On the craft trail with two Kerry beers and a Kilkenny cider. West Kerry Brewery, Killarney Brewing and Highbank Orchards

On the craft trail with two Kerry beers and a Kilkenny cider. West Kerry, Killarney Brewing and Highbank Orchards

 

West Kerry Blue Rose Ale 5.1% ABV, 500 ml bottle Bradleys

West Kerry threw out their rule book and this beautiful traditional ale is the result.

Colour is a light hazy gold with zillions of microbubbles crowding towards the soft white top. That dry hopping, an extra touch, is immediately noticeable in the aromas and on the palate. It has a pleasant, flowery, spicy, citrus-like quality with a slight

Non-Alcoholic Cider Gems By Highbank and Stonewell

Non-Alcoholic Cider Gems 

By Highbank and Stonewell 

Two of the best non-alcoholic drinks, across cider, wine and beer, that you are likely to come across. 

Highbank Organic Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Drivers Cider, 0% ABV, 330 ml bottle, Ballymaloe Food Festival

Made with Organic Cider apples from the Highbank Farm in

A Quart of Ale± #20. Terrific Irish Ciders. "Lucky to have each of them"

A Quart of Ale± #20

Moving on over to craft.

Terrific Irish Ciders.

"Lucky to have each of them" 

Cider is one of the most ancient of the alcoholic drinks, made wherever apples are grown. Yet some countries, Canada for example, has a law preventing people calling a liquid cider unless it has apples in the ingredients. There is a huge variety of ciders, from dry to sweet, from clear to cloudy. Once at a gite in France, the owner came over with a cloudy bottle, oil to ease a sticking front door we thought, but no it was a delicious homemade cider and there was a basin of strawberries as well!

Normandy and Brittany (where I then was) are well known for their ciders but it is only in recent years that craft cider has hit Irish shelves. And even here now, there is an amazing variety, especially from Munster, Leinster and Ulster. I have just a few examples below, including a non alcoholic gem from Highbank, and they illustrate the variety and quality available.

Con Traas of the Apple Farm, who produces a superb example himself, was asked a few years ago to give his verdict on a couple of the then new ciders, Longueville and Stonewell. He declined, saying we were lucky to have each of them. I feel the same way about the quintet below and others such as those coming from The Cider Mill in Slane, Dan Kelly (also in the Boyne Valley), and others that you can find here at  Cider Ireland .

Stonewell Medium Dry 5.5%, 500ml bottle Bradley’s of Cork

This County Cork cider is approaching its 10th birthday and is tasting as well as ever. It was their first and  “remains our most popular cider”. It is a classic, very popular here too, and we often order it in restaurants as it goes well with a variety of dishes.

You’ll know it’s Irish by the eye catching Celtic design on the front. Aromas of the orchard invite you in. Light gold colour and squadrons of little bubbles flying up to the top. Terrific wash of sweet apple flavour on the attack and then you note a balancing acidity before a satisfying finish.

They say: We don’t complicate things by using artificial additives, apple concentrate, glucoses syrup or dilute with water. This carbonated cider is best enjoyed as a refreshing thirst quencher, chilled to 7 degrees (watch the ice – whilst it will maintain the chill it can conceal the full flavour!). 

With winter approaching, you can put this out the back for chilling as an overlong spell in the fridge would also hamper the flavour. This medium dry contains approximately 20% cider apples and 80% eating apples. The cider apples provide the astringency in the cider and the structure on which the full, rounder and more citrus characteristics of the eating apples depend. The cider is made from Irish grown apples and the varieties used are Dabinett, Michelin, Jonagored and Elstar.

Highbank Organic  “Drivers Cider” 0%, 330ml bottle Bradley’s of Cork

I’m walking through long rows of apple trees, all in blossom, pink and white abound. The grass between is ankle height, lush and liberally populated with white daisies. Lush, but recently topped. Had I been there a week earlier, I would have seen battalions of dandelions.

