Cider Event: Twilight Walk, Talk and Picnic Dinner with Autumn Stoscheck of Eve’s Cidery and Steve Cummins at Indian Creek Farm *PLUS* Cider Monday in Ithaca

Today, I want to talk about a highlight of the recent Finger Lakes Cider Week. Of course, I love the tastings and the pairings and hearing folks thinking seriously about cider, often for the first time. But, this was something altogether different and very special.

I was invited to join a group, drawn from both home orchardists and cider lovers, to tour Cummins Nursery and talk about apple choice and apple growing for cider. And the orchard happens to share a site with my favorite local U-Pick spot, Indian Creek Farm. Thanks very much to Autumn for the invitation.

This was the official description:

Twilight Walk, Talk and Picnic Dinner with Autumn Stoscheck of Eve’s Cidery and Steve Cummins at Indian Creek Farm

With the American cider revival well under way and hundreds of new ciders finding their way to market each year, folks are making cider with whatever apples they can get their hands on. But is it good cider? In this interactive tour/talk tasting we’ll take a look at what makes a good cider variety and why. 

4:00pm -5:00pm – We’ll tour Cummins Nursery and learn why you should plan 3 years ahead of planting your cider orchard and just what goes into propagating apple trees. We’ll also take a look at various planting systems and tree sizes from modern slender spindle to 100 year old full size trees and discuss their implications for cider quality. 

5:00pm – 6:00pm – We’ll sit down to discuss cider apple characteristics and how they translate into cider while tasting cider varieties like Kingston Black and Ellis Bitter and cider made from these apples. Where does a cider get it’s structure, finish and balance? Which cider varieties best represent Finger Lakes terroir? 

6:00pm – 7:00pm – Dinner and drinks! Picnic dinner by the Piggery plus a glass of Eve’s cider, family style in the orchard. Farmer/Chef Heather Sandford will give a brief introduction to her famous Finger Lakes charcuterie and why it pairs so well with local cider. Make sure you RSVP – This event is $15 per person and includes dinner and drinks.

I know Autumn and ciders from Eve's Cidery well (https://www.evescidery.com). My respect for the cider and Autumn's knowledge were a huge draw for me. I've been hearing about Cummins nursery (http://www.cumminsnursery.com)since moving to Ithaca more than three years ago. But enough foreword, let me share a bit about the event itself. 

This picture is some of the group leaving the young section of the nursery. Steve let us know that right now there's a three year wait to even get many varieties of cider apple trees. Their orchard has been growing these varieties for more than 16 years ago, but back then they couldn't sell them. This reminds me of my own thought that so many cidermakers right now just long for a time machine, so they can go back 7, 10, 15 or more years ago to plant European cider varietals, heritage apples, and interesting crabs. 

As we moved through the orchard, I could hear folks crunching on apples and stepping on a few drops as well. But drops don't necessarily mean the same thing to a cider maker. Autumn took the lead on this topic, sharing what she's found effective for her cidery. She emphasized that there is not only one way to go but many. She wants apples with the most possible fermentable sugars, so she wants really ripe apples. Apples picked too early have more starch and less sugar, so when they are ripe enough to drop onto the ground, that's when they have the most sugar. With a little preparation on the ground, they can be cushioned safely. In cider, we have no need for a firm or crisp texture for an apple; bruising is okay. Its all getting milled and pressed.

As I was listening, I also observed the crowd. We had a wide variety of backgrounds repsresented, from folks who never drink cider and only know orcharding to folks like me who have never tended an apple tree or fermented a cider. There were also some hospitality industry folks, serious cider people, wine-oriented individuals, and attendees just eager to learn and enjoy the picnic. 

One of the elements that helped a lot of audience members understand the translation from fresh apple to finished cider were the plentiful comparisons to Finger Lakes wine region. Lots of drinkers still don't expect the power of fermentation to change flavors in cider. This was a major takeaway message and one worth keeping close. Cider isn't apple juice with a kick. Cider is as different from fresh fruit juice as wine. And that's a beautiful beautiful thing. 

Which leads us into the discussion and tasting of different apple types.  For cider, there's not any benefit for maximizing yield for quantity; grow for quality. And we were tasting for specific qualities of: tannin, acid, sugar, and aroma. These are the raw ingredients that can be most directly traced from juice to cider.

 I would need video and several apples to accurately express this chapter of the experience. Lots of apples that make great cider, so not make for tasty raw treats. But its worth it to taste a few spitters to get an idea of what just tannin, just sugar, or just acid tastes like in an apple. Its also fun to see other folks make crazy faces when they taste bittersharps and bittersweets. This section also really brought home the importance not only of having good fruit, but creating good blends both at the press and again after primary fermentation.

Then we got to tasting ciders by Eve's Cidery and picnicing. She shared with us several ciders and described her whole portfolio of ciders in a striking way. These are six different ciders for six different uses. I love it. I've always approached cider not in a quest to find my one true favorite, but I love sharing ciders with people and with moments. 

