Fruits and Orchards
It’s so easy to enjoy cider and perry it can be easy to forget just how much hard work and magic go into our favourite drinks. With a little knowledge and armed with some fascinating new facts you can start to hone your appreciation of cider and perry to the next level.
In the first installment of his series on how cider is made Gabe Cook takes us on a short tour of cider producing regions. Gabe profiles the fruit grown there and guides us through the features and characteristics that cider apples and perry pears lend to the drinks we so enjoy.
Cider, just like orchards and the apple varieties that they contain, is an incredibly considered process.
At every step, a cider maker will make decisions that will determine what type of cider they will create and the very first decision is what kind of apple will they use. For we must not forget that cider is made, just like wine is made.
There is no brewing associated with cider, where heat and water are the primary constituents and agents. Therefore, just like with wine making, the primary factor that determines the overarching profile of any cider is which variety (or varieties) will be used, and their inherent flavours, properties and characteristics.
The choice of which apples to use is often determined by a regional culture and heritage, by climatic conditions or (as is so often in life) simply what is easily available to utilise.
All apples have the same primary constituents and it is the relative proportions of these constituents that determines the broad classification of the apple and what kind of cider it will produce. These primary constituents are:
– Acid
– Tannin
Don’t be concerned that ‘acid’ sounds dangerous or unapproachable, it simply means ‘sharp’. It is the natural malic acid in apples that gives zingy, crisp characters, experienced when biting into a Granny Smith apple, for example, and these characters will be transferred into the ciders, too. It is acidity that helps to enhance freshness and fruitiness and is the bit the slakes one’s thirst on a hot summer’s day.
Tannin, on the other hand, provides characters at the other end of the spectrum. Here we are talking about earthiness, bitterness and astringency — a mouth drying sensation. Very often, ciders made from tannin apples, but also contain a lot of sugar, so they are referred to as being ‘dry’ due to the high levels of astringency negating the impact of the sugar. Tannins often coat the inside of the mouth, giving a feeling of texture or mouthfeel, sometimes referred to ‘chewiness’.
Consideration should also be given to the sugar content within an apple, as this will determine the amount of alcohol the resultant cider will contain. Why? Well, it’s simple. As you will see in Part 2 of this series, the fermentation process involves the conversion of these natural sugars contained within the apples, into alcohol by the action of yeast. In most circumstances, yeast will convert all of the natural sugar in the apples into alcohol. Therefore, the more sugar in the apple, the higher potential alcohol level – simple!
Gabe Cook
Gabe Cook
Gabe Cook
Gabe Cook
Gabe Cook
Gabe Cook
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