Cider Chat

Who is Cidercraft Magazine Cidercraft Magazine was launched in 2014 and provides a wide array of articles on the topic of cider. Kristin Ackerman Bacon the Founder of Cidercraft is not a newbie to the publishing world having worked in the field for 20 years and this magazine is not her only publication. She along with her sister Melissa Ackerman Miller, started SIP Magazine which is geared towards...

Who is Cider Culture Mary Bigham Owner and Publisher of Dishworks LLC , founded Cider Culture in 2014 which is an online publication that has weekly cider news post for newbie cider fans to commercial makers. Mary is a Pennsylvanian who also happens to live in the largest apple growing region of the state, Adams County. Cider Culture is her passion project and having recently partnered with the Am...

Cider Fueled Road Trip Day 1 This episode begins on a road trip to New York state, specifically the west side of the Hudson River to  Stone Ridge Orchards  one of the three farms that is under the umbrella of Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider. The other two orchards are Breezy Hill, on the east side of the Hudson River and Drumlin located in Milton, NY, on the west side of the Hudson River. Ted Knight...

Grab the slippers, the house is on fire! In February of 2021, Nicole and Felix Todd had a chimney fire at the their home and the damage done made it unlivable. Having a fire even in the best of times is an ordeal, but during a pandemic is a whole other ball of wax. Felix ran out of the house in his socks, because fires are that scary and when it is raining embers you don't have time to lace up you...

An Apology? By a Cider Judge Busted! I am the cider judge who has been holding onto a memory from nearly 20 years ago. At that time there were very few commercial makers of cider and in turn there were very few entries into competitions. The apology stems from my time back then when I was one of the rare cider judges here in the states, thinking I knew something about cider. Looking back now I kee...

Gone Fishing Ok, so maybe I'm not full on fishing this week, but if I get a chance you know where I will be - out on the water with my fishing pole...actually the heat is so high this week that maybe I will just take a floaty and leave the pole home. Cider Chat will return with another mini episode on July 7th. Find out in this episode what I have been doing since episode 277 and where we will be...

Getting Cider into the Spotlight This episode is Part 4 of the 4 Part series from CraftCon 2021 panel discussion on Bringing the Bellies to the Bar. In Part 1 we discussed "Who is Cider's Audience?" and "Who would you like the Audience to be?". In Part 2 we delved into Strategy for marketing cider. In Part 3 we we hear what both entices the panelist and what is disagreeable or in other words - Are...

Tempted by Cider This episode is Part 3 of the 4 Part series from CraftCon 2021 panel discussion on Bringing the Bellies to the Bar. In Part 1 we discussed "Who is Cider's Audience?" and "Who would you like the Audience to be?". In Part 2 we delved into Strategy for marketing cider. And in this episode we hear what both entices the panelist and what is disagreeable....anyway you slice the apple it...

Listen to Part 1 of this 4-part series by going to episode 274: Cider's Audience. Brand Strategy for Cider Brand Strategy has the same goal no matter what you are selling. In short it is to get your product or services out in front in the market place. The key is to have a strategy before you hang the "open for business" sign. This episode is Part 2 of a four part series from the panel discussion...

Who is your audience? No matter what business venture, knowing your audience (targeted consumers) is key to one's success and is the first topic of conversation for the panel discussion titled Bring the Bellies to the Bar as presented at CraftCon 2021. This virtual conference was hosted by the Three Counties Perry and Cider Association took place in April 2021. Ticket holders to this conference ca...

Climb Every Mountain Wendy LeBlanc and Patrick Mann met in Washington State before moving to Germany to settle into the 1785 homestead owned by Patrick's parents. One would think that living near the 14,000 foot (4267.2 meter) mountains of the Pacific Northwest made this cidermaking couple inured to big mountains. They on the other hand blame the mountainous route over the highest peak in the Blac...

Blend Cider is Like Building an Orchestra Ryan Monkman of FieldBird Cider in Ontario has helped Ria sort through the process of getting cider that has been conditon for over two years into the bottle! Now that we have learned how to make sure the cider is completely fermented, know the exact amount of sugar remaining in the cider and have done the math to determine how much sugar and what kind of...

The Yeast and Sugar Slurry Ryan Monkman of FieldBird Cider in Ontario continue on with helping Ria get ready to bottle cider that has been conditioning for over 2 years! In this episode we discuss the amount of sugar to add, what kind of yeast to use and how to make what is known as a "slurry". The slurry - a mixture of water, yeast and sugar But let's first take a couple steps back....to episode...

