As fruits go, the apple is an All Star. It can be the star of a dessert, play second fiddle to some lamb shanks and be pressed into juice and fermented into a drink called cider.
Hard apple cider has been having a moment. Riding the wave of the craft beer boom, cider is one of the fastest growing craft beverages, especially those made by independently owned cideries.
“Cider has become like craft beer where the focus is on independent, local, unique cider makers,” said Erin James, whose new book, “Tasting Cider: The Cidercraft Guide to the Distinctive Flavors of North American Hard Cider,” showcases the many aspects of cider. “It’s great to see the cider industry get the recognition as its own thing and the cider drinking options continue to grow.”
As editor-in-chief of Cidercraft magazine, James brings the beauty and complexity of cider to life through articles and recipes on a monthly basis. In the book, she takes the best parts of the magazine and amplifies them.
“We really wanted to create a bigger, bolder version of the magazine,” said James, who graduated from Marysville Pilchuck High School. “Like the magazine, we wanted to highlight food and cocktail recipes, as well as have storytelling about cider makers.”
The book is a great resource for a newcomer to the hard cider world. Before diving into breakdowns of cider styles and recipes, James goes over the basics. She walks newbies through a short history of cider, terminology and how to taste it, including a explanation of the sweetness scale and the flavor wheel.
As cider continues its strong comeback, it was important to James to point to the beginning of the beverage and its roots in America, a history that includes the Mayflower Pilgrims and Johnny Appleseed.
“It’s a historic beverage and there’s a nostalgia around it,” James said. “There’s a homegrown effect that has helped the industry.”
James then carefully dissects the different types of hard ciders through the eyes of those who make them. She said she hid away in a dark room for nine weeks, transcribing interviews and writing features on cidermakers, from Keith and Crystie Kisler of Chimacum’s Finnriver Farm &Cidery to Angry Orchard Hard Cider head cidermaker Ryan Burk.
The features bring to life the talents behind the brands we see on the shelf, and James marries them with “sampler platters” of cider styles, including single-varietal, barrel-aged and hopped. Each one takes 10 examples of the type of cider and breaks down their specific characteristics.
The second half of “Tasting Cider” is dedicated to the versatility of the apple. The book has recipes for cocktails that can be made with cider, plus a number of sweet and savory food recipes that use every last bit of the fruit. The recipes are from cidermakers, bartenders and chefs.
“It was exciting to connect with the people at the cideries and those who made the recipes,” James said. “I wanted the recipes to really showcase the cider and show off how they can be a perfect match with the fruit.”
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