Cider Chat

Episode 194: The Reason for Being | Ross on Wye Cider & Perry, UK Mike Johnson grew up on Broome Farm picking up apples with his grandmother, in the rural country known as Herefordshire in the United Kingdom. Thirty Five years ago cider began being made and sold commercially at the farm. More recently Mike and son Albert, who came back to the farm after finishing university to help with their bran...

A Museum for Cider, Cider Mythology of May Hill and Cider Loving Fans are all featured in this episode. This is the third episode of Cider Chat featuring my trip to the United Kingdom. Go to episode 192: London Got Cider and 193: Barrel Smoker, Cheese & Cider for a wide angle view on a one week whirl wind tour to England. Like all episodes I like to begin with "News Out and About in Ciderville" re...

Kate and Toby Lovell are raising Shropshire Sheep and Friesian Sheep at Handcocks Meadow Farm The Shropshire Sheep don't debark trees which make them excellent for use in orchards. They also have a flock of Friesian Sheep for cheese making. This chat was recorded at the Ross Cider Fest, based in Ross on Wye, in Herefordshire in the United Kingdom. The fest took place August 30- September 1, 2019 a...

Here is the first dispatch from the United Kingdom, specifically London where my journey began. "The Talking Pommes" (The Medlars, Mr. Quince, Perry Pear) and I arrived at Heathrow and went our separate ways. The Pommes headed off to Buckingham Castle to meet the Queen and I headed east to London to meet with Felix Nash. Felix is the owner of Fine Cider based in London. This business is called "ci...

In 1968, Carol B. Hillman bought a colonial era estate that overlooked the Quabbin Reservoir, Boston's water source, in New Salem, Massachusetts.   Originally attracted to the home onsite which is a classic colonial style home with a fire place in every room and a large hearth for cooking, she and her husband set to task to renovating the home to its full glory. At the same time, she also began br...

Put Cider in the Penny was recorded at SILO Distillery in Windsor, Vermont in August of 2019. I had been wanting to catch up with Nicole LeGrande Leibon, every since she moved on from making cider at Farnum Hill Cider in Lebanon, New Hampshire.  She arrived at SILO to make cider in late 2018. She quickly got SILO set up with a Semi dry cider (sold in cans) and a Bourbon Barrel Aged cider (sold in...

Before our Popelouchum Safari, hear about... Two New Cider Zines We begin with an overview of Graftwood and Full Juice , two new cider zines out of the United Kingdom. Graftwood is a subscription based quarterly whereas Full Juice is a free grab and go available only in the UK. Both are worthy reads and a great sign of #ciderGoingUP. New England Cider Tour October 31, 2019 One day cider tour launc...

"We Want More Cider" was clearly the take away heard from cider enthusiasts attending the annual Hard Core Cider Tour held in Santa Cruz, California June 27, 2019. Sipping Syndicate's Albert Martinez spearheaded the Hard Core Cider Tour five years ago in 2014, offering a tasting event with local makers regionally in California. Fest goers get a cup and as open taps throughout the 3 hour event. On...

"Just Fucking Fermented Juice" is splayed out in big white letter across the back of Krista Scruggs' black hoodie. The slogan both amuses and taunts gawkers. Krista wore the hoodie with slogan while attending the annual United States Association of Cider Makers conference in Chicago in January of 2018, called CiderCon. I don't know if she wore it in the airport on her way to the conference - I am...

Who are the Pomme Boots? The Pomme Boots Society was founded in 2015 an organization for women working in the  cider industry. The first meet up of Pommes Boots was at CiderCon2016 held in Portland, Oregon. This episode was recorded at the Pomme Boots meeting held at CiderCon2019, an annual cider conference hosted by the United States Association of Cider Makers Pomme Boots meeting at CiderCon2016...

The feature on cider judging in this week's episode begins at 9:43 minutes. The 7th annual BigE Cider and Perry competition took place on June 8, 2019. There were 6 cider judges and this episode features the judging of the Best in Show. Cider Panel A Ria Windcaller Mike Shay Tim Post Cider Panel B Ben Watson Mark Gryska Michelle Pagano Write up on Judges https://www.thebige.com/p/competitions/food...

Normandy Cider Trail Tips Annie Sargent is the Producer and Host of a fantastic and informative podcast for anyone thinking about traveling to France called " Join Us in France Travel Podcast ". In this episode, Annie and I do duel recordings to share with both of our podcast audiences. I get to share my passion for French Cider [cidre] and Perry [poiré] and provide both Ciderville, Annie, and the...

Discover traditional straw pressing of cider at Sandford Orchards with Barny Butterfield based in Devon. Traditional Straw Pressing Notes: The press is made up with a combination of thatching reeds. If you are familiar with a classic rack and cloth press used today in cider making, the straw press is set up using: The Reed as the rack and Barely straw is the cloth At Sandford Orchards they can pre...