Bottle Safely to Avoid Bottle Bombs If like me you grew up in a house where your parents made homemade everything, chances are they also dabbled in making homemade soda, wine, beer, and cider. Mine sure did and I still recall hearing the popping of root beer bottles in the root cellar. Thankfully, we did have a separate room where the exploding glass bottles only left a mess and didn't hurt anyone...

The Ask Ryan Series is back! In Spring of 2020 the first Ask Ryan series with Ryan Monkman of FieldBird Cider was posted. This year we return with Ryan once again to dive into more  cidermaking questions. In this segment we return to more questions about oak barrels and cider and the technique known as Bâtonnage. The question: Is it okay for gross lees stay in the barrel or is it a good idea to ra...

Cider Canada / Cidre Canada Barry Rooke knows that the Canadian cider market is growing and believes in it so much that he and his partner Wendy co-founded The Cider Crate, a website that hosts their blog, a map of cidermakers in Canada, a podcast.  His full time work is as Executive Director - National Campus/Community Radio Association and he is also an accredited member of the Canadian Society...

Fermenting with Quince Was Aphrodite's Forbidden Fruit a quince or the apple? She's not talking, but cidermakers are in this panel discussion on "Fermenting with Quince" that was recorded for CiderCon2021. Quince a.k.a. Cydonia oblonga is the sole member of the genus Cydonia in the family Rosaceae. Quince is a 'pomme' fruit with the likes of apples, pears, and medlars. This golden Pomme is having...

Vermont Quince Hosts the New England Quince Taste Test of 202 0 Perhaps before you listen to this episode 266 you might like to go to episode 248 to hear the initial blind tasting to compare the notes with this episode. The Inspiration Behind Vermont Quince A mother and son trip to Spain, inspired Nan Stefanik to incorporate Vermont Quince Company was in 2012. Since that time her one person compan...

Tasting Calvados with Étienne Dupont Étienne Dupont took over the Domaine Familial Etienne Dupont in the Pays d'Auge region of Normandy France from his father Louis and grandfather Jules in 1980. Episode 098: Jérôme Dupont | Domaine Dupont is a conversation with Étienne son who sadly passed away in 2018. The recording with Jérôme provides the backdrop of the story behind the Dupont families acquir...

Grandma's Apple Orchard John Bunker, of Maine, Presents: Grandma's Apple Orchard: the perfect orchard with only twelve trees. How did she do it? John is a Colby alumnus and was presented the 2019 Commissioner's Distinguished Service Award by Governor Janet Mills and Commissioner Amanda Beal for Saving Maine's Apple Heritage. He has also authored two books: Apples and the Art of Detection: Tracking...

Science Based Resource for Apple Identification Up to this point we've all been reliant upon drawings and descriptions from historical books and "those in the know" to identify specific apple varieties. Today, as you will see below, there is now an option to have an apple's parentage checked via the DNA. Apple Identification via Genetics has arrived! Cameron Peace PhD of Washington State Universit...

What is a Virtual Cidery?   A virtual cider is a cidery managed out of someone's else's cidery, or winery and in some cases a brewery. This week's featured guest is Ryan Monkman of FieldBird Cider in Prince Edward County Ontario. I met Ryan in 2018 and visited his Virtual Cidery host Keint-He Winery. The location was ideal being close to where Ryan lives making it very easy for him to manage the b...

What is Yonder? Yonder Cider is made at the production facility in Wenatchee, Washington. Cider are made with both culinary and classic cider varieties that co-owner Caitlin Braam, who is our featured guest in this episode, says is key to the Yonder label.  Wenatchee is also the home of Snowdrift Cider Company where Tim Larsen is based and who also co-owns Yonder. Listen to episode 37  featuring T...

What is Eris? Eris is the name of the goddess of chaos. Her splendor in creating chaos is exactly why co-owners Michelle Foik and Katie Pizza named their craft beer and cider bar Eris, but there is more. Katie's "elevator pitch' for Eris tells it all saying, "Eris is a brewery, cider house and full service restaurant all under one roof in Chicago." Eris situated in the Howler Building The path to...

Artifact Cider Project Soham Bahatt and Jake Mazar co-founded Artifact Cider Project in 2014. The cidery was originally located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, then moved out towards Boston and eventually back to western Massachusetts. Today, Artifact has two locations, a Tasting Room and production facility in Florence and one in Cambridge.  Soham Bahatt at Artifact Tasting Room and ci...