Shout it from the Mountain Tops

What's the most remote place you've ever enjoyed a cider?

I once hiked to the top on An Clisham, the tallest mountain in the northwest of Scotland (not a place really known for its mountains by the way). An Clisham is located on the Isle of Harris in the Hebrides, a remote a beautiful place.

At just over 2,600 feet elevation gain up a craggy, rocky, boggy unmarked trail in the middle of June 2008, we had worked up a thirst. And as my reward, I had carried a tall, cold can of Magners with me. It tasted all the better for the hard work of reaching the summit. We enjoyed the views and the feel of the wind in our faces. Great hike!

America's Taste Buds are Waking Up

So great to see headlines like: "Craft Cider Gaining Momentum" (Posted June 3, 2013 by Chris Furnari).

"Sales of U.S. hard cider tripled over the five-year period from 2007-2012, reaching about $600 million, according to market-analyst firm IBISWorld. While that’s a fraction of the $10.2 billion in craft beer sales from 2012 – craft beer being the obvious analogue to cider – many of the dynamics are the same for the category and it’s starting to get even more attention, particularly as it gathers momentum among consumers."

And the article concludes that "It’s all about education." It is my hope that by blogging about cider, sharing information, and sharing tasting and pairing notes, that I can be part of that education movement.

In the meantime - slainte!

My First Cider

Dry Blackthorn Cider--the first cider I ever tried.

My First Cider 

My first introduction to cider was in college. I was lucky enough to have a great group of friends from freshman year at UC Davis. We all hit it off right away as we had many things in common.

Davis was (probably still is) a great college town with lots of things to do. A favorite pizza place of ours was Woodstock's. Not being beer drinkers, we appreciated having an alternative on tap at Woodstock's--Blackthorn Cider.

We shared many a pitcher of Blackthorn, and I am a proud and loyal cider drinker to this day, some twenty years later!

Blackthorn is a dry cider from the UK

It seems fitting that this cider dates back to 1972 (a good year in that we got our start in life at the same time).

"The year was 1972 and a crack team of West Country master cider makers were tasked with making a new West Country cider to beat all others.

After months of blending, Blackthorn^® cider was born. The West Country know their cider, and The West Country liked it.

Word quickly spread and Blackthorn^® rapidly grew to become one of Britain's most popular ciders and one that remains true to its West County roots."

Visit the Blackthorn website.

Cider Summit PDX

Thanks to an increasing interest in hard cider drinking, events surrounding cider are popping up in more and more places.

An upcoming event on the West Coast is thanks to The Northwest Cider Association:
 Portland, June 21st-22nd 2013

Cider Summit
This is the largest-ever tasting of artisanal ciders from around the world.  First in Chicago, the event has expanded to Portland and Seattle. Each event features 60+ elegantly crafted ciders from producers in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, California, Michigan, England, France and Spain.