Well, not the most subtle of titles to introduce today’s topic – cider! Apples have gained fame and notoriety throughout history, from the Garden of Eden to hitting Isaac Newton on the head when gravity started to become a force to be reckoned with. We find them used in common sayings such as “Apples never fall far from the tree” (not attributed to Newton, but it is gravity again), “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” and “She was the apple of my eye”. It was the Romans around 55 BC that started to produce alcohol beverages from the fermentation of apple juice. In my book, that’s probably the best and kindest thing to do with apple juice.
Cider was my first introduction to alcohol. I remember sitting in a pub garden in Forest Row (on the edge of Ashdown Forest in East Sussex), sipping this sparkling, sweet and golden drink glistening in the summer sunshine. I’m not sure if it was me or the drink glistening, but probably me by the time we left. I was cycling from Croydon to Uckfield to visit my grandparents with my friend Ray and we met his parents at this pub. We were in our early teenage years at the time, but because we were with adults we were allowed to drink alcohol – maybe we had food as well, I can’t remember. From cider I moved on to lager and lime (“lager top”), lager without the lime (“topless lager” – no, just joking), bitter (that was a tough transition, but thankfully I stuck with it), and then onto hard spirits – vodka and orange, but it was orange squash rather than proper juice, commonly known as a “screwdriver”. Too many of those put a spanner in the works, and I’ve never been any good at DIY since.
The UK has the world’s largest consumption of cider per capita of population and and the largest cider producing companies. Cider became very popular in Europe in the 13th century because of the reputed health benefits it offered, and it was safer to drink than the water. It used to be very popular in the USA, but this popularity declined after Prohibition – farmers moved towards apple varieties more suited for direct eating and putting into pies – typically, cider apples are very tart, which is a bit ironical since their high sugar content makes them most suited to fermentation. The West Country in England is famous for cider apples, as is Normandy in France which is the home of Calvados, the famous apple brandy.
Cider used to be thought of as a sweet drink, but it comes in many forms and can be very dry. Scrumpy is typically cloudy, still and a bit abrasive to the throat. I remember drinking some in a pub in Devon – it was reputedly too strong (maybe around 8% abv?) to sell in pints, so the bar staff would only allow you to buy it in half pint measures.
White Lightning is a another name for moonshine in the USA, and it was the title of a 1973 film starring Burt Reynolds, In the UK, the cider marketed as White Lightning became very popular with under-age drinkers and hardened drinkers – people who wanted to get drunk as quickly and as cheaply as possible. It was sold in plastic bottles up to 3 litres in size for a very low price. Firstly, at around 7.5% abv it attracted a lower tax than stronger drinks, and secondly it was a white cider – meaning that it was fermented from the apple pulp left after all the juice had been extracted. Production of White Lightning ended in 2009 because of its negative associations, even though by then its alcohol strength had been reduced to 5% abv.
Well, I think this little post has got to the core of the matter as far as cider is concerned. Thank you for getting this far. The famous quiz continues below. Keep safe and well until tomorrow – maybe an apple to keep….
Alcohol Trivia Quiz
Yesterday’s answers:
1. Chianti
2. W. C. Fields
3. The indentation is to strengthen the bottle (not the wine!).
Today’s questions:
1. Which band had a hot with “Tequilla Sunrise”?
2. Is it possible to make white wine with red grapes?
3. What are finings?
Understand Yourself Better 