Tasting Cider by Erin James

Author:Erin James
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: types of hard cider;cider pairings;history of hard cider;specialty ciders;types of cider apples;how to taste cider;cider colors;cider sweetness scale;hard cider recipes;cooking with cider
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
Published: 2017-05-31T16:23:15+00:00

What makes the cider blow its cork with such a merry din?

What makes those little bubbles rise and dance like harlequin?

It is the fatal apple, boys, the fruit of human sin.

— Christopher Morley, “A Glee upon Cider”

The People

Head Radical

Nat West, Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider, Portland, Oregon

“As years go by, tastes change. If innovators had said, ‘Let’s make what everyone’s making, let’s make what everyone’s drinking,’ then we wouldn’t have this development of taste, development of style in any of our food culture.”

When it comes to the ensemble of personalities in the cider industry, the collection is a cast of characters. Opinions are unbridled, schools of thought vary not only by region and generation but by formality of education, sales success can trump quality, and the subjectivity of taste is often debated.

The gospel according to Nat West, better known as Reverend Nat West of his eponymous Portland, Oregon, cidery, is a viewpoint announced loud and clear among the rest.

“If you make something that is unique, if you make an edible consumable product that is strongly flavored and very innovative, you’re bound to piss off some people, and others will love it.”

Flagged by his strawberry blond, coarse goatee and often clad in his own logowear, West is a man respected by many for his innovation in flavors, applauded for his voice on modern cider definitions, and barbed by some for his avant-garde production tactics.

“As years go by, tastes change. If innovators had said, ‘Let’s make what everyone’s making, let’s make what everyone’s drinking,’ then we wouldn’t have this development of taste, development of style in any of our food culture,” West says. “It takes people who really love to drink and consume and eat certain flavors doing it again and again, and for other people to notice.”

Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider rotates through an ample selection of creative ciders, experimenting with flavors like pineapple, watermelon, ginger, lemongrass, hops, apricot, Mexican piloncillo negro sugar, sour cherry, fermented carrot . . . The list goes on, and West doesn’t plan to stop.

“I could certainly just ferment apple juice and put it in a can with a pretty label on it and make more money, but that’s not why I wake up in the morning,” he says. “I’m not interested in making something that’s somewhat milquetoast. I want to make something really unique and unusual.”

West admits the first cider he ever tried was his own. After making cider in his basement from a friend’s backyard tree for a handful of years, he took his personal supply commercial in 2011, selling in two months all that he had made. This validation encouraged him to expand from his home and into a 3,000-square-foot space the cidery now calls home, which has gradually expanded to two-and-a-half times its size.

With his devout beer-drinking palate, West has modeled his cider after the market he knows so well as a consumer, and he steers clear of attempting an orchard of his own.

“Beer guys don’t sit around complaining about how the harvest was

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.