cider – Page 3 – UnitedStatesofCider

Virginia Tech Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station Virginia Tech – click this LINK to explore various cider and apple related materials including downloadable pdfs.

Virginia Cooperative Extension

Books:

Apples of North America: 192 Exceptional Varieties for Gardeners, Growers, and Cooks by Tom Burford, Timber Press 2013.

Old Southern Apples. A Comprehensive History and Description of Varieties for Collectors, Growers, and Fruit Enthusiasts by Creighton Lee Calhoun, Jr., Chelsea Green 2011.

VIRGINIA APPLE & CIDER FACTS:

Virginia apple country includes the mountainous region of the northern Shenandoah Valley through the Roanoke Valley, the rich countryside of Albemarle and Rappahannock counties and the southwest counties of Patrick and Carroll. The majority of apples trees are grown in the Shenandoah Valley. 1

Virginia is the number 6 state in commercial apple production. 2

Famed Virginia apples included the Ablemarle Pippin (also known as the Yellow Newton or Newtown Pippin) and the Virginia or Hewe’s Crab. 3,4

Sources:

1 Virginia Apple Growers www.virginiaapples.org

2 U.S. Apple Association www.usapple.org

3 Apples of North America: 192 Exceptional Varieties for Gardeners, Growers, and Cooks by Tom Burford, Timber Press 2013.

4 Old Southern Apples. A Comprehensive History and Description of Varieties for Collectors, Growers, and Fruit Enthusiasts by Creighton Lee Calhoun, Jr., Chelsea Green 2011.

Visit CiderGuide.com to view current US Cider Map and to see if Virginia has any new cider makers.

Please leave a comment if you have VIRGINIA cider resources to add.

The State of Cider: New York and Virginia. As One Cider Week Concludes, Another Commences.

November 14, 2013November 14, 2013UnitedStatesofCiderLeave a comment

Cider Week New York. With this years numerous pre and post events, Cider Week NY has become an extended cider-filled celebration, exuberantly launching New Amsterdam, and environs, into the colder seasons of pome fruit drinking enjoyment.

As New York cider festivities – though not New York’s cider enthusiasm – wind down, Virginia prepares for Cider Week Virginia. American wine has a long history in Virginia, as does American cider. Virginia’s cidermakers have done much to restore our favorite fermented apple elixirs place at the table, and Cider Week Virginia celebrates the regions cider heritage and revival.

Our September Cider Road Trip to Virginia was chock full o’ cider. Upcoming posts will feature highlights of our Blue Ridge & Balto. cider adventures, and details of favorite Cider Week NY activities.

Save The Date for the final Cider Week New York event, November 24th, 2013. The New Amsterdam Market, in collaboration with Glynwood, will host The Third Annual New York State Cider Revival at The New York State Cider & Thanksgiving Market. Visit newamsterdammarket.com for more details.

Links:

Cider Week Virginia ciderweekva.com November 15-24, 2013.

New Amsterdam Market newamsterdammarket.com November 24th, 2013.

Cider Week New York ciderweekny.com

Glynwood glynwood.org

The State of Cider: Virginia. The Ciders of Virginia Prepare to Celebrate Cider Week Virginia.

November 4, 2013November 4, 2013UnitedStatesofCiderLeave a comment

Cider Makers of Virginia:

Albemarle Ciderworks North Garden

Blue Bee Cider Richmond

Bold Rock Cider Nellysford

Castle Hill Cider Free Union

Foggy Ridge Cider Dugspur

Old Hill Cider Timberville

Potter’s Craft Cider Free Union

Winchester Ciderworks Winchester

Cider Week Virginia November 15 -24, 2013

There will be tastings, pairings, home cider making workshops, cider cocktail competitions, an East vs West Cider Smackdown and that’s not all. Check the Cider Week Virginia website for all the details and get ready to Celebrate Cider Week Virginia!

Link: ciderweekva.com

Events: http://ciderweekva.com/events/

Image: Fall Orchard View at Ablemarle CiderWorks & Vintage Virginia Apples

The State of Cider: Massachusetts Prepares to Celebrate CiderDays.

