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Cider Digest #0639
Subject: Cider Digest #639, 16 January 1997
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #639 16 January 1997
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: old English cider custom (Diana&Kirby)
cider recipe history (Garret Bitker)
Any source of dry/still English style ciders in the US??? (Dick Dunn)
batzi ("Gregory T.J. Heald")
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Subject: Re: old English cider custom
From: Diana&Kirby <trillium@magibox.net>
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1997 21:10:28 -0800
Hi there!
I just got on the list, and I'm reletively new to cider-making,
too...just bottled my second batch today. I don't know if anyone here is
interested in cider customs (but I can't see why not), but I saved this
message from a BBS years ago...
****
from my [the original post-er's] british magazine last year:
in one of the last remaining "wassailing" pubs in england, the tradition of
blessing the apple trees at wassail time (jan. 17) remains. at dusk (well,
6 pm--i guess for the convenience of modern job-holders), an armed group of
folks proceed toward the apple grove. they carry a steaming bucket of
mulled cider & toast points. they soak the toast points in the cider &
place them in an apple tree. [attracts robins which eat apple maggots]
then they pour some of the cider at the base of the tree & sing this
song:
old apple tree, we wassail thee
and hope that thou wilt bear
for the lord doth know where we shall be
come apples another year
to bloom well, & to bear well
so happy let us be
let every man take off his hat
and shout out to the old apple tree:
old apple tree, we wassail thee
and hope that thou wilt bear
hatfuls, capfuls, 3 bushel bagfuls
and a little heap under the stair.
three cheers for the old apple tree:
hip hip hooray!
" " "
" " "
they shoot off their guns to chase away the evil spirits, then pass the
remaining mulled cider around & sing some more. after this they return to
the pub. HIC!
****
..I did this last year with my first batch of cider, at the tree where
I picked my best apples from. It felt a little odd, but it was fun. And
it was nice to be able to thank the tree, and "give a little back",
regardless about how I may feel about "evil spirits" and such. The
tradition has apparently been going on for about 350 years in Somerset,
England. There will be a small group of us going out this year, so I
hope to feel less of the oddness and more of the fun. :)
Wassail!
Diana Schroeder
trillium@magibox,net
------------------------------
Subject: cider recipe history
From: gbitker@d.umn.edu (Garret Bitker)
Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1997 20:50:10 -0600 (CST)
I was wondering how far back cider making goes in history, and if you have
an idea what sources were used or quoted to find this. Also I would like to
find some authentic cider recipes from the past, from reliable sources.
Thank you for any help you may be able to offer.
_ _ _ _
|_| |_| |_| |
| Gevehard Von Baden
| My Little CyberCastle
^ /
| | |__ __ __ __ __ __
|_| | |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |
------------------------------
Subject: Any source of dry/still English style ciders in the US???
From: rcd@raven.talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: 13 Jan 97 23:05:04 MST (Mon)
Does anybody know of a source/brand/importer/any-info for English-style
still (uncarbonated), dry ciders in the US? I don't care whether they're
actually *made* in England; it's the style I'm after. I just want to get
away from the overprocessed sweet and/or fizzy commercial ciders that seem
to be all we can find locally. What I'd really like to find is "farmhouse
style" as you'd come across in Somerset or Herefordshire, made with proper
cider apples.
I know one way to get it is "save up the frequent-flyer miles and go back
to England again". Another is "plant Foxwhelp, Dabinett, Kingston Black,
Redstreak, etc. ... wait a few years, harvest, grind/press, ferment, age
in cask..." Well, gosh, I'm working on both of those, but somehow
deferred gratification (with the deferral expressed in years) just isn't
good enough. The cider I've been able to make has gotten much better,
especially after stumbling on a one-time source of real cider apples this
year.
But it's not enough for us, and it's definitely not enough for what I'd
like to be able to offer to many friends to make clear just what it is
we're trying to find and trying to produce. You can wave your hands 'til
you create a pleasant breeze and still not make the point; a wine-drinker
still thinks of "cider" as sweet-fruity and probably soda-pop fizzy. But
give him one small glass of a decent dry cider that's seen some wood, and
he makes the connection to something like a barrel-fermented Sauvignon
Blanc, and the light goes on.
We've talked directly to some cider-makers in England...they appreciate our
plight but are understandably not interested in trying to figure out how to
deal with international shipment, export/import/duty/tariff hassle, etc.,
for something that they're selling for a few pounds a bottle at most. The
few English ciders that are imported and reach us here are at the least so
highly carbonated it's hard to taste them.
Well, OK, I'm rambling...but I'm getting desperate. I don't think I can
make it another couple years before my next glass of good dry cider.
- ---
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Boulder County, Colorado USA
...Simpler is better.
------------------------------
Subject: batzi
From: "Gregory T.J. Heald" <gheald@mint.net>
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 20:23:25 -0500
I am looking for information on batzi, a distilled european cider product;
I believe that it's a close relative of calvados. Does anyone know more?
how is it made? is it available in the U.S.?
------------------------------
End of Cider Digest #639
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