And for me, this was one of those evenings. The October light was lovely. Steve and Autumn shared their knowledge and also their honest and well-founded opinions. I felt surrounded by people who really care about apples and cider. The picnic was great (I was impressed that The Piggery can put together a lovely spread even for vegetarians). And I got to enjoy Autumn's Gold from a Magnum. But more seriously speaking, I appreciated getting to taste the Eve's Cidery lineup with simple fare and time to focus on the flavors and textures brought by very special apples.

And stay tuned for Cider Monday in Ithaca! We'll have cider makers sampling and selling all kinds of awesome Finger Lakes Cider in locations all over downtown Ithaca on Monday 11/28/2016. 

The Great Vermont Cider Tour: Day 3! (Plus a bonus stop in New York)

After bidding a fond au revoir to Barney and Dee at Sunrise Orchards, my trusty cider assistant and I headed to downtown Middlebury where we met up with David of Shacksbury Cider.  He took us to Windfall Orchards, where we all hung out for a good while with orchardist Brad and with Misty the dog.

Shacksbury is the brainchild of David (originally from Kansas City) and his business partner Colin, both Middlebury College graduates.  They were fascinated by the tannic quality of English ciders, and so with unique transatlantic partnerships (most notably with Once Upon a Tree), they're now making cider in Vermont using a blend of American and English apples—even some Spanish ones too.  Since the start of 2015, they've gotten distribution beyond state lines and a earned thumbs up from Alice Feiring of the New York Times.  I served some of their Classic at my birthday party this year, since it's available on tap at Ithaca's own Cellar d'Or.  Keep an eye out for a review here.

Brad then showed us around his small but impressive and well-connected 3-acre orchard.  Windfall provides rare varietals to many cideries in Vermont, but their most public partnerships are with Shacksbury and Eden.  Brad and his wife (noted food author Amy Trubek) started working the orchard in 2002, but it's hardly new: their oldest tree is from 1918. That's the tree below. Glorious.

Windfall presses their apples three times per year, measuring careful blends of at least twelve varieties.  Shacksbury's batches are then given slow natural fermentation in uninsulated tanks, and afterwards are bottle conditioned. As David, Brad, and I discussed all this, I was casually handed a scrumptious Chenango Strawberry and St. Laurence apple to eat.

From there, the drive to Woodchuck Cider's home base was only five minutes, but in many respects it felt like a world away.  If you're reading this blog, you know who Woodchuck is.  

You need tanks like these to make eight million gallons of cider per year. You might also note, my adorable cider assistant. 

Woodchuck employs 150 Vermonters, and the cidery sources a huge amount of its apples from in-state (including from Sunrise Orchards, where we stayed last night), but as Caitlin their communications manager told me, their production demands exceed what Vermont can supply, and so they partner with growers in New York and the Yakima Valley too.  They value their local roots: I found their tasting room filling already at 11:30am, and this Saturday, August 20, they're hosting their annual Ciderstock concert, with Sublime.

Woodchuck is the flagship mark of the Vermont Hard Cider Company (which is owned by Pabst, and which also runs Wyder's), and offers both their classic drinks and a host of more recent mass-market experiments like Gumption and the Out On a Limb series.  I'm fond of some of their more straightforward ciders like the Local Nectar (of which I snagged a Michigan-edition sixpack), but I was also happily surprised by their June & Juice (review coming in a month or two.)

Their current facility opened in 2014, and it is enormous, clean, and designed for ecological efficiency.  

They can fill 600 bottles a minute here, and Woodchuck's R&D folks designed and built their own flavor extraction tank for specialty infusions like mint and chocolate.  As with other cideries, Woodchuck also barrel-ages a number of their ciders (like their Private Reserve Cherry).  

We picked up a growler of their 25th Anniversary Cider (like I said, I enjoy the classics), and then finally started the long drive home to Ithaca.  But there was one surprise stop waiting for us.

Glancing at the map, I realized that the Slyboro Ciderhouse was right on the way home, and so I called Dan from the road and set up a quick visit. He was amazingly kind to just let me drop in. Thanks, Dan!

Based in Granville, NY, Slyboro is part of the Hicks family farm and orchard, which has been operating as a public U-pick farm since 1905.  Nineteen-Oh-Five!  You can still visit the whole, beautiful complex, where they've been adding two acres per year of English and French varietals of bittersweet and bittersharp apples.

Dan's family came here in 1974, and the Slyboro cider brand was launched in 2005, which in the cider world makes them veterans.  Dan has made a number of ciders over the years (check out my reviews of his older varieties linked to the right), but these days he's settled on five in-house favorites, which total 12,000 gallons per year, mostly available in New York state.  

