Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
Crabapples: The only types of apple native to North America and Europe. The only apples native to North America and Europe are crabapples. Modern apples, Malus domestica, are genetically linked to Malus sieversii of Central Asia. However, the European crabapple, Malus sylvestris is also prevalent in many modern apple varieties. You can find North American … Continue reading Crabapples: The Native Apple
Welcome to the new weekly feature, Mālus Trivium, a visual presentation in apple and cider information. The modern apple originated on the foothills of the Tien Shan mountains in Asia. Genetic research has shown that all our modern day apples, including cider apples can trace their DNA back to the wild apples on the Tien … Continue reading The Origin of the Apple
Something good needs to come from 2020. For me, its all about the apples. I got to try some great new apples along with my usual favorites this year. While my main focus is always on hard cider, better understanding apples helps me choose the best ones to use for my cider. Part of understanding … Continue reading My Favorite Apples of 2020
I am a big advocate that hard cider should reflect your local area. If you are lucky enough to live in England, France, Spain, or even some places in the US that have cider apples, maybe local hard cider would means a traditional cider. That could be dry, tannin-rich and farmhouse, keeved and sparkling, or … Continue reading Hard Cider: The Local Way
I brought reinforcements and a better plan for my second visit to apple paradise. Our COVID friend met us at the experimental orchard, my apple paradise, to help us find and pick apples. We introduced him to varieties that he’d never heard. We were also able to spend a fair amount of time talking with … Continue reading A Day at the Orchard: Apple Paradise Revisited
If I asked you to define the color that hard cider should be, what would answer? I’m not talking about an adjunct hard cider, but a tradional hard cider made from apples or pears. Would you tell me it should be a dark amber? Should it be a golden hue? What about a yellow so … Continue reading The color of Cider
When you pick apples in Southern Arizona, whether you sweat or not isn’t often a choice. Even at cooler elevations over 5000 feet, the sun can be brutal and I often work up a good sweat gathering apples for my hard ciders. Believe it or not, apples can also sweat or at least they lose … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #25: To Sweat or Not to Sweat
There is a saying in many English speaking countries that summed up my weekend apple picking experience. That saying is “like a kid in a candy store”. This year, I have been searching southern Arizona for new and unique apples. It has taken me to several new orchards and so far, I have found 6 … Continue reading A Day at the Orchard: Apple Paradise
It’s a sad day when an apple or pear tree dies. I visited Angle Orchard just outside of Safford, Arizona, recently and was introduced to one of the matriarchs of the original orchard that was planted in 1922. She is an Arkansas Black apple tree. An heirloom apple variety of the south that dates back … Continue reading A Day at the Orchard: Old Apple Trees Never Die
I love apples but since I love hard cider, that probably doesn’t surprise many people. However, two of my favorite things in life are finding new hard ciders and new apples that I have never tried. For 2020, I have been exploring some new orchards and that means new apples and ultimately, it will mean … Continue reading A Day at the Orchard: Exploring New Apples
