A Quart of Ale± #116. On the craft journey but off piste with two Ciders, Ginger Beer and a Belgian Framboise

 A Quart of Ale± #116

On the craft journey but off piste with two Ciders, Ginger Beer and a Belgian Framboise

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Cockagee Irish Keeved Cider 5%, 375ml bottle Le Caveau via Neighbourfood 

In 2016, I wrote that this was “one of the best ciders I have ever tasted”. Glad to report, after a recent tasting, there’s been no change in that opinion of the Cockagee Irish Keeved Cider…

Made in County Meath by Mark Jenkinson, it has a rich amber\gold colour, micro-bubbles constantly rising in the glass. The aromas are impressive too, redolent of the orchard. And on the palate there is a very pleasing concentration of real flavour, layers of the most beautiful flavours, a gentle and complete experience, and then a lovely dry finish as well. This is in a class of its own.

Mark makes it in small batches in his Cider Press in the heart of the Boyne Valley from 100% fresh pressed Irish apples. Each 1000 litre batch is unique and may vary slightly. Serve chilled in a stemmed glass.

Keeving is not the easiest to explain as “it is more intuitive than an exact science”. But Mark gives a good run-down here. Crucially, it preserves the “lovely apple aromas and the rich flavours of the fruit and results in a robust yet smooth cider, complex and full-bodied with a bittersweet twist and a long dry finish.” 

Briefly, Keeving means it is not filtered, not pasteurised, and not sweetened. The fruit sugars are naturally retained as are the intense apple flavours and aromas from the original must. 

Hope that doesn’t sound too complicated. To put it simply, the result is a terrific drink with an ABV of 5% and is very highly recommended.

At one of the Ballymaloe Lit-Fests a few years back, highly respected Food and Drink writer Pete Brown said you can only shake your head with wonder that a process from the 14th or 15th century can still produce a “beautiful natural cider. In a blind tasting, I would class this as Breton and it would be a perfect match with crepes”.

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Armagh Craft Dry Cider 4.5%, 500ml bottle Aldi (Mayfield)

Just poured my golden Armagh cider from Aldi and am watching the many bubbles playfully make their way to the top. Orchard smells abound as you sniff and you notice a certain tartiness there too. It is certainly dry on the palate but there’s no shortage of flavours nor of refreshment. 

This refreshing Armagh dry cider is exclusive to Aldi, is vegan and vegetarian friendly, and the label recommends you serve it chilled. They also make a sweet and medium in this series.

For five generations, the Armagh Cider Company have been growing apples on the Troughton family farm in the orchard county of Armagh. “Our apples are carefully hand-picked and matured before they are pressed and fermented in only the smallest of batches. Our apples don’t leave the farm until they are bottled to complete perfection and we take great pride in bringing delicious authentic cider from blossom to bottle to you!”

They farm in Ballinteggart where the ‘From Blossom to Bottle’ culture has been nurtured for five generations. And to where quite a few awards have made their way.

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Black Castle Fiery Ginger Beer, 330ml bottle, The Granary Midleton.

It has a murky ginger colour, aromas of ginger too. Spicy enough to take your breath away as it gently burns the mouth. But no harm done at all, just a lively and refreshingly spicy drink that is not too sweet. If you are on BBQ duty, have one of these Irish craft sodas at hand!

In general, fiery ginger beer uses fresh ginger for a kick and cinnamon for added sweetness and spice. And it looks as if Dublin based Black Castle have hit on the correct formula with this spicy wake-up call for your taste buds! Note: if you don’t like ginger, you will not like this!

Black Castle: “Our Ginger Beer is packed full of flavour and just the right amount of heat! Made with rich Muscovado sugar, Ginger Root Extract and infused with a blend of warm Cinnamon and Cardamom spices. Lightly carbonated making it the perfect alternative to alcohol on a night out!”

It is “Hand-made in Co. Wicklow, is Non-Alcoholic and Allergen Free Best served over ice with a wedge of lime! Add it to cocktails such as a Moscow Mule or a Dark n Stormy.”

Their other soda is Berry Bramble Sting. We had that in County Clare previously and you can read about it here .

• It is touted as an adult drink and indeed it may be best to keep it away from the kids (and from adults who dislike ginger). It is certainly on the fiery side.

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Lindeman’s Framboise Lambic Beer 2.5%, Dede at The Custom House Baltimore

Pours a raspberry red, with a pink foamy head, and smells like the fruit. Also tastes like raspberry, probably more on the swallow than on the palate. 

Superb as an aperitif as is often recommended. I didn’t have any raspberries but a handful of early loganberries were at hand and the pairing was fine. The brewers recommended pairing with endive salad. 