The Kingston Black is one of the best single-varietals and one of the best still ciders I've had, period.  Its notes are almost steak-like.  The Hidden Star is their flagship dry blend, with hints of malt.  La Sainte-Terre is a surprising and bold cider mixing complex bitterness with a 1/6 dose of sweet, rich ice cider.  Their Black Currant is a top-seller, and its fruit-forward notes make it easy to see why.  And their Ice Cider has compelling favors of peach and a good mouthfeel that finishes cleaner than many ice ciders.  I'll definitely go deeper in reviews later!

During a tour through the production room, Dan revealed that he and his team learned cidermaking by first creating single-varietal ciders of every apple they grew.  That way, the flavors were more easily understood.  "We learned quickly it was a blending art, needing one note of this and two of that to develop something that will stand on its own."  Knowing that Dan's background is in fine painting, it's easy to imagine how blending flavors might work like mixing colors. 

And from there, the long but lovely drive home.

So after all these exciting travels, tasty ciders, and thoughtful, kind people, two things occur to me.  First, the cider world is pretty small.  Folks know each other, and help each other out.  They offer apples, pressing, juice, bottling, internships, budwood, and advice to each other, and it really reinforces what I love about the larger cider family.  Second, everyone's experience is just a little different, depending on what they're doing and how.  An orchardist and an apple-dreaming mystic both approach business differently from one another, and an entrepreneur blends apple juices differently than a chemist.  I feel so lucky that these perspectives come together in creating so many different ciders, and to be afforded these visits and windows into these people's lives.  Thanks again to everyone for letting me visit!

In case you missed it here's Day 1: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-great-vermont-cider-tour-day-1.html

and Day 2: https://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-great-vermont-cider-tour-day-2.html

And thank you for reading!

My Fantastic Vermont Cider Tour: Day 1 (Starting with New Hampshire)

I know my trip is Vermont trip, but it starts with a significant stop in New Hampshire. After breakfast with family at the Fairlee Diner and a quick stop in Hanover, we were off to the legendary Farnum Hill at Poverty Lane Orchards, where we were greeted by the cider dogs Crosby, Marianne, and Newton—and of course, by Steve Wood and Nicole LeiBon.  Nicole took us on a pleasantly casual but deeply educational tour of Farnum Hill's complex. She's famous within the cider world as, "the nose" for her fabulous sensory abilities and her passion for blending great ciders.  

One of the ways that Farnum Hill has communicated with fans this year has been the #OrchardYear project.  Every Wednesday they post an Instagram photo of what's going on at the cidery that week.  Mid August is clearly preparation for apple harvest: dozens of bins are left to dry in the sun before they're needed, and it reminds me of just how many apples go into those lovely bottles.  

Farnum Hill harvests entirely by hand and press small batches on-site.  According to founder Steve Wood, The orchard, dating to the early 1960s, is as important to them as their cider. He says, "The two are inseparable."  

We explored two holy barrel rooms and sampled (with a pipette!) some of the perry and the semi-dry. These barrels sit stacked high to the ceiling; some are twenty years old, and neutral in flavor, "save for an occasional hint of vanilla," according to LeiBon. 

Our conversation ranged broadly but centered on the current state of the cider world until Steve gave us a tromp through his orchards.  Steve Wood has been working with these trees since he was eleven years old, "and if that doesn't blow your mind, it should."

The public face of Poverty Lane Orchards is the grove of U-pick McIntosh and Cortland apples, but behind it are the Wickson, Spitzenberg, Golden Russet, and Dabinett apples that made Farnum Hill unique.  The trees are old and widely spaced; beneath each grows tall grass that cushions the apples' fall.  I was reminded of England and its cider heritage. These trees are grown deliberately for their results and not for their aesthetics. 

I could have chewed the fat with these two all day, but it's a working farm, and I had miles to go.  Specifically, our next stop was Fable Farms in Barnard, a cooperative so new that their cider is really only found at the local farmer's market and a few high-end restaurants.  But if their gorgeous production barn (modeled after a 1745 building) and lofty ambitions are any indication, you may be hearing more about them.  

Christopher Piana looks the young rural prophet and speaks much the same: his vision of cider is foraged apples, wild fermented, and creatively combined with other local fruits, botanicals, and honeys. Fable Farms is unabashedly ecological and esoteric in their craft, which was invigorating and inspiring.  

"There are no boundaries to cider and what it could and should be," says Christopher.  Similarly cidermaker Johnny explains that in pressing 3500 gallons from apples all hand-foraged within an eight-mile radius, Fable has begun to think of terroir as more than merely the ground, but the broader context and origin story of a cider.  

We tried four bottles by Fable and were thrilled to buy and take home a few with us.  Their strengths lay in their high tannins, strong acid, and a unique combination of the better elements from both English and Basque traditions.  Expect reviews in the coming months.

We then switched things up with a brief but absurdly delicious visit to the Vermont Creamery.  Oh goodness, that butter, that cheese.  Or as our server's t-shirt declared, "Chèvre Forèvre." I'll stand by that.