The Cider Insider | 100 Craft Ciders to Drink Now This chat with Susanna and James Forbes was recorded at CiderCon2019, the annual trade conference hosted by the  American Cider Association  known at that time as the United States Association of Cider Makers. Susanna & James Forbes It was at CiderCon2018 when I first had the opportunity to sit down for a chat with Susanna and James. Listen to that...

180: Cider Is Wine | Simon Day of Once Upon a Tree, UK This chat was recorded at CiderCon2019 in Chicago. Simon Day and I did not speak directly on the topic of the "Cider is Wine" debate, but I do suspect that his early upbringing which was intrenched in the wine culture certainly informs him today. When Simon was 2 his father got a job working at a vineyard, and that vineyard also had apple and...

 Tasty Southern Ciders at James Creek A cider dinner recording from CiderCon2019 in Chicago with Ann Marie and David Thornton of James Creek Cider House in Cameron, North Carolina. The main featured chat begins at 17 minutes into this chat. Before this main feature hear an email from a Russian cidermaker, helping us learn a bit more about the cider culture in this region of the world. Maxim contac...

178: WWII and Cider | Paying Tribute on Tour Midweek on the Totally Cider Tour to Normandy our first stop of the day was to tour the   Brittany American Cemetery also referred to as the Saint James Cemetery. It is located approximately an hour from Mont-Saint-Michel, 3.5 hours from Paris. It lies not in Brittany, but just north of the region in Normandy. Photo: Sergeant C. Orton of The Highland Li...

177: Giard | 13 Generations of Cider, FR Domaine du Manoir de Montreuil with Patrice Giard In this episode: Patrice Giard recorded during the Totally Cider Tour to Normandy France in September 2018. Patrice is a 13th generation cidermaker at this family farm. Patrice, his wife and his daughter are running the farm. His daughter's focus is on milk production with Patrice focusing on the cider produ...

176: We Like Cider In this episode we begin with: News out and about in Ciderville - Thank you Nathan for becoming a patron of Cider Chat . Nathan is part of Harcourt Apples based in Australia approximately 11/2 hours outside of Melbourne. Audio Snap Shots from the Totally Cider Tour Monterey Bay | California, that took place April 12th and 13th. We begin with John Martinelli of S. Martinelli Co....

Part 2 of a two part series with a Question and Answer (Q & A) on Beginner Cider Making with 5 panelists in the cider industry Marcus Robert - Tieton Cider Works , Washington Tim Godfrey - Golden State Cider , California Eleanor Leger - Eden Specialty Cider , Vermont Brent Myles - Slye Clyde Cider , Virginai Ben Calvi - Vermont Cider Co , Vermont Listen to Part 1 of this Q & A recorded at CiderCon...

A Question and Answer (Q & A) on Beginner Cider Making with 5 panelists in the cider industry Marcus Robert - Tieton Cider Works , Washington Tim Godfrey - Golden State Cider , California Eleanor Leger - Eden Specialty Cider , Vermont Brent Myles - Slye Clyde Cider , New York Ben Calvi - Vermont Cider Co , Vermont (ltor), Marcus Robert, Trey Godfrey, Eleanor Leger, Brent Myles, Ben Calvi.[/caption...

173: Aomori to Nagano | inCiderJapan Lee Reeve is the Publisher and Editor of the quarterly magazine inCiderJapan, the country's first and only bilingual magazine dedicated to all things cider. Lee and I recorded a chat while attending CiderCon2019 in Chicago. Lee Reeve w:Tekikaka Cidre He came ready to pour a selection of Japanese ciders from makers in two primary regions in the country or what a...

172: Cider Tasting with Eric Bordelet Audio snapshots of a tasting and tour w/Eric Bordelet and the tour group visiting Normandy France in September 2018. The first Totally Cider Tour to roll out took a group of super awesome people to makers both on the Route du Cidre in Pays d'Auge and to the south region of Normandy called Domfrontais. This chat features an afternoon visit to Eric's cidery. Gro...

171: Americans in Paris | Cider Tourists Speak In late September 2018, a group of cider travelers met with the producers of Pays d'Auge and Domfrontais, two regions of cider and perry making in Normandy, France. They were out to taste Normandy and see the landmark sights of this western region of France that abuts the English Channel. They were on the inaugural Totally Cider Tour to France with me...

A "Dryness scale" as presented by the New York Cider Association The session was pre-recorded at CiderCon2019 Goals of this session: Slide 1 A Sensory Workshop on Perceptions of Dryness/Sweetness in Ciders This session was a structured sensory analysis of ten commercial New York apple ciders. Participants tasted anonymous ciders of predetermined sugar/acid/tannin contents. They were assigned to ra...