I picked this beer up at the deli in the Michelin starred Baltimore restaurant Dede at The Custom House where I’d seen it used as part of the wine pairing for the Tasting Menu where it was paired with the various desserts. Think I may get a few more in Bradley's for the garden for the sunny (oh ye of little faith!) weeks ahead.

Must admit I had been expecting something on the sweet side, after all it is flavoured with raspberry concentrate (20%), sugar and natural sweeteners. But I was more than pleasantly surprised to find it is quite tart.

A Quart of Ale± #60. On the craft journey. A session of Cider with Cockagee, Viking and Bordelet.

A Quart of Ale± #60

On the craft journey with a session of Cider

Cockagee Cider Piorraí Irish Sparkling Perry 6.00%, 375ml bottle, Pop-Up Wine Shop at The Grainstore

Perhaps the most striking aspect on seeing this Irish sparkling Perry as it is poured into the glass is the myriad of bubbles streaming upwards through the light gold colour.  The aromas are certainly reticent, a barely detectable floral note. The palate is rather special though, a classic dry Perry, refreshing and crisp, and packed with flavour but not over-packed. Just spot-on as it the case with all of Mark Jenkinson’s ciders that I’ve tasted over the past few years. If you see Cockagee or The Cider Mill or Jenkinson on the label, don’t hesitate to use that credit card.

While there was a gap of a few days between tasting this and the Bordelet Poiré, I’m inclined to give the nod to County Meath. But I’d have no problem with a rematch.

The Piorraí is made from hand-picked Irish grown French Perry pear varieties ‘Plant de blanc’ and ‘Poire de cloche’. These varieties are among the most highly sought after in Brittany and Normandy for making Fine Perry, or Poiré, as it is known in France. 

These apples, like many cider apples, are far from the prettiest and you wouldn’t want to eat them but ciderists like Mark patiently work their magic and turn the ugly pears into elegant perries that stand out in the crowd. 

Enjoy chilled on its own or with strong cheeses, charcuterie, white meats and shellfish dishes.

They say: Cockagee – Our somewhat unusual name is a revival of the once famous Irish Cider Cockagee first mentioned in 1664. Originating from the Irish language ‘Cac a gheidh’ which translates as ‘goose turds’ and refers to the yellow/green colour of the fruit from the Cockagee apple tree. In the same way that ‘Duck Egg Blue’ is a colour descriptive, ‘Goose Turd Green’ was once a common colour, although I doubt you’d find it on a Farrow & Ball paint swatch nowadays. 

Distributors Le Caveau: “Mark is growing 120+ varieties of apple across his 12 acre orchard located near the town of Slane. Apples are grown without the use of chemicals and are hand-picked.”

Viking Hop It Craft Cider 5.5%, 500ml bottle, Pop-Up Wine Shop at The Grainstore.

Hop It is aptly named as Viking use a trio of hops - Cascade, Amarillo and Citra - in this cider. They may not be the first to do so; I think Stonewell (who’ve been using El Dorado in the superb Tawny cider that they started producing in 2014) may have that honour.

Viking say: Hop It is a blend of Katy (dessert apple) and Vicky (new bittersweet early cider apple) apples. The blend needs the fruitiness of Katy and the bitterness of Vicky to create harmony with Cascade, Amarillo, and Citra hops, thus lending tropical flavours to this cider. Suitable for Coeliac and Vegan Friendly. Hop It is ideal for people who like the taste of Hop beer but cannot tolerate gluten.

Hugely respected cider-maker, Davy Uprichard of Tempted, has a very different view of Katy. On an internet forum early this year, organised by BeoirFest, his thoughts were clear: “ Katy is an abomination - I don’t use it all”. Different strokes for different folks!

Colour is quite a light gold and there’s no shortage of bubbles in the slightly hazy glass. The first impression is of tartness, crab apple style. It boasts a good dry finish as well. But is terrifically refreshing and I can see it doing very well indeed with the recommended pairings of BBQ food, smoked fish, Asian delights, pizza, Irish farmhouse cheeses - the list goes on and on. “Hop It must be a foodie’s dream! Apart from enjoying with food, pour Hop It cider slowly into a tall glass and savour the delights of a craft cider with the treat of a hop taste. Enjoy.” 

While the hops play a role in the balance, you’ll also notice, though not very obviously, traces in the flavours and, a little more prominently, in the aromas.

Established by entrepreneur David Dennison in Waterford, Viking Irish Drinks is sold online and in a wide range of independent off-licences and supermarkets, bars, and restaurants. Since May 2021, Viking Irish Drinks is part of SuperValu’s prestigious Food Academy Programme.

