Cider Review: Anxo Cidre Blanc & Aaron Burr's Homestead Locational Cider Summitville

Last week I was complaining about the heat and lack of rain. I still want rain, and it’s plenty warm out there, but I don’t feel like complaining. I see the signs around us that indicate that Summer will end. It feels too early to start finding them, but the color of the leaves is a deeper denser darker green. I run into spiderwebs when I walk in the late evening or early morning. Tomatoes are starting to be ripe around here, as are so many of my other summer favorites. Folks are moving into new apartments and houses. I feel more grateful for summer than I did a week ago, perhaps because I can see that it will not last forever.  

Both of this week’s cider reviews come from the same evening. I helped a friend move into a new apartment. It was a sweaty, intense day, but we got her moved in. Then we celebrated with cider and pizza.  

Anxo (pronounced roughly like an-cho) is not just a cidery, it’s a restaurant and a taproom in Washington DC too. And it’s the brand that woke me up to the astronomical potential of cider collaborations a few years ago. The people behind Anxo, Sam Fitz, Rachel Fitz and Cooper Sheehan, started the foray into cider by working with host cideries to produce collaborative ciders before the group had the production facility Anxo now operates. 

This nimble creativity emblematizes how I think of Anxo. It’s not just one thing. I’ve judged cider with Sam, and I enjoy hearing him talk about the ciders he tastes. (Full disclosure, Sam got me this can when we were judging together this spring.) And I love hearing visitors to Anxo tell me about the food and cider they’ve tried there. So I have been really excited to have my first sip of anything by Anxo.  

You can learn more about the cidery and the restaurant here: http://www.anxodc.com/

Official description page on the website: https://anxocider.com/cider/cidre-blanc/

I’ll pull this much from it, but there’s so much more to see including apple sourcing information (apples were grown in Pennsylvania and Virginia) and fermentation details. 

ABV 6.9%AROMA Peach, kiwi, pineapple, & white grape 

FLAVOR Bright acidity with a slight prickle of tannin, clean finish with hints of white grape and green apple. 

MOUTHFEEL Light bodied, crisp, & refreshing 

CARBONATION Petillant

Appearance: lemon, cloudy, bubbly

This looks so refreshing! Something about it’s combination of cloudiness, bubbles, and cool lemon yellow just make me anticipate something extremely fresh, dry, and sharp. 

Aromas: farmy, yeasty, lemons

Ohh, this cider smells like its fermentation more than like fresh fruit. Mmm! I love that it smells bready (more sourdough than muffins), lemony, and farmy. 

Sweetness/Dryness: Dry!

The can is correct to call this a dry cider. It may have some fruit notes, particularly citrus, but this is a distinctly dry cider. 

Flavors and Drinking experience: Bubbly, citrus, astringent, high acid

I was not wrong to anticipate something dry and refreshing. This cider is both of those things. The Cidre Blanc tastes grainy and lemony with more bubble than I expect from a cider called petillant on the can. 

I enjoyed pairing this cider with pizza and relaxing, but I think it could be paired with lots of things. I’d pair it with grilled fish tacos and avocado slices next time! And someday, I want to drink Anxo cider while enjoying Pinxtos in DC at the restaurant!

Next up: My first Homestead Locational Cider by Aaron Burr: The Summitville 

If you care about artisanal cider in America, you’ve heard of Aaron Burr ciders. The cider is the labor of Andy Brennan in Wurtsboro, New York. The ciders are cult-classics in part because Andy has such passionate voice and challenging views on how to grow cider. I’ll just quote one sentence from the website and sent you to Andy’s book if you want to read more about his thoughts, “This focus is founded on the belief that early Americans drank history’s best cider.”  I’m sure that I don’t want to prioritize one time and one place as my holy grail of cider, but I won’t argue with the fact that Aaron Burr Cidery makes interesting ciders and has been for more than 14 years now.  

I only have one previous Aaron Burr Review, the Elderberry Apple: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/01/cider-review-aaron-burrs-homestead.html

Visit the website: https://www.aaronburrcider.com/

Read more about Andy Brennan’s book Uncultivated: https://www.groworganicapples.com/booksmd.php#uncultivated

Summitville’s official description on the Aaron Burr website reads:

Summitville. Heavier liquid sediment with deep gold color. Aggressive bubbles, probably over carbonated but we’ll see. Maybe we’ll release it, maybe not. Nose is clean, maybe British. But tart. Starts tart but goes into sweet fruit. I detect grape notes—maybe concord?  Flashes of brightness come and go and tannin anchors the ending. Source: The slope up the east face of the central plateau, starting in the Hollow (Summitville) and going up to where it levels off. Very wooded area. 7.8% ABV

Appearance: hazy, copper, tiny bubbles

The Summitville looks more like an English farmhouse cider than many American ciders based on the haze and the rich coppery color. I can only see a few bubbles; those I see are quite small and stationary.