I was in Kilkenny, in the healthy heart of Highbank Orchards, an organic farm owned and managed by Rod and Julie Calder-Potts. It is here they grow their apples and make their ciders (and more), including this one.

Made from organic cider apples from the Highbank farm, Drivers Cider is a refreshing non-alcoholic drink for the designated driver with no added sugar or chemicals. This Blusher apple limited vintage is Single Estate (grown, distilled and bottled at Highbank Farm) and no sugar or sweeteners have been added. 

It is a bit sweeter than the Stonewell but finishes dry. It’s a delicious well-flavoured drink and really works well with food as we found out during the Sunil Ghai Special Lunch in Sage last year. Any drink that pairs well with Asian is worth noting, especially when you’re driving home afterwards. In fact, we enjoyed the pairing so much, we bought a second round of the Highbank! Probably one of the best of the Irish non alcoholic drinks.

Johnny Fall Down “Late Apples” 2017 5.5%, 500ml bottle Bradley’s of Cork

Light gold colour, no shortage of bubbles. No mistaking the orchard aromas. This one comes on strong, packed with complex flavour, smoky and spicy with a lingering dry finish. One for your short list for sure, from the new kids on the block at Killahora. 

At a tasting earlier in the summer, Killahora’s Barry said this Late Apples is driven by 30% Dabinett and lots of French varieties, some inedible as a fruit. And that this is designed “for food”. They suggest it is also one for the red wine drinkers and point the white wine drinkers in the direction of their Early Apples issue.

They say: "We work on what the year gives us. In the cidery, we do as little as possible to it. This deeper bittersweet, medium-dry cider is made from the late ripening, rare varieties of apples in our Cork orchards. Pair with darker meats, spicy food, cheese and oily fish.” Serve chilled, no ice!

Killahora was founded by two cousins, Barry Walsh and Dave Watson, with the goal of growing the best rare apple and pear varieties on Irish soil and to use artisanal techniques to turn them into award winning drinks. 

Dave brings a passion for and encyclopaedia-like knowledge of apple and pear trees, while Barry brings the wizardry of fermenting, blending and creating new drinks. “We make everything as naturally as possible with minimum intervention and use wild fermentation.Everything is handmade on site with 100% fresh juice and we take our time, allowing our products to mature for up to a year to get the most complexity of flavour.”

Highbank “Proper Irish Cider” 2016 6%, 500ml bottle Bradley’s of Cork

This organic cider from Kilkenny’s Highbank Orchard has an amber colour, with fountains of bubbles rising. Aromas are tart and true to the orchard fruit. On the palate, it is just amazing, this masterpiece of deliciousness and refreshment and then that dry finalé. If Bach had made cider, he’d have been happy to put his name to a bottle like this, precise and satisfying from first drop to last.

They say: This traditional, dry cider grown and produced by Highbank Orchards Matured on its wild yeasts Highbank Proper Cider has no added sulphites, no added sugar and is Irish Organic with naturally high tannins. A delicious, refreshing drink, Proper Cider should be served chilled over ice particularly with a fish course.

Highbank Organic Orchards, owned and run by Rod and Julie Calder-Potts, produce their ciders in small batches with an emphasis on pairing ciders with different foods. All organic, with no added sulphites and gluten free, the cider apples are from Highbank’s own organic trees grown on Highbank Organic farm in County Kilkenny. It is a beautiful farm and this is a beautiful cider.

Longueville “Mór” Cider 8%, 500ml bottle Bradley’s of Cork

Longueville harvest

This Longueville House cider had a clear amber colour and pleasing orchard aromas. This is a medium cider with a delicious full flavour, slight touch of tannins (on the lips) and a satisfying finish. Rubert Atkinson of Longueville: “No ice! It waters down the flavours and kills the sparkle. Enjoy this like a wine, in a wine glass.”

Longueville House (near Mallow, Co. Cork) grow two varieties of cider apple, the Dabinett and the Michelin - “No chemicals and no pesticides”. The regular Longueville House Cider, has an abv of 5.9%. The sugar is natural and they use no extra sulphites. 

