Was just having a quick gander over some posts and reminded myself of something I discovered the other day.
Firstly, I'm not a huge drinker, hence some things get to age this long at my place.
But I digress, so anyway a friend came round for a tasting after learning of my cider. So I whipped a few bottles out of the home booze fridge. I grabbed an apple cider, an apple and pear cider and a, what I call, Real Apple Cider. As the previous two are made from my custom concentrate and bottled juice blend
Previously I had rated my concentrate blends over the cider's I have made from juice I have pressed/juiced myself. But I was pleasantly surprised that after twelve months or so of aging the cider constructed from "real" apples had developed some complexity of flavour and no longer tasted of cheap white wine. The apple flavour has come back, it also has a nice crispness to it, with good acid, not mouth puckeringly tart as some home made ciders I have tried have been, but a nice, solid acidic bite.
Suffice to say I'm pretty impressed with it, pity there's only half a dozen bottles or so of it left. It has however inspired me to go to the trouble again, and to also source some cold pressed juice from an orchard to experiment with. Only five years to go and I might have enough Bramley's, Yarlington Mill's and Brown Snouts to produce my own cider juice to blend with the blander juice's freely available, maybe even a single variety batch or house blend. Dont know how many apples three tree's will give me, but it will be better than none.
Cheers
Mick
Firstly, I'm not a huge drinker, hence some things get to age this long at my place.
But I digress, so anyway a friend came round for a tasting after learning of my cider. So I whipped a few bottles out of the home booze fridge. I grabbed an apple cider, an apple and pear cider and a, what I call, Real Apple Cider. As the previous two are made from my custom concentrate and bottled juice blend
Previously I had rated my concentrate blends over the cider's I have made from juice I have pressed/juiced myself. But I was pleasantly surprised that after twelve months or so of aging the cider constructed from "real" apples had developed some complexity of flavour and no longer tasted of cheap white wine. The apple flavour has come back, it also has a nice crispness to it, with good acid, not mouth puckeringly tart as some home made ciders I have tried have been, but a nice, solid acidic bite.
Suffice to say I'm pretty impressed with it, pity there's only half a dozen bottles or so of it left. It has however inspired me to go to the trouble again, and to also source some cold pressed juice from an orchard to experiment with. Only five years to go and I might have enough Bramley's, Yarlington Mill's and Brown Snouts to produce my own cider juice to blend with the blander juice's freely available, maybe even a single variety batch or house blend. Dont know how many apples three tree's will give me, but it will be better than none.
Cheers
Mick
