Monthly Archives: August 2010

Less popular a fermentable than grain or grape, the apple is a fruit more likely to see the inside a Harry Potter lunchbox than a bottle. There’s not much reason to drink cider in a market dominated by large scale cideries more interested in profit from bland drinks than making a product worthy of the fruit.

But among the hundreds of varieties of apples, some of them can make a spectacular natural beverage that rivals lager for drinkability and carries with it delicious fruit flavor. And these are drinks worth seeking out.

The Gourmet Underground consists of equal opportunity drinkers, so we gathered a group of friends and more than two dozen different ciders from half the places in the world that grow a decent apple — Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, Austria, Spain, France, and England. With so many drinks, it was all but impossible to take tasting notes on each sample, but we’ve got ample thoughts, notes, and photos to share.

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In an effort to lend some structure to our event, we started with North American ciders, pulling corks on ciders from a number of producers, the most notable of which was Farnum Hill of New Hampshire.

Michigan, despite its enormous apple production and save one example, was generally disappointing. Ciders from Sleeping Bear, Motor City, and Uncle John’s were certainly solid drinks, worth consideration, and enjoyable — but for the money and compared to some of their east coast and old world counterparts, they didn’t stack up. They generally seem to be the result of fermented dessert apples (similar to making wine with Concord grapes). One that stood slightly above the others wasn’t actually cider — it was a perry produced by 45 North, which carried some notes of sage in a light, effervescent package. J.K.’s Scrumpy had slightly more depth than most Michigan ciders but suffered in drinkability due to sweetness.

Bellwether of upstate New York was solid, though only the King Baldwin drew any serious praise with a moderately earthy mid-palate and a subtle sweetness to round out the drink. At 6.9%, it’s made from a curious combination of the regional Tomkins King apple and the Baldwin apple from Massachusetts.

Farnum Hill, though, is something special. Every cider was deliciously dry with a bit more body and a longer finish than its other American counterparts. My favorite, their semi-dry, was really very nice — not nearly as dusty as the “Extra Dry” cider but not at all sweet with a bit of earth, mineral, and tart apple chutney. Normally, I drift toward the driest drink in a tasting, but in this case, the semi-dry cider was just so full of life, it was hard to stop myself from re-filling over and over. That said, each of the four from Farnum Hill were impressive, as was the much sweeter but nonetheless interesting, juicy offering from New Hampshire’s Crooked Tree cidery, which garnered a lot of attention from the group.

Ultimately, though, moving across the pond yielded the most oohs and aahs from the crowd.

Sparking the most discussion were two Basque ciders, each funky and sour. One is available in Michigan: Sarasola Sagardoa, which is remarkable for briny and humid orchard characteristics unlike any of the U.S. ciders. The other, Isastegi, was either the favorite or near favorite of several trusted tasters. And for good reason. It almost glows in the glass, and the nose alternates between ripe apple and green apple skin. On the palate, it was absolutely funky and exploded with fresh, natural flavors of fermentation with a long, acidic finish and earthy undertones ripe with near-rotten apples.

My personal favorite, though, was Poma Aurea. Reminiscent of something along the lines of a cava or champagne, it was replete with tiny, prickly bubbles. A bit of research reveals that the region in which it’s made, Asturias, considers cider its traditional drink. That legacy is apparent in the craftsmanship as the aroma is very sharp and yet ripe with apple and there is just an amazing focus to it throughout every sip, somehow simultaneously cider-like and razor sharp with minerals.

Another subtly complex, wildly effervescent sparkler that struck me as being as near perfect as cider can be was the “Apfel Cuvee” from Hans Reisetbauer in Austria and imported by Terry Theise, noted Riesling hound. It absolutely prickled the tongue with flowers, pear, and apple.

Todd commented at one point that this must be the most complete cider tasting ever to take place in Detroit, an historic event. He’s right. The beverages above are just the highlights of a remarkable evening, and to think that 20 food and drink lovers in southeast Michigan could be drinking some of the best cider that the United States, Spain, and Austria have to offer while noshing on Benton’s bacon, braised cabbage, chevre, and pork belly sliders is astonishing.

It’ll be years, if ever, before cider really establishes itself in the way that natural wine and craft beer have cemented themselves within American niche markets. But if last weekend’s tasting showed anything, it’s that apples deserve on the whole a fate greater than the one that awaits the Red Delicious sitting inside that Harry Potter lunchbox.