Longueville’s Mór gets its higher abv (8.00%) and distinctive flavour from fermentation (1 year) in their just-emptied apple brandy casks. “It is the same juice as the regular cider but is more robust, has more character, more flavour, well rounded, well balanced, really lovely.” I couldn't agree more! Made from 100% fresh apples. Contains only naturally occurring sulphites.

They say: William O'Callaghan and his father Michael before him have been fermenting exceptional craft cider and distilling Ireland's only Apple Brandy now for almost 35 years. We have brought the cider and brandy production to another level while maintaining the very natural and respectful processes of our fore fathers, the terroir and sustainability - crushing, pressing, fermentation, filtration, light carbonation, pasteurisation - all while using no pesticides, fungicides, insecticides or any other ‘cides in our orchards. 

One way they counter the aphids, a tiny bug that can do enormous damage, is to encourage the hoverfly by planting the likes of Fennel, Angelica and Yarrow. These attract the hoverfly, a natural enemy of the aphid.

The Magic of Fermentation - Sat 25th Jan

The Magic of Fermentation - Sat 25th Jan

To kick off 2020 we are revisiting the wonderful world of fermentation with a twist. 

Book here now or keep reading to learn more. 

We kick off 2020 with three wonderful practitioners of the art of fermentation. 

• Tom Stack is a dairy farmer in conversation to organic based in Limerick. He follows the Korean Natural Farming method and fermentation is an integral part of that approach. 

• Ronan Coughlan is Head Brewer with KO Kombucha who produce a range of organic fermented drinks in Offaly - Their website 

• Terri Ann Fox runs fermentation workshops in Wicklow and the list of foods she ferments is over 25 long! -  Her instagram

You can buy your ticket(s) here and we look forward to meeting you on the night - do say hello.

Buy someone a ticket or two for Christmas :-)

Keith (Biabeag) & Julie (Highbank Organic Orchard)

 

086 2300702

(press release)

Taste of the Week. Perfect G&T - Alcohol Free

Taste of the Week

Perfect G&T - Alcohol Free

I was an early bird visitor to the Cork Kerry Food Market in the City Hall last Saturday morning. When I was offered a G&T, I wasn’t all that keen as breakfast had just been finished. But it was a small sample so I indulged, expecting to get a load of tonic and little gin. I was surprised though, thinking to myself that they hadn’t drowned the spirit. “It’s non alcoholic”, said Cyril Walsh who had offered the sample. I was surprised as were a few others.

Cyril, who you probably know through his work with St Patrick’s Distillery, is involved with All Natural Drinks who are distributing the gin. It was launched just before the weekend and some of Saturday’s tasters were thinking of it in terms of the festival celebrations coming up, a solution to the question what to drink when you’re not drinking.

I checked the website and saw that Henrik Facile, a Swedish master blender, with French and Finnish heritage and now living in Florida, is the creator. Not an easy task. "We found it difficult to get to Perfect with so many options available…..We use natural quinine and just enough carbonation for refreshment and enjoyment.”

So there you are. I had been "ambushed" by the soft Italian juniper nose with hints of coriander and citrus followed by what seemed like the clean classic gin taste, with citrus freshness and of course the slight bitterness from the quinine. The "gin" element didn't seem as strong at a second tasting later in the day - but by then of course I had been forewarned! Nonetheless, a handy alternative to some of the more or less tasteless zero drinks around at the moment.

All Natural Drinks Ltd 

Unit 105, St Patrick’s Mills,

Douglas

Cork

To see a mid-summer article on some available non alcoholic drinks, check here.
Since then, I've come across a few more, including the superb organic Drivers Cider from Highbank Orchards.

Taste of the Week. Highbank Drivers Cider

Taste of the Week

Highbank Drivers Cider

Highbank Orchard Syrup is on the table every morning in this house and now another marvellous product from the organic Kilkenny farm is our Taste of the Week.