Cider Makers Tip: Viking Irish Drinks at Dennison’s Farm was set up as a company in 2017, with cider production commencing in 2019. At the heart of the company is three unique craft cider styles, based on old farm recipes, including Medium Dry Orchard Cuvée, the immensely popular Harvest Blush and Ireland’s first Hop flavoured cider, Hop-IT.

Viking Harvest Blush Craft Cider 5.5%, 500ml bottle, Pop-Up Wine Shop at The Grainstore.

The Harvest Blush gives a clearer mid-gold colour in the glass than does the Hop It. Plenty of bubbles here also. And Katy too! It is one of two varieties, the other being James Grieve (also a dessert apple), used to make it.

Both are usually in harvested in August. Harvest Blush is fermented slowly on its natural yeasts for up to six months, and then “we add our soft fruit juice to create a light blush and adding fruitiness of the berries, yet importantly retaining the style of the cider. Our bottling condition allows us to create a light natural sparkling cider, which is a good alternative to a sparkling wine.”

So is it sweet? Not overly so. Might be fairer to say it is much less bitter than the Hop It and no doubt a good match for fresh strawberries, raspberries and fruit pavlova. Viking also recommend seafood / shellfish, also good with pork loin and roast chicken. “Versatile, this cider will compliment most food from starters to dessert!

The Blush is softer, easy-drinking. Hop It is known as a hard cider in the US; harder-going perhaps but worth the effort.

They say: We recommend Harvest Blush to be served chilled at 6-8 c, and it can be served as an aperitif, like a good Prosecco but lower in alcohol, which is an excellent choice for receptions / weddings and parties. Can be bottled in Champagne style bottles for events (pre-ordered only).

And they also have a Viking Irish cocktail!

Pour 3 parts Harvest Blush cider to 1 part Viking Irish Blackcurrant Liqueur over ice. Add a slice of orange and stir gently. Serve with party straws. Enjoy.

Viking Irish Drinks derives from orchards in the Barony of Gaultier, East Waterford, near the estuary of the three sisters - the Barrow, Nore and Suir rivers - where the Vikings sailed and conquered cities, towns and villages.

Eric Bordelet Poiré, Normandy, 5.00%, 33cl bottle, Pop-Up Wine Shop at The Grainstore

This Poiré, as the name indicates, is a pear cider and is one of the best ciders, apple or pear, that you are likely to come across. Colour is a pale gold and then follow aromas and flavours of the orchards. It is on the dry side, a delicious thirst quencher and, with its clean acidity, importers Le Caveau indicate that it is a “great food pairing for scallops, savoury crepes and all manner of salads, delicate fruit based desserts or even cheese. Versatile, refreshing and delicious!”. No arguing with that.

It is biodynamic and made in the traditional manner from old orchards that have never been sprayed. In the 1980s, Eric was a well known sommelier at Paris’s Michelin 3-star Arpège restaurant but his native Normandy and its famous ciders were tempting him back. He thought he could add to their reputation by applying his wine knowledge and so he came to take over his family’s Chateau de Hauteville and extended the orchards. Now he is on the short-list of the world’s great cider makers. Check him out!

Th label tells us this sparkling thirst-quenching fruity flavoured is produced from the  “living and stony soil of the Coteaux de Massif Armoricain”, the production “concerned with your sensory pleasures and your health”. Reckon I’ll drink to that. Wait, I already did. And will again.

Irish Craft Cider. A Litfest16 Event

Irish Craft Cider

A Litfest16 Event

Pete Brown, author of the World’s Best Cider, said the Irish craft cider scene is one of the most exciting right now. The ciders have “high juice content” and the makers “love their apples”. One of the most exciting yes, despite rankling under a very unfair tax regime that would seem to be designed to stifle innovation rather than encourage it.

Take Longueville House Cider Mór as an example. Because producer William O’Callaghan has added a wee spoon of brandy to his basic cider, the tax on Mór is five times the normal. Leslie Williams has raised the general issue many times, saying the current rebate system, which is very good for craft beer makes, is unfair on cider makers. The producers of an excellent wholly Irish product are being punished.

Leslie

So that's the sour notes out of the way. The rest of this panel discussion, the opening one in the Drinks Theatre at this year’s Ballymaloe Litfest, was focussed on five delicious ciders, five quite different examples, none of which would have been available just a few short years ago.

Pete Brown was joined on the panel by Leslie and by Caroline Hennessy, author of Slainte. 

They and the audience were welcomed to the “tractor shed” by Ballymaloe’s Colm McCan as we gathered to hail cider, the drink of the common people for perhaps 2,000 years, according to Pete.