Finally, we drove to the buzzing tourist destination of Stowe, where Stowe Cider has just opened their new tasting room.  There we met with Nikki, a longtime fan of the blog and the tasting room manager for the company.  Hi Nikki!

Nikki let us try all five ciders on tap, and we walked out having purchased an armload more.  Among our favorites from Stowe Cider were their Smuggler's Bourbon (a very drinkable winter cider with good notes of maple and a little tannin) and their surprising Snow's Raspberry (sweet, yes, but so much basil!).  

Stowe Cider has a really clean finish and look (thanks in part to their cross-flow filtering), and their plans to expand their reach into New Hampshire will surely excite our Granite State readers.  I got a great vibe from Nikki's energy and from the thematics that Stowe is going for, and the elegant balance they strike between local ingredients, modern methods, and accessibility.  

That's all for the cider today!  I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the completely amazing dinner we had at Plate in Stowe.  Ho. Ly. Cow.  Forward-thinking and delicious, with lots of creative vegetarian options.  Paradise on a platter.  Tomorrow, we're off to Citizen, Shacksbury, and Champlain.

Here's the link to Day 2:https://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-great-vermont-cider-tour-day-2.html

My Experience at GLINTCAP 2016: The World's Largest Cider Competition!

I hope you guys had great weekends, I know I certainly did. This was my third year trekking up to Michigan to judge in the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition. The competition has been going on for eleven (11!) years now, growing exponentially. Reading back to Old Time Cider's coverage from 2012, only 299 entries made up the entirety of the competition. (You can read the full entry here: http://www.oldtimecider.com/oldtimeciderblog/2012/4/4/great-lakes-international-cider-perry-competition-glintcap-2.html). Its mind boggling how much this has taken off!

This year we crossed a major threshold; more than 1,000 ciders and perries were submitted and judged. Also, it was my first year as a featured judge, whoa. I cannot say that wasn't a complete honor.

You can see the web presence of GLINTCAP here: http://glintcap.org/ Right now, you can see the Best in Class winners front and center. All of these ciders are exceptional and not to be missed should you have the chance to try them!

As this was my third trip, I've written about my wonderful experiences at GLINTCAP before:

Just before my first GLINTCAP, I started my apple branch tattoo: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2014/03/driving-out-for-glintcap-judgingand.html

Here's my write up of attending GLINTCAP in 2014: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2014/04/finally-my-fabulous-time-at-glintcap.html

This review from 2015 also includes the GLINTCAP results: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/04/cider-review-magners-irish-cider-plus.html

And now for GLINTCAP 2016!

One of the major draws of GLINTCAP for volunteers is getting to take a tasting seminar by Gary Audey (an amzing Indiana cider maker) and  Charles McGonegal (cidermaker of his own Wisconsin cider company Aeppeltreow). The seminar covers styles, common fermentation flaws, as well as a careful breakdown of the aroma, mouthfeel, and flavor elements of tasting cider.

Its a wonderful workshop that McGonegal describes accurately when he calls it a "Sampling of the cider experience." But, lest ye think it all fun and games, some of the flaws are unpleasant and the whole seminar takes about 5 hours. I wrote up an earlier version given at Cider Con 2015 (http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/03/cidercon-2015-sensory-analysis-training.html)

This year, the modifications to the workshop focused on volatile acidity, acetic acid, and the nearness in style of some French and English ciders. As always, it is a great tune up of the palate and taking of the pulse of the cider world. Then we were all supposed to go to bed, but most folks went out in search of food instead. I sought sustenance in the fine company of fellow cider writers(http://drinkingcider.com/) and award-winning home cidermakers (who make super weird things sometimes) and found awesome macaroni and cheese with roasted red peppers. 

Saturday started early with an oatmeal breakfast at 8am. Not glamorous but necessary ballast for the cider tasting to come. Everyone was encouraged to spit rather than drink their samples (and most of us complied) but even so, tasting three flights of 10-12 samples is a long slog of a day.

I got got serve as table lead for three very different commercial categories: New World Heritage, Fruit Cider, and Barrel Aged Cider and Perry. I am not going to say much more specific than that, as I feel discretion is a valuable thing in a judge. But, the range went from the sublime to the ridiculous. Our tables kept focus and gave honest feedback, including our email addresses in case any cider makers want to contact us for follow ups. There's a tremendous sense of responsibility in the competition. I respect and appreciate the sense of accountability instilled by the GLINTCAP organizers. 

The illustrious Eric West (of Cider Guide: http://www.ciderguide.com/) organizes the competition with incredible care and devotion.  Long-standing pillar of the cider community Mike Beck (of Uncle John's Cider Mill http://ujhardcider.com/) also shares generously of his time, knowledge, cider, and hospitality to make GLINTCAP happen). There are so many more who work tirelessly to bring together this many people and ciders together with a minimum of mayhem. My warmest thanks to all of them!