There was a marvellous lunch recently in Sage Midleton where the guest chef was Sunil Ghai from Dublin’s Pickle Restaurant. We had the car and were wondering what to drink until I spotted this on the drinks list.

It proved so bloody good, I didn’t stop at one! That second glass appeal. No doubt about it. Made from their Cider apples, this gluten free Drivers Cider is a refreshing non-alcoholic drink for the designated driver with no added sugar or chemicals. It is full of flavour and so well balanced, a terrific non alcoholic drink and miles away from many of those tasteless “zero” drinks. Different class, much more than a mere alternative!

Highbank Orchard

Well done to Kevin and Réidin for stocking it and hope other restaurants and bars follow suit! Well done too to Julie and Rob for producing it, along with many other good things.

Highbank Orchards 

Cuffesgrange

Co. Kilkenny

Good Food Features at Cork Craft Fair

Good Food Features at Cork Craft Fair

Brett and Pamela of Wicklow Way Wines

Over 100 of “Ireland’s best makers, designers and artisan food producers” were on show at the Cork City Hall Craft Fair over the weekend. I took an opportunity to call in there on Friday and, surprise, surprise, I spent most of my time at the food section where I met some old friends and some new.

The gorgeous packaging of the Lismore Food Company was certainly an eye-catcher but the biscuits inside proved they had substance as well as style. They come in both savoury and sweet, an Irish Digestive with Wild Atlantic Sea Salt and Caraway with Irish Seaweed among the savoury, Hazelnut, Cinnamon and Raisin along with an all Butter Irish Shortbread among the latter.

All in colourful round boxes, ideal as gifts. But do watch out for the larger blue rectangular box. Inside you'll find “divine crisp apple thins wrapped in the finest dark Belgian chocolate...an epicurean delight”. We tasted those Dark Chocolate and Apple Crisp Thins and they became an immediate favourite. You could take these anywhere! Think I’ll keep mine at home though.

They’re widely available and you can purchase at their online shop as well.

There was a warm welcome from Julie of Highbank Orchards at the Kilkenny corner. She had her full range of organic drinks here, both non alcoholic (syrup, treacle) and alcoholic (gins, vodka, cider and a delicious Highbank Organic Sack). 

Our favourite on the day was perhaps the Organic Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother*. Bought a bottle so we’ll be giving that a longer test! Julie suggested serving it with warm water at breakfast or as a wonderful addition to a salad dressing. Meant to get back here to have a chat with Helen of Mooncoin Beetroot but slipped up. Next time!

Preserves by Wild Irish Foragers & Preservers

More drinks then and a very pleasant surprise at the Wicklow Way Wines stand. They produce Móinéir Wines from Irish fruit. Móinéir is the Irish word for meadows. 

Their flagship Strawberry Wine is created from hand-picked Irish strawberries, with around one hundred and fifty small strawberries in each bottle. We had a wee taste of this alluring wine. You expect the slight sweetness of the fruit but not the dry finalé.  The Blackberry wine (some elderberry in there too) had a deeper flavour, another excellent drop from nature’s bounty. Both have an ABV of 11.00%.

Kate and Denis Dempsey are really working hard at getting the mead message across and they too were in the City Hall, showing their Wild Red and Atlantic Dry White meads. Find out more about this ancient drink, now being given a new lease of life in Kinsale, here.  

You may drink it like wine (abv of 12%) or use it in a cocktail. Here is a recipe for their Wild Red Sour from their Facebook page: This tasty tipple consists of our Wild Red Mead, Blacks Brewery Gin, Orange Blossom Honey Syrup, Lemon, Egg White, Cherry Bitters and is garnished with shavings of Skelligs Chocolates Irish Sea Salt Dark Chocolate and an orange twist.

Fran from Newgrange Gold

And next we were on to a product based on an ancient seed called Camelina Sativa, better known in English as Wild Flax. Newgrange Gold from County Meath grow it. When grown it is cold pressed and bottled in the Boyne Valley. We did buy a bottle of this Camelina Oil. It is, we’re told, very high in Omega 3 “and has a much desired 2:1 balance of Omega 3 to Omega 6. Low in saturated fat and high in essential fatty acids, Camelina is a very healthy oil.” Try a teaspoon a day! Can also be used for stir frying, baking, salads. 

