There's more to Fall than Thanksgiving! : )

Hey cider lovers. My nose is alternately running and completely stuffy, so I cannot bring a new cider review to the blog this week. It’s such a key time for cider, so I hate to skip out entirely. Everyone is talking about Thanksgiving. It’s a big food holiday. The menu is tremendously cider compatible. That’s wonderful. I feel like I’ve helped contribute to the thinking about cider and Thanksgiving already. I don’t have much that’s new to say about it. 

Here are a few Thanksgiving and Cider resources for those who want them!

My traditional Thanksgiving food and cider pairing guide: https://www.ciderculture.com/thanksgiving-cider-pairing/

Vegetarian dressing with cider and my 2018 Thanksgiving cider choice: https://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/11/thanksgiving-ciders-eves-ciderys.html

Pairing at my house for Thanksgiving and my birthday back in 2016.

The plan: https://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/11/pick-cider-for-thanksgiving-and-my.html

The results: https://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/11/happy-to-pickcider-for-thanksgiving.html

Cider Culture’s Plant Based Thanksgiving Cider Guide (by the awesome Emily Kovach): https://www.ciderculture.com/plant-based-thanksgiving-recipes/

Thanksgiving isn’t the only big event of Fall in my house. I’m pretty fond of my birthday. 

It’s not the easiest birthday to love, since it falls in the shadow of a holiday that’s both major and controversial. The weather isn’t often inviting; the time isn’t easy to schedule; people are often recovering from a very heavy and traditional meal. But the beauty of a birthday is that we get to make its style of celebration and its meaning. 

I don’t need a giant feast the day after Thanksgiving, but I do want to enjoy something other than leftovers for my birthday. Here’s the plan and the cider.

Dinner will be a Delicata squash salad with arugula, baby spinach, fresh apples, dried cranberries, pecans, a crumbly blue cheese, shredded carrots, radish, roasted quarter rings of Delicata squash. I figure we’ll make a big salad and then an array of different protein options to go on top: marinated tofu, dijon salmon, and chicken breast for the meat eaters. The dressing will be a homemade maple dijon vinaigrette. 

To pair with this, I want a bone dry super sparkly cider with only apples. I prefer something twice twice fermented so either a method ancestral or a methode champenoise. I’m planning on looking through my cellars for options by cideries really committed to aromatic bubbly ciders. I haven’t chosen yet, but don’t be surprised if it’s from Eve’s Cidery, Snowdrift Cider,  Eden Specialty Ciders, Albemarle, Haykin Family Cider, or Seminary Hill. Then again, my cider sometimes surprises me. There’s at least one bottle I’ve been saving since a friend sourced it for me a few months ago. Only time will tell.   

Dessert has to be cheesecake. I love most kinds of cake. It’s seriously one of the best parts of being a human. I truly want a maple cheesecake with mini chocolate chips. We’re going to try a Cabot Creamery recipe: https://cabotcreamery.com/blogs/recipes/maple-cheesecake

It’s my birthday, so I get a dessert pairing as well. If you know me, you know it’s going to be pommeau. But which sweet, rich, layered, fiery pommeau will it be? I’ll probably decide next week. 

I hope everyone gets to celebrate their special days with delicious food, cider, and loved ones!

Cider Week New York: Moosewood Restaurant's Black Diamond Cider Pairing Dinner

We’re now a few days into Cider Week New York! Cider activities are highlighting what’s awesome about my favorite beverage in every region of the state. Check them out and hopefully you can find one near you!

https://ciderweeknewyork.com/events-2/

And in particular, I’d like to highlight a free event I’m supporting on Tuesday October 4th: Tasting and Tomes at Mann Library! Visit us on Cornell’s campus to taste apples and fresh cider, explore our collection of cider related books new and old and learn about all things cider happening at Cornell! We’ll be around 11am-2pm.

Here’s how I started my cider week. I want to share my experience at Moosewood’s pairing dinner with Black Diamond Cider. Our guides for the evening were Ian Merwin, founder of Black Diamond Cider and Pomologist Emeritus at Cornell University, and Aron Kelly, Moosewood’s General Manager. The format was a 4-course vegetarian dinner prepared by Moosewood Chef Tim Mooney: each course paired with something special from Black Diamond Cider.I was particularly excited to find something vegetarian not as a substitution but by design and I’m a big fan of Black Diamond Ciders.

And if you're not familiar with Moosewood Restaurant, I recommend learning more: https://www.moosewoodrestaurant.com/

My previous reviews of Black Diamond Ciders are plentiful, and they include:

My #1 cider of 2021 Black is Gold (a collaboration with Redbyrd Orchard Cider): http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2021/11/cider-review-black-diamond-farm-and.html

Black Diamond Cider's 2018 Rosé: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2020/09/cider-review-eden-ciders-peak-bloom-and.html

Shin Hollow: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2020/08/cider-review-mountain-west-ciders-sweet.html

Jaywalker: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2020/03/cider-review-alpenfires-dungeness-and.html

Geneva Tremlett’s: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/03/cider-review-black-diamonds-geneva.html

Somerset Jersey: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/05/very-perry-may-with-vandermills-ice-ice.html

Slatestone: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/11/cider-reviews-big-hill-ciderworks.html

Hickster: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/12/cider-review-black-diamond-ciders.html

Porter’s Pommeau: https://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/09/finger-lakes-cider-week-and-birthday.html

Solstice: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/08/cider-review-black-diamonds-solstice.html

Rabblerouser: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/09/cider-review-black-diamonds.html

I recommend visiting Black Diamond Cidery online here to learn more about all of the ciders: https://www.blackdiamondcider.com/

We started with a Curried Pumpkin Soup with toasted pepitas and pickled mustard seeds. This was paired with Black Diamond’s 2008 Perry. Though it’s called a Perry, it is a pear-apple blend, making it a pear cider. Though I loved all of the ciders of the evening, the first one was my favorite! A good perry is something to write home about, and this pear cider captures so much of what can be great about the beverage. I loved the lively bubbles, grapefruit citrus notes, softness and high acid.  

 I had some trepidation because of the pickled mustard seeds. Yes, they sound intriguing, but here’s a confession, I am usually passionately unfond of pickled things. It’s the rare exception that works for me. Miraculously, these were perfect. The soup was heavy, creamy, and only gently spiced. It needed the pepitas and the salty acid bite of the pickled mustard seeds. Yum!

I knew we’d have a salad as part of our meal just because Moosewood makes such wonderfully deluxe salads. This was a particularly seasonal offering: a Dinosaur Kale salad with slow roasted plums, toasted walnuts, roasted Delicata squash, crumbled blue cheese, and a buttermilk vinaigrette. It was paired with the 2019 Rosé. If you read my review of the 2018 Rose, I have to note that this one is created entirely differently. It uses plums as one of the elements to give the cider its signature hue. I love the idea of plums as a point of continuity for this pairing since they are in the cider and the salad. It's a lightful easy cider, utterly delightful and acid driven. The Rosé is semi-dry but so fruity. 

Butternut Squash Lasagna made our entree. I expected a cream sauce based lasagna as many autumnal lasagnas swap out a tomato sauce for a Roux-based sauce, but I was delighted by my rich and hearty red sauce vegetarian lasagna. It had caramelized fennel, Remembrance Farm baby kale, smoked mozzarella, butternut squash ricotta, asiago, garlic, Cabernet tomato, basil, and Parigiano Reggiano. I will remember the umami and satisfaction of that lasagna for years. It paired with Ian’s favorite of his ciders (at least as he described it that evening) the 2020 Golden Russet/Porter’s Perfection Varietal cider. 

The Golden Russet/Porter’s Perfection upped the body and alcohol with an ABV of 10%. I appreciate that this cider has acidity, tannins, structure, and body. It's dry by the numbers but it still gives off an essence of nectar or floral sweetness. Ian says that comes from the Golden Russet apples. It’s a very special cider that just tastes golden, mature, and mellow to me. I loved it with the exceptionally concentrated tomato sauce of the lasagna. Cider and tomatoes can be so fantastic together!

At this point, even after having half of my lasagna packed for later, I was stuffed! And yet I wanted to taste the final pairing.

It was an individual apple bundt cake with lemon ricotta and drizzled with cider caramel. I knew it would be paired with Black Diamond’s Pommeau. The cake appeared in a decadent moat of sauces. It makes my mouth water to think back on it. Pommeau was a delightfully appropriate pairing because of its intensity, sweetness, and higher ABV. Most cider would not be able to be tasted alongside such a rich and sweet dessert, but pommeau is a mixture of cider spirits, fresh cider, and wonderful structure from oak barrel aging. All of these factors made it something extra special with this creamy fabulous apple cake. 

The whole meal was extraordinary thanks to the wonderful food preparation and outstanding pairings from Black Diamond. What a great way to start my Cider Week New York! 

South Hill Cider's Tasting Room and Flight Plus FLX Cider Week!

Hey cider fans! I’m so excited for Finger Lakes Cider Week! It’s coming right up, so I thought I’d put our one last reminder for a few of the awesome events that I’ll be supporting this year.

Events where you can find me:

9/26, Not Far From the Tree: An Evening Celebrating Apples & Cider- https://www.facebook.com/events/2322642131307274/

Autumn Shosteck of Eve’s Cidery and Steve Selin of South Hill Cider with both be joining me talking about orchards, apples, ciders, and food pairings. This is an evening packed with cider education plus local farm-to-table dishes and ciders at Coltivare. Tickets are $50.

9/28, Jason Wilson & Meredith Collins | The Cider Revival
https://www.facebook.com/events/2365892806779923/

I’m stoked to interview Jason Wilson about his new book at Buffalo Street Books at 4pm this Saturday. Jason will read a few sections from his book: Cider Revival: Dispatches from the Orchard and you can taste samples by Grisamore Ciderworks. This event is totally free! You can always choose to support Grisamore Ciderworks or Jason and Buffalo St. Books, and I encourage you to do so!

10/3, Basics of Cider Tasting at The Watershed:
https://www.facebook.com/events/704691016703741/

Next week at The Watershed (http://www.thewatershedithaca.com/) join me! Everyone is welcome to purchase a glass of cider from the expanded cider week selection. I’ll be in the back discussing the basics of cider tasting and geeking out! No entry fee, just buy some cider!

I want to keep the Finger Lakes celebration going this week by talking about the opening of South Hill Cider’s new tasting room!

I've previously reviewed a few ciders from South Hill Cider:

Prelude #3:http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/12/cider-review-south-hill-ciders-prelude.html

A newer Prelude #7:
http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/07/cider-review-aeppeltreow-scarlett-rosey.html

Bluegrass Russet: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/04/cider-review-sea-ciders-ruby-rose-and.html

Finger Lakes Cider pairing dinner: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/09/finger-lakes-cider-week-and-birthday.html

My top cider of 2016, the Stone Fence Farm: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/08/cider-review-south-hill-ciders-stone.html

2014 Packbasket: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/04/cider-review-south-hill-ciders-2014.html

And my first review for them was the hyper-limited Hypothesis: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/05/cider-review-south-hill-ciders.html

I made my way to South Hill Cider’s new tasting room on the second of two soft-opening afternoons. It was a race to make it up there after hours of my day job downtown, but I did! The setting is rural and lovely with breathtaking views and easy access to one of the area’s best waterfalls: Buttermilk Falls. Steve started the farm in 2014 after ordering a batch of cider-specific apple trees in 2012. And so much has happened in the cider world since that early investment!

The parking lot was full when I pulled in, but most folks were enjoying the outdoor area with glasses of cider and picnic tables. Steve found me and my dear friend Maria (of https://ciderwithmaria.com/) and volunteered to guide us through our tastings himself. She went with the Premium tasting and I chose the Classic South Hill Cider Tasting.

Here’s what I tasted!

We started with the Baldwin; it’s a new release. Here’s how South Hill describes it, “2018. New England single varietal. Fine bubble, mouth watering, long finish. 8.5%”

What I noticed first about it was the applesauce aroma. I am a total sucker for this particular scent, so I got very excited! This cider’s apples come from just two orchards. I loved how super dry, high acid, and super bubbly this cider tasted. It’s crisp and citrusy and may have been my new favorite.

The second cider in the flight was Russet Dabinett. The official description and tasting notes read, “Dry and Still. Complex. Featuring cider apple varieties indigenous to NY State and England. Golden Russet is native to New York and Dabinett from Somerset, England. Tasting Notes: Deep Honey color with a smooth mid-palate and a mineral and textured finish. Very long finish. Flavors of honeycomb, elderflower, lychee, sour plum, white pepper, papaya, ripe plum  skin, subtle vanilla.” 8.1% ABV

This cider’s nose reminded me white wine, almost like a spicy Gewurztraminer. When I taste this cider, it’s more mellow than the aromas imply.  Steve talked about how it is blended for structure with a different grouping of apples each year. The cider is dry but tastes off dry and just a little bit barrely.

We then moved on to Old-Time ‘17. Online descriptions say, “Off-dry. Naturally Sparkling. Predominantly from abandoned and wild homestead trees, reflecting the perfection of their diversity and age. The name Old-Time is a nod to both the cidermakers from past generations who produced ciders from these trees and to the style of music cidermaker Steve plays: American old-time music. Tasting Notes: Light gold. Soft rounded bubbles, notes of strawberry, grapefruit seed, butterscotch, musk.” 7.5% ABV

This cider is all about zesty acid in my book. I got more barrel character than from my previous two ciders. This one is definitely semi-dry with a residual sugar of 1.8% and a titratable acidity of 8.1 grams per litre. This cider is very approachable and easy; I’m sure it will be among the most popular at the tasting room.

Our next cider was the Bluegrass Russet ‘17. This cider is made from the same blend every year and fermented and aged in stainless steel. The description for this cider introduces it as, “Off-dry. This cider showcases the Golden Russet apple, a native apple to New York, historically prized for it's excellent flavor in cider and on the table. Custom fermentation and bottling using the Charmat method. Naturally Sparkling. Tasting Notes: Lively effervescence. Crisp. Peach, raspberry, beeswax.” 8.2% ABV

I got the most intense aromas yet when this cider was poured. Notes of concentrated fruitiness just wafted from the glass, primarily pineapple and pear. This has the same level of residual sugar as the previous cider but lower acidity and higher ABV. Those factors combine to make it taste both fuller and sweeter.

And we ended with one of my favorite things in the entirety of the cider world: pommeau. Steve poured the Pommeau ‘17. As South Hill’s website says, this is a “Port-style cider. An apple apertif/digestif from a blend of barrel-aged Apple Spirits (Eau de Vie) with unfermented and unfiltered apple cider. During months of aging, the pommeau naturally clarifies to an amber liquid of exquisite character. Still and sweet. Tasting Notes: Deep gold. Warming, rich and velvety. Aromas of honey and clove. Nutmeg, amaretto, sun-warmed plum.” ABV of 19%.

Based on Steve’s description of the process, it’s clear that this pommeau will change subtly year to year but slowly home in on a more and more consistent flavor profile. He uses a barrel blending method with many different vintages working to tempering the variance with those blends. The Pommeau smells simply heavenly: rich and buttery. Flavors are just silky smooth and velvety cooked apple, caramel biscuit, and butterscotch. The sweetness smoothes out the ABV and the ABV provides some backbone and fire to a sweet cider. It’s tension and balance working together perfectly!

Finger Lakes Cider Week and Birthday Locavore Pairing Dinner

My dear friend and cider accomplice Elizabeth  (http://www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/author/elizabeth/) had a birthday earlier this month. And unlike most folks, this means she wanted to bring down a heap of work and organization on herself to celebrate. This means she planned and cooked a five course feast at the home of a wonderful mutual friend.

As part of my gift, I paired the menu with local Finger Lakes Ciders and provided some of the ciders for these pairings. She was kind enough to allow me to write up the pairings and combine that post with my anticipation for this year's Finger Lakes Cider Week!

http://www.ciderweekflx.com/

Local Charcuterie Platter: Bellwether Vintage Heritage

http://cidery.com

El sourced smoked turkey, ham, rillettes, and duck confit from The Piggery. For the non-meat eaters we had local hummus by Ithaca Hummus. I enjoyed the Crosswinds Goblin cheese, Northwind Tripletree Tomme and a home-smoked cheddar. El also pickled her own cucumbers and beets.

Vintage Heritage is a very special cider cider that isn't readily available most of the time; its a cellar -aged edition of their Heritage cider. That description reads, “Dry; 6.9% alcohol; blend of European cider apples including Brown Snout, Dabinette, Chisel Jersey; this is the still version of Legacy; complex acid and tannin; an Old World cider to bring balance to your modern, hectic life.” This aged version really lets the playfully rustic side of cider shine. Its leathery, woody, tart and tannic. Delightfully different and something well worth trying if you ever get the chance.

Bellwether will be pouring samples of their ciders at the Ithaca Farmer's Market both weekends of Cider Week (and all other Farmer's Market Weekends) down at Steamboat Landing in Ithaca. 

Caprese Salad: Redbyrd Orchard Cider Celeste Sur Lie

https://redbyrdorchardcider.com

This simple salad was constructed of local heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, and drizzled with F. Olivers Picual Olive Oil. 

Redbyrd Orchard Ciders says this about this cider, "Celeste Sur Lie ’14 –An elegant cider for celebration, made in the traditional style and disgorged after aging on bottle lees for over a year, giving you a beautiful helix of endless soft bubbles in your glass and a creamy buttery mouthfeel. 0.0% residual sugar, 11% alcohol/volume." This cider fits my one of my preferred flavor profiles perfectly. This is so crisp, clean, and devastatingly dry. It rings like a golden bell on my tongue every time I take a sip.

Fresh Pasta with Red Sauce: Kite and String Barrel Rye

http://www.fingerlakesciderhouse.com/good-life-cider-kitestring/

This hand-rolled pasta was served with fresh tomato sauce with garlic and basil, homemade ricotta and a garden salad with F. Oliver's Balsamic Viniarette Dressing. This course alone would have made a wonderful birthday dinner. Elizabeth really knows how to make homey comfort food like pasta shine.

Kite and String describe this cider as, “Off Dry. Champagne style. Stirred on the lees for 1 month. Aged 1 year in Rye Whiskey barrels. Buttercream with a backbone. Oak and smoke and shalestone.” and I chose it for that combination of smoke and backbone. Typically folks, pair tomato dishes with red wines, but I think cider has a fun option of doubling down on umami notes and adding both structural notes and lively acidity. This pairing supports my argument well.

Finger Lakes Cider House Grand Cider Buffet on Thursday September 28^th:

This event will be at Coltivare this Thursday evening, featuring cider oriented food and Kite and String Cidery's full lineup. This will be many folks first chance to try some of these awesome new releases.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/finger-lakes-cider-house-grand-cider-buffet-tickets-37257429976

Roast Chicken with Tomato-Cilantro Hollandaise: South Hill Cider Patina

http://www.southhillcider.com/

El's chicken came from Autumn's Harvest. He roasted them and served them with green beans, roast potatoes, and smothered the dish in tomato-cilantro hollandaise sauce. This felt just as complete with sauced potatoes and beans, almost as thought the sauce is the actual star of this course.

South Hill Cider has this to say, “Patina is partially barrel aged so that bright fruit notes ring clear over a well-rounded barrel influence. Sparkling, medium bodied, fruit forward with hints of vanilla. Dry. Bittersweet apples. 8.2% ABV.” I knew we would need to continue to have strong bubbles and some barrel presence in order for the cider not to disappear entirely against such flavorful food. Thankfully, the Patina was up to the task and then some. This cider has tannic balance and smooth elegance to spare.

South Hill Cider String Band and Tasting on Saturday, September 30^th

From 3-6pm on Saturday, you can stop by Agava in Ithaca to taste not only this restaurants inventive and appetizing food, but also listen to the cidermaker behind South Hill Cider (Steve Selin) play with the South Hill Cider String Band and sample their ciders.

Apple Cobbler Cheesecake: Black Diamond Porter's Pommeau

https://www.blackdiamondcider.com/

This cheese cake builds up from a graham cracker crust through a creamy crumb and is topped with Black Diamond Orchard Apples, a brown sugar oat crumble, and a burnt caramel sauce. Yes, it's decadent. Each element is necessary for the tantalizing whole. Being able to pair a pommeau with apples from the orchard that produced it, isn't a chance I get every day.

Pommeau, for those who don't love it already, is a very special cider based distilled beverage. It starts with cider which is distilled then back-sweetened with fresh apple juice and then aged on oak for an extended period. Black Diamond's Porter's Pommeau, according to Black Diamond is, “a blend of fresh cider made from Porter’s Perfection – an old english bittersweet apple and oak-aged apple eau de vie –is our take on the classic beverage from Normandie, France. Tasting Notes: Fragrances of ripe apples and vanilla, velvety tannins and a smooth, sweet finish. Enjoy it with dessert, or by the fireside with friends. Most people prefer to serve it slightly chilled. Alcohol: 20.0% Residual Sugar: 7.6% (Sweet)” And that's excactly what we did. I served this cider chilled to my dear friends with an amazing dessert. Perfection indeed.

Cider Cocktails with Black Diamond Cider in Trumansburg, NY on Thursday October 5^th

At hip foodie bowling paradise, Atlas Bowl, attendees will have the chance to try classic cocktails made with a cider twist and other original mixology creations all using the ciders and pommeau of Black Diamond Cider will bowling, eating, and listing to the tunes of cider owner Jackie Merwin who will be spinning as DJ Black Diamond. What fun! 

Whether celebrating a birthday, the season, or Finger Lakes Cider Week, enjoy with friends. I raise a glass to these good times! Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!