Pete

Producer Simon Tyrrell introduced his Craigies 2013 Dalliance. Simon, well known for his wine background, says with Dalliance “we try to express the vinous side of cider”. He mentioned the terroir (Cappoquin Estate, sandstone). The apple blend is fifty fifty between Ekstar and Falstaff, both eating apples, and it spends 15 months on its lees.

Bright fresh fruit with extra creaminess here and you’ll note some cloudiness from the yeasts. Pete Brown said Dalliance proves you can make cider out of eating apples. And this is a good one.

“We use no chemicals at any point” said Rod Calder-Potts as he introduced his organic Highbank Proper Cider 2014. “We encourage microbial activity to counter any malign organisms...Cider makes itself..no sulphites...we put it in a barrell..local yeasts do the rest.”

This was bottled just last week by Con Traas, is 100 per cent apple and naturally dry. Pete loved the contrast between the first two ciders and confessed to being obsessed by yeast, at least with how the yeast converts sugar to alcohol! Leslie reminded us that, compared to beer makers, cider makers get just one chance per year.

And now Leslie introduced yet another type of Irish cider, Cockagee from County Meath. He did mention that there was “devilment” in the name but didn't go into the details. It is keeved, a process common in Brittany and Normandy and explained here on the Cockagee website.

Caroline

Pete said you can only shake your head with wonder that a process from the 14th or 15th century can still produce a “beautiful natural cider. In a blind tasting, I would class this as Breton and it would be a perfect match with crepes”. Caroline agreed but their hints for crepes went unheeded!

William O’Callaghan, as he introduced his Longueville Mór, disclosed that the first apples in their orchard, planted 25 years ago, were intended for apple brandy rather than cider and that their micro-distillery was the first such in ireland. William, a chef who trained in Normandy, started the move to cider there about two years ago.

The Mór is their regular cider with a drop of apple brandy that “gives it a nice little kick”. It fermented naturally with local yeasts and produced with no sulphite. It went down very well indeed and William is proud of it, quite rightly, “but that tax is a pain!”.  Caroline asked him what food would pair with it. On its own or maybe with cheese was the answer. I had it a week or two ago at a cider evening in Electric with fish and chips. Caroline herself was thinking Lemon tart!

The Ballymaloe five. Dead men.

We finished with the limited edition (6,000 bottles) Stonewell Tawny 2014. Daniel Emerson told us all about it: “it is a chapitalised dry hop cider..the natural sugar is supplemented with additional sugar and this raises the ABV… minimum aging is 12 months and there is an extraordinary range of flavours over the 12 months”. Lots of tasting, no doubt!

At the end of the process, the cider is “very sweet, like an apple ice-cider”. They decided to counteract this by passing it through Eldorado dry hops. The result was very good and the Tawny has “proved remarkably successful.” And we could all see why. Pete was delighted with it saying it reminded him of a Canadian Ice Cider, “beautiful’.

Overall, it was a great reminder of how far Irish Cider has come in a few years. Perhaps next a tasting of these five might be arranged for the Dail bar and a few home truths delivered at the same time, in the nicest possible way of course!

See also: Hops and Glory. Seven IPAs before breakfast. Only at LITFEST16
Irish Atmospherics at John Wilson Tasting. Mediterranean Island Wines in Spotlight. LITFEST16

Taste of the Week. Cockagee Irish Keeved Cider

Taste of the Week

Cockagee Irish Keeved Cider

This is one of the best ciders I have ever tasted and is our Taste of the Week.

Made in County Meath by Mark Jenkinson, it has a rich amber colour, micro-bubbles constantly rising in the glass. The aromas are impressive too, redolent of the orchard. And on the palate there is a very pleasing concentration of real flavour and then a lovely dry finish.

Mark makes it in small batches in the heart of the Boyne Valley from 100% fresh pressed Irish apples. Each 1000 litre batch is unique and may vary slightly.

Keeving is not the easiest to explain as “it is more intuitive than an exact science”. But Mark gives a good run-down here. Crucially, it preserves the “lovely apple aromas and the rich flavours of the fruit and results in a robust yet smooth cider, complex and full-bodied with a bittersweet twist and a long dry finish.”

Briefly, Keeving means it is not filtered, not pasteurised, and not sweetened. The fruit sugars are naturally retained as are the intense apple flavours and aromas from the original must.

Hope that doesn’t sound too complicated. To put it simply, the result is a terrific drink with an ABV of 5% and is very highly recommended. Well worth a try. I got mine, a 75cl bottle, in Bradley’s for €9.95. See also Le Caveau who distribute it.