Cider tastingThis is no secret for anyone who knows me: I love cider. Back in France, the delicious cider made in Normandy and Brittany is rarely drunk outside pancake restaurants so when I moved to Bristol, I was amazed to see that you can order cider on tap. Hallelujah, I thought. The quality and the variety that you find in Bristol and the South-West is a god-send and when I spotted on Twitter a cider tasting at the Bristol Cider Shop, I thought there's the occasion to find out more about one of my favourite beverages, and a perfectly valid excuse for a drink on a school night. Well that's how I presented it to Dan anyway... I arrived after a couple from Doncaster who were on their first visit to Bristol. What a great way to discover the city! We soon were joined by another 12 cider aficionados and the tasting, led by the friendly Pete (who before opening the shop four years ago used to have a "real job") began. Pete and co-owner Nick have two rules when it comes to ciders sold in their shop. It has to be local and originate from a maximum 50 miles away and produced using only juice (no concentrate). During the tasting I learnt all sorts of facts! Did you know that cider is only made of apples, water and yeast left to ferment in an air-tight container? Easy as pie! But one fact that I'm sure you won't be aware of: there are over 80 different types of cider apples, so with such a variety, the collection of ciders you can get is unbelievable. All the ciders we tasted were stronger than 5% so we all welcomed the delicious farm cheddar and fresh bread to help us keep a "clear" mind. The atmosphere was brilliant, and although I didn't know any of the participants, everybody was in a great mood (even before any cider touched our lips!) and it felt like we were all having drinks at a mutual friend's house. Just like during a wine tasting, after observing its colours and analysing its smells, Pete showed us how to get some air in our mouths to bring out all the flavours of the cider. Here is a list of the different ciders we tried. And no; it wasn't a pint each time. If it had been, I would've struggled to type these words...
1/ Pilton (5.5%) Naturally-sparkling (keeved) cider
2/ Burrow Hill Farmhouse (6%) Traditional Somerset 'Scrumpy'
3/ Burrow Hill Bottle-Fermented Kingston Black (8%) Naturally-sparkling (Champagne method) cider
4/ Oliver's Vintage (7.4%) Vintage Herefordshire cider
5/ Dunkertons Brown's (7.5%) Sparkling single-varietal cider made from the Browns apple
6/ Hecks Kingston Black (6.5%) Still single-varietal cider made from the Kingston Black apple
7/ Oliver's At the Hop (6%) Cider infused with Cascade hops
8/ Sheppy's Honey Cider (5.4%) Cider with honey
9/ Barnes & Adams Baynham Court (5%) Sparkling Gloucestershire perry
10/ Somerset Royal (42%) 3 year old Somerset Cider Brandy
11/ Somerset Pomona (20%) Apple Aperitif
My favourites were the Pilton (1), Oliver's Vintage (4) which if I remember well is left to age in an oak barrel for a year (any longer than that and it would taste like vinegar!), the perry (9) which tasted like a flambeed pear pie, and my all time favourite, the Somerset Brandy (10), which felt like velvet. Hard to imagine it's 42%! All the ciders were interesting but I think the prize for the most bizarre goes to At The Hop (7), which tasted like an exotic beer. Wether you are a cider connoisseur or just like the occasional pint, I would recommend you pop by Nick and Pete's shop to see all the wonders they have in store or even sign-up to their next tasting. I promise you'll be in for a treat! Cheers!
Nina
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