November 1, 2013November 2, 2013UnitedStatesofCider2 Comments

19th Annual Franklin County CiderDays will be held this weekend, November 2-3, 2013.

CiderDays is one of the premier events of the North American Cider Season.

From the website:

“CiderDays is a community event celebrating all things apples in Franklin County, Massachusetts. 2013 marks the 19th year of this event and there will be two days (November 2nd and 3rd) of orchard tours, cidermaking and tastings, workshops and much more. This is for all who love apples, fresh or hard cider, apple cuisine, apple orchards or just being in New England in the fall.”

Franklin County CiderDays November 2 – 3, 2013

Two days celebrating and enjoying The Apple.

A few of the 2013 Event Highlights that caught our eye:

• Second Annual Cider Days Harvest Party 2013 Friday, Nov 1st – A kickoff event to benefit CiderDays & includes the début of West County Ciders releases for 2013.

• The Cider Salon — “the world’s largest hard cider tasting with more than 60 individual cider brands from across North America”.

• CiderDay Locavore Harvest Supper

• Spanish Cider Tasting and Discussion with James Asbel of Ciders of Spain

• North vs. South Heritage Apple Smackdown, Part Deux, a tasting and discussion with Tom Burford and John Bunker.

• Michael Phillips talks about Apple Varieties for the Organic Orchard

• Finding a Great Cider Apple in Your Backyard with John Bunker and Claude Jolicoeur

• Apples for Juice and Cider with Claude Jolicoeur and Alan Suprenant

• Organic Orcharding Practices: A Primer with Jennifer Williams and Steve Gougeon

• So You Want to Be a Commercial Cidermaker with Steve Gougeon and Andy Brennan

• Cidermaking 101 Workshop with Bob Delisle and Charlie Olchowski

Visit Franklin County CiderDays website for ALL the details and a complete list of events.

Link: www.ciderdays.org

Note: A bit about CiderDays from the website:

“CiderDay began in 1994 when Terry and Judith Maloney organized a small event to celebrate their harvest. Now called CiderDays and sponsored by the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, it is a two-day event which celebrates its 19th year in 2013. The event is always held on the first weekend of November, when even the late-bearing cider apples have been picked.”

Observations on Cider. No. 265. 1867.

October 27, 2013October 27, 2013UnitedStatesofCiderLeave a comment

No. 265.

Observations on Cider.

From the great diversity of soil and climate in the United States of America, and the almost endless variety of its apples, it follows that much diversity of taste and flavour will necessarily be found in the cider that is made from them. To make good cider, the following general, but important, rules should be attended to. They demand a little more trouble than the ordinary mode of collecting and mashing apples of all sorts, rotten and sound, sweet and sour, dirty and clean, from the tree and the soil, and the rest of the slovenly process usually employed ; but in return they produce you a wholesome, high-flavoured, sound, and palatable liquor, that always commands an adequate price, instead of a solution of “villanous compounds,” in a poisonous and acid wash, that no man in his senses will drink. The finest cider was made of an equal portion of ripe, sound pippin and crab apples, pared, cored, and pressed, etc., with the utmost nicety. It was equal in flavour to any champagne that ever was made.

Title: Six hundred receipts, worth their weight in gold : including receipts for cooking, making preserves, perfumery, cordials, ice creams, inks, paints, dyes of all kinds, cider, vinegar, wines, spirits, whiskey, brandy, gin, etc., and how to make imitations of all kinds of liquors : together with valuable gauging tables : the collections, testing, and improvements on the receipts extending over a period of thirty years.

Author: Marquart, John 1867

Publisher: Philadelphia : J.E. Potter

via internetarchive.org

Read online: https://archive.org/details/sixhundredreceipt00marq

If You Like Cider, Like We Like Cider

October 26, 2013December 28, 2013UnitedStatesofCider2 Comments

LOC apple image A Quick Reminder (as if you need to be prodded to go out and seek cider):

Cider events abound this time of year – so if you like cider, like we like cider,

partake of the cider activities occurring across the country. And take a friend.