What a great event. Stay tuned for when the full results will be announced in the coming weeks.

Then we finished up with a pizza party sponsored by the Michigan Cider Association.  https://mca30.wildapricot.org/ There, I was encouraged to plant apple trees, get a dog, make my own cider, and otherwise make life more awesome. And we talked about our favorite cider events around the country and who we missed seeing this year (Rex Halfpenny! Dick Dunn!), and why cider folks just love plaid so darn much. Plus there was cider, pizza, and cornhole. 

At this point, I'd be hard pressed to say what my favorite part of GLINTCAP is. I love learning more about cider through the seminar, tasting seriously with other folks keen to articulate what they experience in a cider, or getting to see the the friends I've gained through my time in the cider world. All of these are invaluable! 

Cider Con 2016: My Personal Highlights

Usually in winter, I travel with my husband to Florida to see friends and thaw out a little from the upstate NY temperatures. But at last year's Cider Con in Chicago, we learned that this most amazing of cider gatherings would be happening in February in Portland, Oregon. I knew I had a different sort of escape from winter.

Though the sign seems more Vegas, this is a lovely welcome to Portland

Not only did I get to attend Cider Con, I got to present! This was a huge honor for me because I have so much appreciation and respect for the cider community (and the beverages produced thereby). Eric West (of Cider Guide http://www.ciderguide.com)

Tuesday

While many folks were out touring orchards and ciders, I didn't arrive in time for their early departures. Still, I had an excellent time walking around Washington Park (http://explorewashingtonpark.org/) which is home to the International Rose Test Garden, Portland Japanese Garden, and my favorite: Hoyt Arboretum. Just seeing so much green in February is good for my soul. 

You cannot know how much I bemoaned baggage check fees when I saw this

But I had plenty of time to check out the cider selections at a grocery store or two and still make the 2 Towns Ciderhouse(http://www.2townsciderhouse.com) Tap Takeover at Cider Bite (http://ciderbite.com/). It was a casual gathering, but I saw so many unfamiliar ciders. Tasting in a different region than your own is an exciting experience. Plus, I ran into a few cider luminaries which never hurts an evening, particularly when they are as charming as Tom Oliver (https://oliversciderandperry.co.uk/) or as welcoming as Dave Takush (of 2 Towns).

And we were glad to be there!

Wednesday

The start of my official day wasn't until the United States Association of Cider Makers (USACM) business meeting. While I am not a voting member of the USACM, I alway relish the chance to meet with members and learn about what the organization has been up to. In 2015, the big headline was the CIDER Act.

I volunteered at Bill Bradshaw's session on UK Cider. Bill is an amazing archivist and photographer of ciders and cider cultures both in the UK and all over. If you're a cider lover you simply must get your hands on his book, World’s Best Ciders: Taste, Tradition, and Terroir. You can see some of Bill's photo and read about this IAMCIDER project here: http://billbradshaw.co.uk/photography/iamcider

The Crowd for Bill Bradshaw

This led smoothly into the Cider Con Reception with tacos, pizza, tapas, and countless ciders all served in the in the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. What a setting and what a party! They completely turned us loose in a museum while letting everyone taste ciders from all over the world. I have almost no photos because I was simply too enthralled by this night. I'm sorry. Kind of.

Thursday

We stated the day with one of my favorite activities from last year's cider con, the Clicker Survey. What I love about this is we were all asked pretty basic questions about who we are, what we do, where cider makers get fruit or juice, who is planting orchards, who is getting fruit from their orchards, and whether or not we want to support academic research or apples or cider. 

I got a similar takeaway as I did last year too. If you are growing apples, don't start a cider business on your own; partner with a fermenter. If you love to make cider but have no apples, don't just go on the market; find a grower or three and work with them for the long run. I think a lot of business strength can be gained by folks working together on all steps from sapling to glass.

Next came the General Session, or as I like to think of it: "The Big Talk with Grocery Store Cider Purchase Data." I don't find that data nearly as complete or representative of my cider life or even my cider region as some, but its heartening to see cider growth in every region of the nation.

Ian Merwin and Greg Peck: Two Fabulous Academic Advocates for Cider

But my day was not so secretly about my session with Eric West: "Engaging Your Core Audience Through Writing." We had a packed room and an appreciative audience who asked great questions. Our topic ranged from online brand presentation to working with mailing list applications and many places between. It all came down to communicating effectively online and why using the writing and internet is so potentially helpful for cider companies. 

Giving the talk was a great experience, and it started many conversations for the rest of the conference. Consider me completely grateful. 

That evening we had the first meeting of Pomme Boots (https://www.facebook.com/pommeboots) a new professional organization for women who work in the cider industry in one role or another. Meeting everyone was inspiring; there are so many awesome women making, selling, and promoting cider. 

