Cider is given the short shrift all too often. While in the popular imagination, it's grouped with beer, cider is a subcategory of wine. Wine is the fermented juice of any fruit, while cider is the fermented juice of any tree fruit: Pear, Apple, Quince! While there are certainly some mass produced, mediocre examples, there are some truly extraordinary examples.
Cider Spirits Project
Thursday starts Cider Weekend, where several NJ establishments feature excellent examples of this under-rated beverage. Since it's Thursday, we're going to turn over The Spirits Project at Catherine Lombardi to an exceedingly special cider. Eden Ice Cider is a riff on Eiswein, but from apples. The juice is naturally cold-concentrated outdoors in Vermont winter weather. They use no enzymes, fining agents, color, sugar, other flavorings or preservatives. It takes anywhere from 1 – 3 years to produce an ice cider, and over 8lbs. of apples to produce one 375ml bottle!
We will open a bottle of Eden Ice Cider at 6:30. We will pour 2 oz for $5.
The Rest of Cider Weekend
On Tap
We will tap into a fresh keg of E.Z. Orchards "Hawk House" Cider. E.Z. Orchards, in Wilamette Valley, is one of America's top cider producers. Hawk Haus is named for the kestrel nests found on the property and is a blend of Jonathan and Yarlington Mill apples. Pale, yellow-golden in color and lightly hazed with modest, tiny carbonation bubbles like the finest sparkling wines. It's big, soft and round on the palate with gentle acidity. Notes of cinnamon and brown sugar are reminiscent of apple turnover. The finish is just short of total dryness and very clean. $9 for 8 oz
In Bottle (750 ml)
We have quite a collection of rare and delicious Ciders by the bottle (wine bottle size). All will be 20% off for Cider Weekend.
From Cidrerie du Vulcain in Switzerland, we have two extraordinary ciders.
- Pear Cider (best I've ever had) from their very old pear trees -normally $66, now $53 or $13 a glass
- Trois Pepins, the most interesting cider I've ever had, from 3 fruits: quince, pear and apple. -normally $49, now $41 or $10 a glass
From E.Z. Orchards, we will pour their 2011 vintage cider, which we've been aging in our cellar. -normally $40, now $32 or $8 a glass