Aromas: overripe apples, minerals, dry soil

This cider smells like my garden right now, which is to say clean, dry, and powdery dirt with minerals. I also get lots of overripe apple character.  

Sweetness/Dryness: Dry

This is another dry cider. Its astringence and acidity enhance my perception of its dryness. 

Flavors and Drinking experience: soft tannins, mushy fruit, astringent

I agree with the description’s mention of the classic UK cider profile. The Summitville has many qualities in common with a funky, astringent, tannic UK cider. I enjoy the tannins and dryness that are part of this style, but I love that  it has firm acidity and plenty of bubbles too. The cider has a light body but finishes strong. 

This cider came after the pizza, so we paired it with putting our feet up after lots of work and watching a movie. I enjoyed it like that very much. I wouldn’t actually pair this with too complex a dish. The cider has enough going on in and of itself. 

Cider Review: Aaron Burr's Homestead Elderberry Apple

On this still dark and snowy morning, Along Came a Cider finally reviews an Aaron Burr cider. I thought I'd reviewed one long ago, but a little looking reveals my error. I suppose I thought I'd reviewed a cider by Aaron Burr Cidery, because it is such fascinating cult cidery of sorts. Andy Brennan makes these ciders in Wurtsboro, New York in tiny runs from either heritage or foraged apples. Some blends include interesting additives or co-fermented ingredients. Brennan also doesn't add preservative sulphites. Its a very purist and historically oriented approach to cider making, which adds to the mystique

Read how Aaron Burr Cidery presents its cider identity on the website:

“The Cidery”, which produces Aaron Burr Cider in Wurtsboro, New York, is a small homestead farm dating back to the early 19th century. We specialize in growing cider-apples, which are different from eating-apples in the same way wine-grapes are different from table-grapes. We use our apples and other locally grown and foraged apples for one mission: to re-create “true cider”, the time-averaged most popular drink in America.

This focus is founded on the belief that early Americans drank history’s best cider. Reestablishing this involves holism -from farming to art, from the market to politics- cider is an identity. There is much from our recent past which must be undone but luckily the descendants of early cider apples do still exist in the wild. We believe their ability to survive the 20th century provides American cider its future.

You can find out more at the website itself: http://www.aaronburrcider.com/

Tonight I'm reviewing the Elderberry Apple which intrigues me mightily. I've only had one other elderberry cider, also from New York state, but one I suspect is nonetheless very different.

http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/09/cider-review-original-sin-elderberry.html

Here's the information Aaron Burr Cider presents about the Homestead Elderberry Apple

2014 Homestead Elderberry Apple 98 cases made, 7.4% abv , 750 ml

Specs: Tannic, dry, medium acidity. Deep crimson hue with slight carbonation.Notes: Woody/ forest aromas mixed berry upfront. Balanced, light body. Chalky and fruity.

Source: 10% elderberry foraged from BashaKill wetlands, 90% unsprayed west Sullivan County apples

Furthermore, the back label has a charming little addendum, "Dry. May become naturally effervescent." With a bit more instructional information in terms of how to pour a cider with lees (fermentation solids) and and how to store a cider without any added sulphites.

Appearance: hazy, rich watermelon color, a few tiny bubbles

I cannot over-emphasize how absolutely beautiful this cider is in the glass. It glows with the color of ripe watermelon flesh.

Aroma: tart, blackberry, yeasty

The smell is full and tart. It reminds me of both blackberries and orange, fruits that give flavor and tartness in equal measure. I also detect very real amounts of yeast that lean the aromas in the direction of a sour beer.

Dryness/sweetness: dry

The bottle tells the truth; this cider is dry. I know that fruitiness does not actually either take away from or add to dryness, but to call this cider dry without calling attention to its fruitiness only tells part of the story.

Flavors and drinking experience: rustic, light, tart, fruity and vegetal both

The Elderberry Apple tastes a little like a sour beer and like its aromas: tart. a bit of vinegar in with the berry notes. Perhaps the fermentation included a subtle level of acedification, which I know will excite any fans of Spanish style ciders. As the description predicted, it has a light mouthfeel—almost watermelony, to be sure. Texturally, the bubbles are small but not so present to be strongly sparkling. I can taste the yeast a little on the back of the tongue. The flavors include lots of citrus and berry notes, but I also get some vegetal elements like potato & celery, but not unpleasantly. The cider comes across as more balanced in big sips. If you enjoy a rustic cider, this cannot be beaten.

guess right now I'd say drink this cider while listening to David Bowie's music or watching a film he was in. Perhaps I'd say that about any cider right now; its all I want to do. But, I actually think this makes more sense with a special cider by this cidery more than most. Andy Brennan's ciders are unique and vary between being extremely playful and inviting and being somewhat more challenging. They always offer distinctive character and craft. If these qualities do not serve to parallel the towering achievements of David Bowie, I don't know whose ciders would. This, in my mind, serves as one of the highest possible compliments, and I mean it as such.