Friday

With the talk over, I could focus more completely on the session I attended as an audience member. And I got to spend a lot more time just relaxing and meeting awesome folks  One stood out for me on Friday. The first was "Finding Your Brand Strategy - West Coast Perspective" by Alan Shapiro. What he brought was not only a west coast perspective for understanding how folks understand and buy cider, but also the historical context of his decades distributing wines and beers. As soon as links go up to his presentation, I'm sharing them!

At lunch, Congressman Earl Blumenauer spoke with us about the CIDER Act, and he was the warmest and funniest politician I've ever seen speak. He earned two standing 

We ended Cider Con with the Grand English Cider Tasting, easily the most socially invigorating part of Cider Con for me. The photo below shows the ciders that were shared at each table in the ballroom. We tasted through together with the guidance of Tom Oliver, Neil Worley, and Bill Bradshaw. They brought insight and crackling personality such that folks were nearly falling out their chairs laughing (and it wans't just the cider).

These UK Cider made my evening, and shocked several palates

Saturday

Perhaps the most exciting part of the trip for me happened after Cider Con. The USACM is developing a Cider Certification Program along with interim program director, Eric West. I signed up eagerly to be part of the inaugural class for Level One.

Eric West talking about cider styles

We had a slew of experts presenting material about apple growing, cider making, cider tasting, and other topics on Cider Certification Program Level 1. This inaugural class also got to learn about storing, serving and pairing cider: all topics close to my heart. The day was long but fascinating. I look forward to the progress of this program and hopefully participating in all coming levels.

Our messy table of learning

It was a long trip and a fabulous one! The education, the ciders, and most of all the people made it a delight each and every day. We grew the event by more than 450 attendees (by my unofficial observations) this past year, and I think its going to continue to grow and improve. If you care about cider and want a educational, enriching trip in February consider joining us next year!

Read more about Cider Con returning to Chicago in 2017 here: https://ciderconference.com

Less than a month till CiderCON 2015!

I woke up on a recent morning to a most amazing email. My request to cover CiderCON for this blog and to photograph the event was accepted! Best news of 2015! I cannot even imagine better news yet.

So, what is ciderCON you might ask? It is the professional gathering of cider folks in the United States and this year it is happening in Chicago from February 3rd-6th, 2015. This event comes to us through the hard work of the United States Association of Cider Makers (USACM). Read about the organization, its programs, goals, and achievements on the website: http://www.ciderassociation.org/

The USACM describes CiderCON by saying, "CiderCON was created to offer the commercial cider industry an outlet to meet, share ideas, collaborate and effect positive changes in cidermaking and cider fruit production best practices, the cider market and cider regulations.  CiderCON is organized by the United States Association of Cider Makers."

Obviously this is important and interesting stuff. There look to be fantastic panels on orchard processes, cider making, business issues, marketing, pairing, and who knows what else. We'll be tasting and talking and analyzing cider for four straight days! Mind you, it is in Chicago, in February. Whoa, cold and windy. But, I'll take the dubious with the fabulous.

You can follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cidercon
 If you cannot come to this gathering but want to keep up with our shenanigans from afar, keep your eyes peeled for a twitter hashtag related to CiderCON. I know several folks will be doing their best to livetweet the whole experience.

Immediately following the conference, Chicago will be hit by the largest cider tasting event in America: Cider Summit Chicago. This event for the public brings together more than 150 different ciders from around the world. Obviously, this amazes me to my very toes. I so wish I could be there, but I must be back home serving cider myself by that day. You guys still in Chicago, go for me! tell me all about it. Take notes! Take pics. Make me super jealous. It won't be hard. The details: This happens on Saturday, February 7, 2015. You can taste deliciousness either from 11am-3pm or from 4pm-8pm in the Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier.

The rest of the details can be found here: http://www.cidersummitnw.com/chicagoeventinfo.html
(You can even see who some of the folks pouring cider will be! I can see 8 favorite producers already!)

My excitement goes beyond all bounds. You see, I am a huge nerd, and nerds love cons. So this, a con about cider, is basically the best thing ever. I always enjoy getting together with fellow cider freaks, but doing that with this much serious learning. Be still my heart.

I'll try to post a few more real reviews before then, but, basically, I'll just spend a little while jumping up and down in pure joy.

Finally! My fabulous time at GLINTCAP.

Now, as spring is just barely starting to visit orchards in the Finger Lakes area, I want to take a post and share my big cider adventure of this past winter. Yes, I'm considering late March winter. 2014 knew how to keep things cold.

I got invited to volunteer at the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry (GLINTCAP) competition by Eric West. He is writing a book The New American Cider Guide (check out the blog and book project here: http://www.ciderguide.com/ ). Eric does all kinds of really good work within the cider community.

