fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Holiday Gift Subscription
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

The apotheosis of the apple

by Sharyn Flanagan
April 1, 2016
in Entertainment, Food & Drink
1

Hard cider was once made and consumed throughout the country, but due to temperance politics and Prohibition, it eventually became a historical curiosity. Now, however, the beverage is making a comeback, featured in bars and restaurants all over the area, and regional promoters of the product have declared October 12 through 21 to be Cider Week in New York.

The celebration will be marked with a variety of events and hard cider tastings. The Rhinebeck Farmers’ Market at 61 East Market Street will hold a hard cider tasting on Sunday, October 14 at 11 a.m., featuring hard cider from Doc’s Draft of Warwick and Breezy Hill Orchard’s Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider, along with fall fruit crepes and hard cider sauce by chef Daniel Gendron. For more information, visit www.rhinebeckfarmersmarket.com or just stop by the Market.

On the same day, Sunday, October 14, the Aroma Thyme Bistro in Ellenville will hold a cider-and-cheese-tasting from 2 to 4 p.m., with a selection of six or more Hudson Valley ciders paired with local farmstead cheeses. Andy Brennan from Aaron Burr Cider and other cidermakers will talk about the history of cider and share their passion and knowledge. The cost is $25 per person. For more information, visit www.aromathymebistro.com or call (845) 647-3000.

On Friday, October 19 at the Peekamoose Restaurant in Big Indian, they’ll have a three-course tasting menu in the taproom featuring hard cider, both in the preparation of the foods and as a beverage to go with them. The cost is $40 per person, including dessert. For more information, visit www.peekamooserestaurant.com or call (845) 254-6500.

Also on Friday, October 19, Hudson Wine Merchants in Hudson will hold a tasting of Warwick Valley cider and spirits, presenting Chris Carbone from Warwick Valley Spirits, who will offer several options from its line of hard ciders to sample, and will have bottles available for purchase. For more information, visit www.hudsonwinemerchants.com.

So, for the uninitiated, what is hard cider, anyway? According to the cider experts at www.ciderweekny.com, the word “cider” means fermented apple juice, just as the word “wine” means fermented grape juice. Hard cider is frequently confused with beer, but real cider isn’t brewed. There is no grain and no cooking involved.

“Serious” cider is all apple juice, they say, pressed from apple varieties that you would never eat or cook with. Cider apples contain high levels of sugar or acid (too sour-tasting to eat) or can even be bitter. Many of the ciders are made by blending apples containing several of these elements. Climate and soil conditions play their parts, too.

In the interest of doing proper research when writing, I tried the hard cider made by Doc’s Draft in Warwick. I’d never tried hard cider before, and have no idea where I got my preconceptions from, but I have to say that it tasted nothing like I thought it would. I expected to pour out a thick and pulpy beverage from the bottle – one that would taste sweet and be dark brown in color, and maybe beerlike in taste. The reality was a crisp and effervescent beverage much like a sparkling wine, with a beautiful clear pale yellow color and a rich essence of apple flavor without being overly sweet: very refreshing – and by the way, very reasonably priced as well. I’ll definitely finish the bottle, and try another maker’s cider soon.

I’ll have lots of options to choose from: Doc’s Draft is one of many hard cidermakers in the region. Clintondale has Bad Seed Cider, and Staatsburg can boast of Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider, made without sulphites, produced by Breezy Hill Orchard. Aaron Burr Cider in Wurtsboro is produced from a small homestead farm dating to the early 1800s, and Kettleborough Cider House in New Paltz is a newcomer to the field: an estate cidery set to launch this fall.

So check out the Cider Week website, www.ciderweekny.com, for more events and information about hard cider, and ride the wave of the so-old-it’s-new-again beverage that’s coming to your town, and soon.

Visit www.ciderweekny.com for a list of local restaurants that serve hard cider, as well as cider-related tastings and events in the Hudson Valley. The Rhinebeck Farmers’ Market will hold a tasting at 11 a.m. on Sunday, October 14; the Aroma Thyme Bistro in Ellenville will have a cider-and-cheese-tasting for $25 on Sunday, October 14 from 2 to 4 p.m.; the Peekamoose Restaurant in Big Indian will have a three-course tasting menu featuring hard cider in the preparation of the foods and as a beverage to go with them for $40 per person on Friday, October 19; and Hudson Wine Merchants in Hudson will hold a tasting on Friday, October 19 of Warwick Valley cider and spirits.

Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

Ballet Next comes to Kaatsbaan

Next Post

New teacher report cards give more weight to standardized tests

Sharyn Flanagan

Related Posts

All the games worth playing in Ulster County, Jan. 25-31
Entertainment

All the games worth playing in Ulster County, Jan. 25-31

January 24, 2023
$800K from Albany to help Bread Alone rise
Business

Bread Alone’s Lake Katrine café closes, space to be repurposed into employee cafeteria/break room

January 23, 2023
Gamer’s guide to Ulster County events, Jan 18-24
Entertainment

Gamer’s guide to Ulster County events, Jan 18-24

January 17, 2023
Gamer’s guide to Ulster County events, Jan 11 – Jan 17
Entertainment

Gamer’s guide to Ulster County events, Jan 11 – Jan 17

January 10, 2023
Bringing the Rondout Valley together with traditional Afghan feast
Community

Bringing the Rondout Valley together with traditional Afghan feast

January 8, 2023
Dry Fly Coffee roastery & café opens at Zer0 Place in New Paltz 
Business

Dry Fly Coffee roastery & café opens at Zer0 Place in New Paltz 

January 5, 2023
Next Post

New teacher report cards give more weight to standardized tests

Please login to join discussion

Trending News

  • Onteora faces “unfathomable” choices as district’s enrollment dwindles 1.5k views
  • Stockade FC will play at Marist College’s Tenney Stadium while Dietz Stadium is being renovated 888 views
  • Who is Howard Harris, and why is he so angry at Woodstock town supervisor Bill McKenna? 854 views
  • Hunter Mountain’s ski weekend nightlife is staging a post-pandemic comeback 720 views
  • Saugerties to host inaugural Snow Moon Festival February 3 to 5 649 views
  • Top 10 free sledding hills in Ulster County (if it ever snows) 581 views

Weather

Kingston
◉
37°
Cloudy
7:13 am5:04 pm EST
Feels like: 34°F
Wind: 5mph SW
Humidity: 56%
Pressure: 30.07"Hg
UV index: 0
SatSunMon
46/28°F
46/30°F
37/28°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Holiday Gift Subscription

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing