Not wine this week but cider as October is National Cider Month according to CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale. October is when cider apples are at their ripest and are hand-picked, pressed and fermented into a fruity beverage that is a real alternative to wine.
It's the blend of natural bitter tasting tannins, sugars and the necessary balancing malic acid - the chemical ingredient that makes all apples taste fruity – which turn cider varieties like Redstreak and Crimson King into food-friendly drinks.
The best ciders are made from a mix of Bittersharp, Sweet and Bittersweet varieties. Blend varieties with a bitter skin, low acid levels and a sweet bite and the result is a cider ranging in style from scrumpy to delicate appley aperitifs that taste similar to wine.
Light tasting entry-level ‘women-friendly’ ciders are replacing traditional fizzy ciders on the supermarket shelves. Using a high percentage of the low malic acid Sweet cider varieties makes a drink that tastes lightly of apples and lemons. The result is less like cider and more like a wine made with the white grape Pinot Grigio.
If you want a wine-like cider then Frome Valley Henney’s Dry. Alternatively you could just get a cider-like wine - Sainsbury's German wine Niersteiner Gutes Domtal's (£4.50) tastes of lemon, elderflowers and apple.
PG Cider Reviews
Expect to pay up to £4 for a bottle of premium bottled cider, but most are more reasonably priced in the £1.50 to £2.30 price bracket.
Aspall Organic Suffolk Cyder
£1.98 Asda, £2.29 Ocado
Chewy and earthy with some gum-grabbing tannins but balanced.
Frome Valley Henney’s Dry
£1.99 Tesco, Waitrose; £2 Sainsbury’s (all offering 3 for £5)
Crisp and light
Westons Premium Organic Cider
£2.15 Waitrose
This Herefordshire blend of Bittersweet and Bittersharp varieties has been fermented and matured in oak vats. And you can taste it too. Creamy, oaky over-tones compliment the light apple flavours.
Aspall Draught Suffolk Cyder
£2.29 Waitrose, Ocado, Tesco
Fruity and dry.
Chaplin and Cork’s Somerset Reserve Cider
£2.29 Tesco
Rich and appley.
This article also appeared as Paula's Wines of the Week on MatureTimes.co.uk
Purple-stained cooking water is a sure sign of an accidentally nicked beetroot skin. But don't discard this nutrient-filled liquor, allow it to cool then add some sugar and yeast and the result in a couple of weeks time will be a beetroot 'country' wine.
Birthdays are funny things. They arrive without you really noticing and suddenly you are six years older. Which is what has just happened to this column – Paula’s Wines of the Week is now six. It was July 21st 2008 when the first bargain wines were recommended and since then I’ve been sorting out the bargains from the you've-got-to-be-kidding bottles for you. So it’s time for birthday cake and plenty of tasty wines to help wash it down.
Mix yourself a Rum and Coke cocktail using a dash of dark rum and a classic cola then watch a harmless frothy scum form around the added ice cubes. Then mix another Rum and Coke but using pale rum (Barcardi is suitable but a supermarket own-label will be just as good at two-thirds the price). No dirty looking froth forms this time, but why is that?