When I first started checking GLINTCAP out as a potential volunteer, I learned plenty. It is one of the major projects of the Great Lakes Cider and Perry Association (GLCPA) and one of the largest international cider-based competitions in the world. The weekend would involve an all day cider training and the chance to meet and talk with cider experiences from all over the place, including some of my long-term cider heroes. The competition is open to both professionals and home cidermakers and includes cider, perry, mead, ice ciders, and other fermented apple beverages, some defying any possible categorization. Their website has tons of useful information: http://www.greatlakescider.com

The last element that really intrigued me was that GLINTCAP is a Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) competition. The BJCP is an extensive network of certifications and competitions designed to help educate folks about beer and related beverages. This is a huge program with a lot of participation worldwide (http://www.bjcp.org/index.php) Cider guidelines exist within the BJCP, and these events are a major point of dialogue for beer folks, cider folks, and equal opportunity quaffers.

It did not take very long for me to decide that I really wanted to make this happen. Either stewarding or judging would be an invaluable experience, so I got time off from both of my jobs for a whirlwind trip to St. Johns, Michigan.

The drive was beautiful. Still winter, but beautiful.

Saturday, we all experienced the good, bad, and ugly through an unbelievably thorough Judges Training Seminar, whether newcomers to the competition or cider experts of long-standing experience. For me, this was my primary motivation to make the trip. I want to learn more about cider all of the time, so I jumped the chance to learn in detail about both common cidermaking flaws and different distinctive cider styles. Amazing!

For this event, I sat with some really fabulously interesting people, including Old Timey Dave (but we were too interesting and ended up getting shushed once, oops!). The big takeaway from this, besides all of the actual flaws and styles we worked on identifying, for me was that experienced cider palates vary just as much anyone else's. I can taste some flaws really easily (mousiness!) but others almost not at all (popcorn) and my tablemates had different strengths and blind spots in their own tasting. We also preferred different styles and characteristics. This really reminded me that when I taste, I may be able to describe and taste carefully, but I can only truly evaluate any given cider for myself. Everyone tastes things and enjoys things so differently. That's a good reminder to get regularly.

By the end of the day our palates were all blown and we were exhausted from sitting and tasting and thinking and tasting some more. It really is work.

For this event, I sat with some really fabulously interesting people, including Old Timey Dave (but we were too interesting and ended up getting shushed once, oops!). The big takeaway from this, besides all of the actual flaws and styles we worked on identifying, for me was that experienced cider palates vary just as much anyone else's. I can taste some flaws really easily (mousiness!) but others almost not at all (popcorn) and my tablemates had different strengths and blind spots in their own tasting. We also preferred different styles and characteristics. This really reminded me that when I taste, I may be able to describe and taste carefully, but I can only truly evaluate any given cider for myself. Everyone tastes things and enjoys things so differently. That's a good reminder to get regularly.

By the end of the day our palates were all blown and we were exhausted from sitting and tasting and thinking and tasting some more. It really is work.

Sunday morning came early, but I could not have been happier about my judging category and partner. I got the privilege of judging with Dick Dunn whose expertise and generosity has helped the cider community for a long time. Not only that, but we were assigned to Commercial New World Cider. Most of our ciders were petillant (meaning sparkling but not champagne level or style of sparkle) and dry. The whole process went smoothly and seriously, just as I'd hoped. Dick was as gracious a fellow judge as one could wish for. Our ciders ranged from the troubled to the positively delightful.

After that first session, we broke for a nice mild lunch. Ordinarily I do not associate mild food with such enjoyment, but we all needed to rest our palates more than stimulate them.

For the second session, I got paired with a professional cider maker to judge a non-commercial division. We had tons of fun because we got the "others"; those ciders that do not fit into traditional categories like fruit wines, oak aged, English, French, or New World style. And we did get a few crazily creative ones. I believe one of them reminded me of what a moon-shining grandpa would drink secreted in his aftershave bottle. A little weird.

Sadly, I did not get to stay long enough to enjoy our celebratory dinner and devouring of all of the cider remainders. That would have been amazing, but my long drive pulled me away far too soon.

All in all, it was an amazing weekend. I own thanks to many people for making it the event possible and for making it such fun! Thanks very much to Mike Beck, Rex Halfpenny, Eric West, Dick Dunn, David White, and Charles McGonegal. I'm sure I owe thanks to plenty more folks too.



For those interesting in the results of all of our tasting and judging:

http://www.greatlakescider.com/glintresults2014.html
http://www.greatlakescider.com/glintanalysis2014.pdf

My 10 Favorite Ciders of 2013

 2013 has been a huge year for me. I mean it. Huge! And Along Came A Cider has been a big and wonderful part of that, making 2013 my best cider year ever. Meeting cider makers. Going to Cider Days. Actually having cider makers want my feedback! Most of all, I'm just learning so much about cider from this wonderful friendly community. I'm so thrilled and grateful. So, thank you.

That said, I hope it will be a fun thing just to informally share my top ten ciders of the year. The caveat is that I'm not listing more than one cider from any company, and I'm not limiting myself to ciders that have full reviews on the blog. Sorry, but it is really hard to get good photos and complete notes each and every time I sit down (or stand up) with a new cider. Some of these that don't have full reviews now will get them in the coming months. Let's hope anyway.

Anyhow, this is in no way definitive or complete, just a way for me to revisit my year in cider exploration and highlight a few of the very special ciders that really impressed me. Ordering these was really really difficult and completely subjective. Actually, remind me not to do this next year...

Along Came A Cider's Ten Favorite Ciders of 2013

1. Anthem Hopped

Purists are going to hate this choice; I just know it. Oh well. I really enjoy hopped ciders. Their aromas and complexities just bowl me over again and again. And Anthem (whose parent cidermaker is Wandering Aengus) makes the best of the lot. I definitely wish I had a way to get this in Ithaca. You can read the full review here: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/01/cider-review-anthem-with-hops-plus.html

2. Bellwether King Baldwin

I know. I know! I work for Bellwether, so I must be biased. Eh. Probably. But I love our ciders and I think they are truly top notch. Not reviewing them here and shouting their praises from my tiny blog's rooftops is sometimes crazy hard. This cider is just lovely. It has two antique American apple varieties: the Tompkins King and the Baldwin. Pairs really well with all kinds of food. I love its balance of fruit and crispness. When I got to go to a bonfire party back in the fall and recline outdoors with a warm fire and a cold cider, I went to the King Baldwin, and it was perfect. Since I don't have a review, you can read about it in this Edible Finger Lakes review: http://www.ediblefingerlakes.com/wine-of-the-week-bellwether-hard-ciders-king-baldwin

3. West County Reine De Pomme

I absolutely adored this cider and the elegant and educational way in which is is presented both in the bottle and on West County's website. Try this one in a gorgeous big glass because the color is something special to behold. Gotta love the minerality in this one. My review says far more about the experience:  http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/03/cider-review-west-county-cider-reine-de.html

4. Oliver's Gold Rush

Though I don't have a full entry dedicated to just this cider, I give some pretty thorough notes in this writeup of my first visit to The Queen's Kickshaw. http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/06/trying-virtue-and-olivers-ciders-at.html This cider is for fans of highly tannic very British ciders, and since that is exactly what I love, I was pleased beyond words with this cider.

5. Thatcher's Green Goblin

This is the cider that reminded me of how much I like oaked ciders. I also really enjoyed getting to share this with my mom and really show her a cider with enough complexity to really impress. There are many, so I'm just getting started sharing some good ones. My review says more: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/11/cider-review-thatchers-green-goblin.html

 6. Farnum Hill Kingston Black

I really owe this cider a full review of its own. I love so many of Farnum Hill's ciders, and this one particularly stood out to me when I tried it as part of a cheese and cider pairing workshop back in New York City. Here's my entry all about that whole evening: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/06/pairing-ciders-and-cheeses-inspiring.html Hopefully, I can track down a bottle of this so I can focus on it properly soon.

7. Julian Black and Blue

This was a surprise love for me, and one I'd really like to taste again. I am not always super into fruit additions to cider, but I loved the deep bittersweetness of this. Deliriously good. I keep coming back to Julian Cider with very good impressions. http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/09/cider-review-julian-hard-ciders-black.html

8. Distillery Lane Ciderworks Traditional Dry Sparkling Cider

This is one of the most traditional ciders on my list and Distillery Lane does it so well. I loved their Dry Sparkling Cider. It was the first cider I got to enjoy in my Ithaca apartment very very shortly after moving in, so the good memory also helps it to stand out in my mind. http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/08/cider-review-distillery-lane-ciderworks.html

9. Albemarle Pomme Mary

Despite my usual preference for dry ciders, Albemarle won me over with their entire line and most especially with their Pomme Mary. It is a beautifully balanced and truly lovely sweet cider. I reviewed this one on vacation in the Outer Banks which was also just a wonderful experience. Vacations are the best time to catch up on reviewing. http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/09/cider-review-albemarle-ciderworks-pomme.html

10. Arsenal Cider Fightin' Elleck

I have so much affection and respect for Arsenal Cider. Mind you, they are bringing cider to Pittsburgh, and for that alone they deserve some major credit. But not only that, they are making some really neat creative ciders that taste fantastic. I have reviewed a couple of theirs, but the Fighting Elleck made such a good impression, I have to include it here: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/03/cider-review-arsenal-cider-fightin.html

Thanks again everyone. Thanks especially to photographer friends who lend a hand, friends and family who cider hunt for me 24/7, cider sellers (The Cellar D'Or!), cider makers, my fellow Bellwether crew, cider lovers nearby and faraway, all the cider ambassadors on Twitter, and everyone who has ever stopped by Along Came A Cider. You guys have all been a tremendous highlight to my 2013. Thank you.