Published at September 28, 2008
in books.
James Crowden, has written a new book called Ciderland which documents the history of cider making and claims that the credit for inventing Champagne should really go to Christopher Merret, a West Country scientist who outlined his method of making sparkling wine in a paper to the Royal Society in 1632, six years before Dom Pérignon was born.
The Times reports
The English connection will be spelt out next week by Mr Crowden in a paper to the Royal Society, claiming that the méthode champenoise was only refined by the French. He said: “What is extraordinary is that these cider-makers did not realise the potential of their discovery.”
It’s that time of year again when thousands of people in the Northern hemisphere are looking at all those apples ripening on the trees soon to fall and starting to think….hmmmm what a shame if they should go to waste again. So hundreds of people every day go onto the internet and look up “homemade cider presses“, “Plans for making a cider press“, “do it yourself apple crusher” and similar phrases. Many of them have a look at what’s on the cider wiki and some end up building their own version of Ray’s adaptation there. I like to think there’s a whole load of apples being pressed and made into homemade cider for the first every year. It seems as if hundreds of new craft cider enthusiasts are being drawn in to the hobby and a maybe a large handful starting out on the road to setting up a real cottage industry. In turn, many of their friends, neighbours and eventually customers will be exposed to the interesting and individual flavours of full juice craft ciders and so will be demanding of more of the same instead of the fake industrial versions which are currently monopolising the supermarket shelf cider sections and even the so called cider festivals put on by some pub chains and landlords.
Published at September 19, 2008
in books.
The second edition of Ben Watson’s Cider Hard and Sweet, is now just out on sale. Ben is a noted US ’slow food’ guru.
A fully updated and expanded primer for anyone who wants to make cider and for those who just like to drink it. With the rise in consumer demand for local foods and local food products, and the emergence of more small craft food and beverage producers since this book was originally published in 2000, this revised edition of “Cider, Hard and Sweet” comes at the right time. Ben Watson has expanded the section on the history of cider to chronicle lesser-known cider producers such as those in Spain and Asia; broadened the selection of North American cider varieties and European cider apple varieties; provided new cidermaking basics tailored to beginner and intermediate cidermakers with special attention to the new cidermaking equipment available; added new recipes for cooking with cider from notable chefs and bartenders; and added a new chapter about the recent popularity of perry (pear cider) available for purchase today. 50 black & white photographs.
This is a light cider ( 5.5% ?) with some good somerset cider apple flavour, but a hint of toffee I thought, although the label indicated a pure fresh pressed apple juice product. Found in a farm shop in Fife, Scotland.
This bottled cider in the eastern counties style was of excellent quality and interest. I think the cider comes from Seddlescombe Vineyard and is labeled simply as “Organic Dry Cider” made by Organic County Drinks Ltd. Using only real, fresh organic English apples, mostly from Kent and Sussex. With wild natural yeasts and judicious use of oak.
Recent Comments