At this point, we had gathered a nice selection of food and drink and the bags were getting a little heavy so time to head off and begin to enjoy. The biscuits will probably the first to go!

* Read more about the mother here .

Margo Ann’s A Champion. And So Are Her Producers

Margo Ann’s A Champion
And So Are Her Producers

Family affair.

Cork Business Woman of the Year 2017

This award is to recognise the outstanding achievements of one business woman in Cork who has demonstrated exceptional ability in her business and proven her desire to succeed is of great benefit to their business and community. Our winner this evening comes from a business family that are well known throughout Cork and having taken over the family fruit business of her parents in the English market, she was Ireland's first female bookie, and today runs her business that stocks the largest range of artisan food products in the South of Ireland. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Cork Business Woman of the Year 2017 is Margo Ann Murphy of the Roughty Fruit King.

When Margo Ann heard these words on the recent Business Cork Awards night, she “was in shock”. “I was the outsider of the field.” It was a competitive category and she didn't expect to win. Her sister noticed: “Will you be able to go up?” Of course she would; the shock was temporary!

She told afterwards that it was a great boost to her food business in the heart of the English. Over the past six or seven years (from 2011), the focus has shifted from fruit to quality artisan food and Margo Ann says the award is a boost for her many producers. “They are small producers, most of them in rural Ireland which is dying. We need to support them.”

And it's a two way street. She is loyal to the producers and they to her. When I interviewed Margo Ann’s brother Garrett a few years back he listed some of the suppliers for me and most, such as the Big Red Kitchen, are still going strong in the market. 

Sometimes in the past year, I've found it hard enough to find honey around town. But never a bother at the Roughty (now becoming known as the Roughty Foodie!). It was the same earlier in the week when I met Margo Ann. There were at least three suppliers on the shelves; Galtee (their bees explore the mountain flowers and heathers), Ballyvourney (mainly from blackberry flowers) and Youghal (coastal flowers mainly). “The honey is not heated, not pasteurised. It is raw,” she told me.

And speaking of blackberries, she told me she used to pick blackberries when she was a kid of eight and her foraged berries ended up at the Michelin starred Arbutus Lodge in the city. And not too far from the Arbutus she also picked fruit at the Rathcooney Fruit Farm and has been making jam at home for years.

So, if Margo Ann says that the blackberry jam made by Nicola of the Big Red Kitchen is good, and she does, it is an opinion based on long experience. Indeed, she has praise for all the Big Red Kitchen jams which come in a choice of small and large jars. And Margo Ann also pointed to the home made mincemeat as a good one for this time of year. And got even more excited when highlighting the Spiced Plum and Port. “This is great, especially with duck, with cheese, with the turkey and ham.”

One of many hampers

Tipperary’s Crossogue are also mainstays at the Roughty. They have won dozens of awards for their innovative products and Margo Ann has great time for Veronica. Veronica’s Damson and Port Jelly won Triple Gold at the 2016 Great Taste Awards and more recently her Lime and Tequila marmalade won gold at the World’s Original Marmalade Awards. There is quite a selection of Crossogue products in the stall here and Margo Ann highlighted the Orange and Damson marmalade.

At the very start I had asked Margo Ann what was the product most in demand. And she did surprise me by saying it was jam. “People are very interested in homemade jams. They are aware of what they want.” Margo Ann may not be picking the fruit herself anymore but she sure knows where to source good quality food in Ireland.