A Sampling:

Cider Week NY & Hudson Valley is well underway and the New Amsterdam region is awash in cider.

Cider Week NY – New York & Hudson Valley – October 18 – 27, 2013

Link: http://ciderweekny.com/

Great Maine Apple Day an apple-filled day of talks, walks and apple ID sessions with John Bunker and book signings with Claude Jolicoeur.

Great Maine Apple Day October 27, 2013

Link: http://mofga.org/Default.aspx?tabid=294

Franklin County Cider Days is in its 19th year as a “community event celebrating all things apple.” Offerings include workshops, tastings, cider salons, and more.

Franklin County Cider Days – Franklin County, Massachusetts Nov 2-3, 2013

Link: http://www.ciderdays.org

Cider Week VA – Virginia – November 15 – 23, 2013

Virginia is Cider County. We enjoyed Virginia cider and hospitality on a recent visit, and you can too.

Link: www.ciderweekva.com

Slow Food Russian River Event: Cider & Cheese Pairing with Titled Shed Ciderworks and Devoto Orchards Cider. Oct 27, 3-6 PM for tickets:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/470210

RESOURCES: To find cider festivities in your area:

Visit the website, pages, and twitter feeds of your favorite local & regional cider makers to find out what events they are involved in.

Check your regional cider association, alliance, or organization’s events list.

Great Lakes Cider & Perry Association

Hudson Valley Cider Alliance

Northwest Cider Association

Rocky Mountain Cider Association

Vermont Ice Cider Association

And in Canada:

Cidre du Québec / Les Cidriculteurs Artisans du Québec

Ontario Craft Cider Association

Perhaps it is time for a National Cider Calendar?

REMATCH: Cider + Cheese. A Tasting with Tilted Shed Ciderworks and Apple Sauced Cider.

October 20, 2013November 10, 2014UnitedStatesofCiderLeave a comment

REMATCH: Cider + Cheese Pairing

A while back we posted A Cheesemonger’s Challenge: Cider and Cheese Pairing with Tilted Shed Ciderworks 2012 GRAVIVA! Semidry Cider, conceived by our resident cheesemonger, and originally published at: Consider The Rind.

Graviva! label5-13X

The Idea: Select an interesting cider we have yet to try, and relying on the cider maker’s tasting notes, attempt to create a successful (at least on paper) cheese pairing.

Tilted Shed Ciderworks 2012 GRAVIVA! Semidry Cider from Ellen Cavalli and Scott Heath of Tilted Shed Ciderworks in the Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, California, was our cider pick. (You can read the original post here).

In reply to our challenge, the folks at Tilted Shed Ciderworks paired with Jolie Devoto-Wade and Hunter Wade of Apple Sauced Cider, and taking cues from our suggested cheese selection, created their own taste-off adding Apple Sauce Cider’s Save The Gravenstein to the mix.

Expanding on the original, the Sebastopol cider makers cheese selection included several local artisanal cheeses – guided by the pair local ‘what grows together goes together’ principle.

Visit the Tilted Shed Ciderworks blog to read the full post: First-ever Sebastopol Cider and Cheese Challenge and learn the results of their actual cheese challenge tasting.

Save A Heritage Apple. Drink a Gravenstein Paired with Local Cheese.

Saving Apples by Making Cider. Drink a Gravenstein Today.

October 20, 2013November 10, 2014UnitedStatesofCiderLeave a comment

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 Review: Farnum Hill Cider DOORYARD STILL CIDER Batch 1214: Cider52

October 8, 2013October 11, 2013UnitedStatesofCiderLeave a comment

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.

Other Pome Fruits: Pears and Quince Considered

October 8, 2013October 8, 2013UnitedStatesofCider1 Comment

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Other Pome Fruits: Pears and Quince Considered.

American cider makers are exploring cider beyond the apple. Pears, and even Quince, can be crafted into quite fine ciders. Along with our ongoing apple based cider research, upcoming posts will consider these other pome fruits, and the unique ciders, perrys and poires their artful fermentation produces.

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