typical bittersweets are Dabinett, Yarlington Mill and Tremlett’s Bitter.
ADDITIONAL READING: FH Cider Talk & Terms Farnum Hill explains their cider profiles and the philosophy behind the ciders they craft.
If you have tasting notes to add please leave a comment.
4 of The BEST Cider Serving Establishments in The United States Right Now:
This is a starter list – we know there are more. If we have overlooked your favorite cider serving establishment please let us know. We hope to see this list grow to double digits in 2013.
Our requirements to make The List of The BEST Cider Serving Establishments in The United States are actually quite simple:
ONE: The establishment must be located in the US of A.*
TWO: The establishment must serve cider.
THREE: The establishment must serve a variety of artisanal craft ciders, ideally – both local and imported.
The SEPTEMBER 2013 LIST OF The BEST Cider Serving Establishment in The United States:
The Queens Kickshaw Astoria, New York.
If you visit New York for any reason, and You Like Cider – The Queens Kickshaw should be on your agenda. An ever-changing list of US and imported ciders, and always at least one cider on draft. For a local treat ask for AGUA de ASTORIA – a sparkling cider and fresh orange juice delight. Sample menu here.
UpCider San Francisco, California.
This Left Coast cider gastro-pub features a dazzling array of cider. Cider lovers should plan a trip to San Francisco NOW. The well curated single page comestibles menu is dwarfed by the substantial cider (and beer and mead ) offerings. Sample menu here.
Bushwhacker Cider Pub Brooklyn, SE Portland, Oregon.
Bushwhacker Cider’s menu presents a head spinning array of bottled ciders – simply Wonka-esque with 200+ offerings. Currently the only purveyor on our list to make their own ciders, they kindly offer multitudes of other brands for you to taste and enjoy as well. Sample bottle list here. Sample house cider list here.
Capitol Cider Seattle, Washington.
Capitol Cider, the Emerald City’s newly opened cider pub offers an extensive list of ciders and also sells cider to go. Visiting Seattle just became a cider-explorer priority. Sample bottle list here. Sample tap list here.
* Not located in the US of A but serve A LOT of different ciders? We want to know about you! Please leave a comment or send a note.
Ed. Note: USofC has had the pleasure of enjoying cider at The Queen’s Kickshaw, the other 3 outstanding establishments are on OUR must visit list.
Links:
The Queens Kickshaw thequeenskickshaw.com
UpCider upcidersf.com
Bushwhacker Cider bushwhackercider.com
Capitol Cider seattleciderbar.com
Just a selection of the American cider companies announced and/or actively launched and producing cider so far in 2013:
One Tree Hard Cider WA
Seattle Cider Co. WA
Peoples Cider Co. MI
Blown Spoke Cider Co CO
Blue Bee Cider Co VA
Schilling WA
Twilight Cider WA
Commonweatlh Cider (Philadelphia Brewing Co.) PA
Atlas Cider OR
Cider Riot OR
Fox Tail Cider OR
Hood Valley Ciders OR
HR Ciderworks OR
Noble Cider NC
Blake’s MI
Homestead Cider MA
Two Heroes Hard Cider NY
Compass Cider House CO
Bishop Cider Co TX
Downeast Cider Co. MA
This is a very informal list, if you are on it and were producing cider in 2012 – we’ll adjust the list. If you should be on the list – we’ll gladly add you.
Leave a comment or email corrections to unitedstatesofcider at gmail dot com.