There are too many foods and drinks to mention them all but these are some that I spotted. Didn't know that Highbank Orchards now have an organic treacle as well as their apple syrup, both are here. Spices from Green Saffron, seaweeds from Wild Irish Sea Veg, gift hampers of different kinds and sizes, ginger beer and more by Black Castle, chocolate from Skelligs and O’Conaill’s, biscuits from Seymours and Lismore……

Syrup. And treacle

And it is not just food you’ll find in this packed stall. There is an outstanding display of colourful candles from Valentia Island, all containing essential oils (citrus, cinnamon, honey, lime, to name but a few). You’ll see colourful knitted mitts from Sneem, soaps from Ballinskelligs, even a goats milk soap from County Clare.

So produce from all over, good stuff and certainly the producers deserve major kudos. But well done to to the lady that brings it all together in the heart of the English Market, Margo Ann Murphy, the Business Cork Businesswoman of the Year 2017!

.

Mixing Spirits. Three Sisters

Mixing Spirits. Three Sisters

Vodka - Gin - Tonic

Our three featured bottles come from neighbouring counties: Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford, the three sisters.

Highbank Orchards Organic Kilkenny Apple Vodka, 40%, €30.50 (35cl)

If you’re used to vodka with little more than 40% abv going for it, you’re going to be surprised by this with its aromas and flavours of the autumnal orchard, an organic one at that.

The base spirit is made from their own apples and the vodka itself “lends a wonderful apple flavor to cocktails”. Use this in cocktails instead of your regular vodka and wait for the accolades.

This is 100% organic, single estate (grown, distilled and bottled at Highbank) and, yes, it is normal strength at 40%. Haven't got to the cocktail stage yet - waiting for a recipe specific to the product! - but I certainly enjoyed mixing it with Poacher’s Tonic, an excellent new Irish product.

The Highbank vodka comes in two sizes: 35cl at €30.50 and 50cl at €55.00.

Blackwater No. 5 Small Batch Irish Gin, 41.5%, €30.00 (50cl) Bradley’s

In quite a short time, Peter Mulryan Blackwater Gin No. 5 has become one of the most popular of the small batch gins now available in ireland. This London Dry Gin is not the only one that Blackwater produce and their latest, a strawberry one, was launched at the recent Wexford Food Festival.

Twelve botanicals are used in the process, including Coriander which goes “citrus-y” in the mix. Considering that citrus (dried skins) and bitter orange (also dried skins) are also used you could see why he advised against using a lemon in your gin. Lime would be a better choice. Juniper (the oil is extracted and used) is perhaps the best known element, having been traditionally used to make gin, and indeed provides the dominant flavour.

The No. 5 quickly gained loyal fans and Peter, from Conna in East Cork, was on his way. The gin is crisp and elegant with great flavour. They say “ it’s year round summer in a glass” and “liquid sunshine for the soul”. Add in quinine (via your tonic) and you have a most pleasant way of taking your medicine. Well the G & T was one method the British used to counter malaria!

Poacher’s Premium Irish Tonic Water, 20cl, Bradley’s

Now that we’ve highlighted two brilliant Irish spirits (from two producers who have even more on their lists), we’d better guide you in the direction of a good tonic. And just in time, comes this excellent Poacher’s from County Wexford. It is based on a “rich spring water: that has “been pilfered and poached since 1825”.

Taste it on its own and you'll immediately see the concentrated quality. Put it up against a 39 cent can, Freeway Indian Tonic Water from Lidl, and you’ll know why you will pay more for Poacher’s which is in a different class entirely.

Mixing cheaper tonic with premium products is a waste of time, a waste of good Irish gin and vodka and a waste of money. I mixed myself two gins, one of each. As an amateur it took me a while to spot the difference but you certainly notice it on the finish. With Poacher's, the finish (when you swallow) lingers and lingers but the other one kills it there and then. The longer the flavour lasts is a sign of quality in both food and drink. Much longer, much better with Poacher’s. Go for it!

The full list of ingredients for Poacher’s is: Carbonated irish spring water, sugar beets, Irish rosemary, Florida orange, natural flavours and natural quinine.

The full list of ingredients for Freeway is: Carbonated water, sugar. Acid: Citric Acid; Natural Flavouring, Flavouring (Quinine).

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