When it comes to the main ingredient in our cider, we are, of course, very particular. We thought we would share our thoughts on choosing the very best apples.
Comparing Apples with Apples
Not all apples are created equal when it comes to cider making. Fruit Expert estimates that there are around 7, 500 different apple varieties, all of which fall into one of three different apple categories: dessert, cooking and cider. Dessert apples, also known as stable or eating apples, are the ones we eat straight from the tree. They are primarily grown for their sweetness and flavour and are often characterised by their firm and crunchy texture, making them perfect for eating raw or using in desserts. Cooking apples are varieties of apples specifically grown for culinary use. They are usually tart and firm, making them ideal for baking, stewing, and sauces, but not eating. Cider apples, on the other hand, are renowned for their bitterness and dry flavour. Most of these are definitely not something you would want to take a bite out of but what makes them bad for eating is what makes them a brilliant base for fabulous cider.
Cider Apples
In 1903, the Long Ashton Research Station categorised cider apples into four main types according to their proportion of tannins and malic acid. These are the magic ingredients, along with natural sugars (which aid fermentation and offset bitterness), required to make great cider. Tannins add depth to a cider’s flavour and improve mouthfeel. Acidity adds freshness and balance. The four recognised cider apple categories are bittersweet (low in acid, high in tannins) bittersharp (high in tannins and acid), sharp (low in tannins, high in acid), and sweet (low in tannins and acid). Bittersharps have all the qualities required for single varietal ciders but many ciders are made from a blend of juice from a variety of cider apples, sometimes from different categories, to ensure a finished cider with a rounded flavour and the best and most consistent quality.
Dessert and Cooking Apples
Dessert apples, like Royal Gala and Braeburn, tend to be ‘sweet’ apples that are low in tannin and malic acid. This makes them delicious for eating but if you try to make a cider from them the result is flat and one-dimensional. Cooking apples, such as Bramleys, tend to be ‘sharp’ apples. They have more acid than dessert apples but still lack the tannins required to make great cider. But, whilst cider apples are the essential ingredient, other apples can be used within a carefully selected combination to create award-winning cider. It is part of a cider maker’s skill to get the right mix of apple types to produce a highly palatable drink.
It’s All in the Mix
Take our best-selling Devon Red. It champions three key apples. Dabinett is a ‘bittersweet’ cider apple that brings desirably high levels of tannin and astringency. Farmers Glory is a ‘sharp’ that adds bite. These are complemented by the addition of Sweet Alford which brings layers and depth, along with a honey note on the finish. The carefully blended mix results in an easy drinking cider with broad appeal. Compare this to The General, our traditional tannic cider which is the culmination of three different ‘bittersweet’ cider apples: Yarlington Mill, Tremlett’s Bitter and Dabinett. The juice is then aged in a 120 year old oak vat leaving a cider with fantastic depth of flavour with complex notes that most wines would fail to achieve. The General has won a host of international awards, because of the process and because of the apples. If you change either, you don’t get the result.
The Apples Decide the Blend
We know that outstanding ciders like ours can only be achieved by allowing the apples to be the stars of the show. Of course alongside ciders that we choose to hero individual apples – the proudest we feel is to nurture the orchard blends as grafted and planted by the generations of farmer cider makers before us. In our orchards we have hundreds of different varieties, all adding their voice to the joyful chorus that is true raw, whole juice West Country cider. As our work on DNA profiling enters it’s fifth year, we hope to be able to announce newly rediscovered apples, and learn about their own unique contributions to our craft.
A good read. My dad’s old orchard had some really old Devonshire cider apple trees in it. Unfortunately he sold it and the new owners have taken a lot of them down. There’s still some trees there. Dad was even on Radio Devon talking about them many years ago.
Very interesting article and helpful to a community orchard as well. One always learns more from experts.