Cider Association News

http://agbizcenter.org/blog/2013/03/nabc-helps-northwest-cider-association-look-to-the-growing-edge/?utm_source=NABC+Master+List&utm_campaign=ef6ba44fd0-Quarterly_Newsletter_25_Spring_20133_28_2013&utm_medium=email

The end of the "bubble tax"?

CIDER Act- Modernizes Definition of Hard Cider to Ensure All Products Can Be Labeled & Taxed Like Hard Cider, Not Wine http://www.schumer.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=341010&

Video from Virtue Cider

Love the building and their vision for cider...
Ep. 4 | Virtue Cider from Sergio Salgado on Vimeo.
Virtue Cider is a Michigan–based craft cider company. Partnering with local family farms to find the highest quality heirloom apples, we produce ciders that combine old world farmhouse styles with modern craft fermentation and aging techniques.

Practice and Space was excited to work with Virtue Cider. Greg Hall's and Stephen Schmakel's commitment to craft, ethical practices, high quality product and their beautiful cider house were a perfect fit for the series.

Learn more about Virtue at (http://www.virtuecider.com)
Learn more about Practice & Space at (http://www.practiceandspace.com)

Special thanks to Brian Wong (http://www.brianjwong.com/) for helping me shoot this piece.

Music:
"Skyline Horizon" by Rho (http://www.myspace.com/rhotunes)
"Week Seven" by Ben von Wildenhaus (http://www.benvonwildenhaus.com/)
"Outtakes" by Shave and a Haircut (http://haircut.bandcamp.com/album/outtakes-instrumentals)

"Try the cider; it's like beer for girls."

http://www.columbiatribune.com/arts_life/food/a-taste-across-the-pond-inspires-student-to-search-for/article_acedb900-90be-11e2-b67b-10604b9ffe60.html

Cider Bitters

Sounds interesting! 

http://www.tastingtable.com/entry_detail/nyc/12859/With_Orleans_Bitter_the_Negroni_can_go_local.htm

Steve Jobs was wrong.

 Well, I don't usually post this sort of business article, but this one really resonated with me.  A lot of people have told me to create a cider that I like and then market it correctly. I'm still convinced that I want my cider to be the product of a lot of my customers' input over the next couple of years.  People don't yet know what an American Cider should taste like and certainly not one from North Idaho.  What do you think?


http://www.fastcocreate.com/1682513/steve-jobs-had-it-wrong-why-you-should-look-to-consumers-for-product-innovation

Cider's a pairing workhorse

 The simplest way to go about pairing food with cider is to think of dishes and ingredients that you'd cook with apples.

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2013/03/basics-of-pairing-cider-and-food-suzanne-wolcott-goose-island.html

New brands and flavors driving hard cider popularity

http://www.monkeydish.com/trend-tracker/articles/new-brands-and-flavors-driving-hard-cider-popularity

Diamond Wine Rack

Just finished building this diamond wine rack.  Large enough to hold my first bottling run. I'll be blending and maturing about 30 cases.  Still far from commercial quantities, but a good start!

Interview with a cidermaker

http://winefolly.com/update/bull-run-cider/

Apple article from one of my favorite mags

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/05/beyond-the-mcintosh/306768/?single_page=true

Apple Pancake Tart

Apple Pancake Tart

Ingredients:
6     Tablespoons Butter
2     Large, tart apples, (peeled, cored and sliced)
3     Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1/4  teaspoon cinnamon
1/4  teaspoon vanilla
1/8  teaspoon nutmeg
5     Tablespoons confectioners sugar (plus or minus, to taste)
3     Eggs at room temperature
1/4  teaspoon salt
1/2  cup all-purpose flour
1/2  cup milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°F.
In a large bowl, mix apples with lemon juice. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla and toss to mix well.
In a 10 inch skillet, melt butter until just liquified. Remove from heat and reserve 2 Tbs of butter in a separate bowl. Return skillet to stove and bring the heat to medium. Add the apple mixture and cook, (stirring), about 5 minutes. Apples should  retain shape but be cooked through and tender. Test with a fork. Remove from heat and spread them into a uniform layer at the bottom of the pan. Set pan aside.
Place milk, eggs, four salt and 2 tablespoons of reserved butter in a food processor or blender. Combine until smooth. Pour the mixture atop the layer of apples in the skillet.
Carefully place the skillet in the stove and bake for 20 minutes, until puffed up and golden brown.
Wait a few minutes for pan to cool, then flip upside down on a large platter to expose the apple top. Dust with confectioners sugar and serve warm…

Apple Cake

 Apple Cake

Ingredients:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of salt
4 large heirloom apples (different kinds)
2 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
3 tablespoons rum (dark)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
8 tablespoons melted butter, cooled

Directions:
Set oven rack to center brackets. Preheat oven to 350° F and butter an 8 or 9 inch round, spring-form pan.
In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together until blended.
Peel and core four apples of different kinds, and cut them into chunks roughly 1-2″ in size.
Whisk eggs in a medium bowl until they foam. Slowly add sugar and whisk a bit longer until well blended. Add the vanilla and the rum and whisk some more. While continuing to whisk, slowly add half of the dry ingredients. When absorbed into the batter, add half the melted butter. Repeat until all butter and flour mixture are smooth and well blended. Slowly fold in the apples using a spatula. Be sure all apples are completely coated with bater.
Push the apple batter (it will be very thick) into the buttered pan,
Place the pan on the center rack and bake approximately one hour, checking the cake toward the end of the baking time. Remove when the top is golden brown, and when an inserted knife pulls clean from the cake.
Cool for five minutes, then loosen the cake from the sides of a pan with a butter knife. Slowly open the form and let the cake cool to room temperature before serving. You can use a spatula to release the bottom of the cake from the form, or use a wax string. Place a serving dish on top of the cake and carefully invert.
Serve with homemade whipped cream or ice cream.

 

A Delightfully Unusual, Autumn Birthday Cake