Passport To Cider Allows Free Travel Across A New World Of Flavor
By Staff in Food on Feb 3, 2014 10:30PM
On Thursday night, Hail to the Ale hosted “Passport to Cider,” at Hopleaf; an event for cider aficionados and the cider curious to learn about this increasingly popular tipple while tasting samples of twelve different ciders from major cider regions, from New Zealand to Michigan. Brian Rutzen of Pomona Beverage said that cider’s basic ingredients are simple—just apples and yeast—but that the intricacies of cider making can lead to a surprising complexity.
The wide variety of apples and yeasts from which to choose, differences in aging time and barrel types, and the option to mix with adjuncts like other fruit, mean that cider is a beverage with true diversity. Thistly Cross Whiskey Cask was a crowd favorite, with a pronounced apple taste underlined by a smokiness it accumulated during its temporary confinement in Scottish whiskey casks. Sarasola Sagardotegi from the Basque region of Spain, an earthy cider almost as sour as vinegar, was a little more polarizing. Rutzen emphasized that apple is not always a taste you find in cider and Sarasola Sagardotegi certainly didn’t taste like apples, but kombucha and sour beer enthusiasts will probably enjoy its funky tart flavors.
There were also three selections from the Midwest. Virtue Cider’s The Mitten is made from late harvest apples browned by the cold and aged in bourbon barrels. Vander Mill makes delicious cinnamon roasted pecans and then steeps them in cider to make Totally Roasted, which isn’t as sweet as you’d expect. It’s got a pronounced cinnamon flavor from the outset that fades pleasingly into a delicious tartness.
Vander Mill’s cider slinger Bob Egan said some of the more traditional cider makers such as those in England are hostile to using “adjuncts,” which is the word for anything other than apples added to the ciders, but that the delicious flavors of many American ciders made with them will make the “monocles fall off from British guys everywhere.”
Finally there was the much-in-demand Uncle John’s Russett Cider, a cider with pronounced champagne qualities that stodgy British guys can get behind whilst keeping their monocles firmly in place. It was the only American cider that earned a medal at England’s Royal Bath and West Cider Competition.
The Fountainhead’s Cleetus Friedman spoke about their upcoming cider bar and restaurant, The Northman. He said that some people were skeptical that Chicago could really support a cider bar. He admonished them by asking, “Where were you in 1995? When craft beer was where cider is now? Or in the 1700s? When cider was huge? Well, most people say no to that last part, except a few. They are zombies now.” He wants to educate people on what cider really is, and will showcase its range of flavors though a selection that includes a hundred different ciders, as well as a menu that will be mostly gluten-free and will highlight how well cider pairs with food.
One food I learned not to pair with cider is apples. When Rutzen cut a cider apple and put it on a table, Virtue Cider’s Michelle Folk rushed over to take it away, concerned that we might think of eating it. Folk warned us that eating apples would ruin our cider-tasting palette for hours by coating our tongues with flavor compounds like bitter tannins, which would prevent us from tasting the tannic qualities of many ciders.
Cider apples aren’t usually the type of apples you buy at the grocery store for eating. Some of the best are ugly and don’t taste very good, but those are the ones that usually make the best ciders. Fresh favorites like honeycrisp make an insipid cider. Rutzen told us that most ciders are a blend of several types of apples and balancing their flavors by blending is one of the most important skills a cider maker can have.
Cider Con is bringing cider makers and experts from around the world to Chicago this week. There are over ten different events planned, ranging from dinners to pub takeovers. Hail to the Ale has an updated list of events. Henry Chevallier Guild—from the eighth generation of the English Aspall cider-making family—will be at The Globe Pub on Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. for the premiere tapping of Aspall’s John Barrington Still cider. The highly-anticipated Vander Mill Firkin cider will premiere at Jake Melnick's at 6 p.m. on Feb. 6.
Previously on Chicagoist: Here Are 5 Reasons To Get Excited About Cider In Chicago
Post by Melissa McEwen