From cozy days at dwelling to fortunate finds throughout Northeast adventures, these are the cider moments that stand out to me from the previous 12 months.
I slide a Beaver Brook Farm butterflied rooster within the oven to roast and begin searching for a bottle to crack — fortunately, past-me took excellent care of future-me, so there’s a Hancock Shaker Village (2020) from Berkshire Cider Challenge squirreled away in the back of the fridge for simply this event. That includes apples collected from a historic orchard in Massachusetts, this complicated quaff can be an excellent companion to my meal … if I can cease myself from ending it as an aperitif.
Between procuring in Freeport, Maine, and a hike on Bradbury Mountain, I greet the gabby hens and the pleasant cidermaker who welcome guests to Portersfield Cider. Made with a mix of foraged and cider apples and flippantly bottle-conditioned, 18/3 is a gem by itself, however really sparkles at the side of honey, hazelnuts and Winter Hill Farm’s Bradbury Mountain Blue cheese.
On a Halloween journey to Sleepy Hole, New York, I wander the bustling TaSH Farmers’ Market and encounter Treasury Cider from close by Hopewell Junction. Burr Knot, an unfiltered mixture of crab and bittersweet apples from Fishkill Farm, reveals itself as a tannic star with a touch of sweetness, crisp but earthy just like the October air.
I postpone springtime dinner preparations in favor of a well-laid cheese plate that includes alternatives from Arethusa Farm on the deck and open a bottle of Eden Cider’s Sorcière — wild-fermented in Newport, Vermont, with wildflower honey and aged a 12 months and a half within the bottle. It sings – and I hear.
Over zwiebelkuchen and sauerbraten at Schulte und Herr restaurant in Portland, Maine, I get a scorching tip from a good friend to hunt out a bottle of Cornish Cider Firm’s Final Picks. The following day, I snatch up the final bottle at Maine and Loire! It’s a testomony to resourcefulness: Honeycrisp and Northern Spy storage apples solely half targeting their technique to ice cider, so right into a used barrel for growing old went the wayward juice. I don’t watch for an important day to open it — it’s a celebration unto itself.
