#ciderchat – Cyser – With Millstone Cellars and Red Branch Cider

#ciderchat

8/28/14

6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern

 

Each week on #ciderchat I usually share the virtual bar with a special guest, typically a cider maker or cider bar owner discussing cider from their point of view. This week I decided to tackle a cider style or shall I say a cider hybrid or is it a mead style? We will let the masters tell us. Representing cyser, a honey-apple blend, from two sides of the states will be Red Branch Cider from Sunnyvale, California and Millstone Cellars from Monkton, Maryland.

I haven’t had Red Branch products yet but I am hoping they will arrive magically at my doorsteps before the chat. Millstone, however is just an hour away and I can get their ciders and meads in just  minutes from my home at my badasss local beer store. I am thinking about trying the Peche Cyser for Thursday’s chat. We’ll see.

 

If you haven’t participated in one of our chats or at least lurked in the background, here is how it works.

Sign onto twitter and follow hashtag #ciderchat in your stream.  Open up a cider and join in the discussion or just sit back and watch. If you tweet, just make sure you add #ciderchat to your tweets so we can all follow along.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#ciderchat with Bantam Cider

#ciderchat

7/31/2014  6pm PST / 9pm EST

 

 

A few weeks ago I hosted a unique #ciderchat dedicated to the badass women of cider. Who showed up? Eleanore Ledger of Eden Ice Cider, Jill Lightner –  food writer at PCC Natural Markets, Jana Daisy-Ensign from Finnriver Farms Cider, Courtney Mailey from Blue Bee Cider and Jolie Devoto from Devoto Orchards Cider.  The women were on fire and we had one hell of an hour talking cider.

Another cider maker I reached out to was Dana Masterpolo and Michelle da Silva  of Bantam Cider but they were unavailable that night.  However, they agreed to be our special guest for this week’s #ciderchat. They generously sent me three bottles of cider so I am ready for another installment of #ciderchat.

#Ciderchat – A Cider and Cheese Pairing

#Ciderchat

7/24/2014 6pm PST / 9pm EST

 

I love showdowns especially the regional ones: East vs West.  North vs South.  We have seen them all in the foodie world – Wine, beer, chili, bbq and cheese. So why not the hottest adult drink in the nation – Cider. Both East and West have bragging rights to the top quality ciders in the U.S. so why not make this one a bit more interesting and pair West Coast ciders and cheese along with East Coast ciders and cheese.  Ellen Cavalli from Tilted Shed Ciderworks sent me an email the other day with a #ciderchat idea. Just in time because I had no theme planned. Shame on me.  Ellen and Kay Michaels are collaborating together to host a unique cider and cheese pairing that will take place at 3 pm on August 3 2014.

Join us on twitter for another epic #ciderchat  as we kick this event off  with a discussion of the art and craft of pairing cider with cheese. 7/24/2014 6pm PST / 9pm EST.

 

#ciderchat – Oregon Cider Week

#ciderchat

6/12/14  6pm PST / 9pm EST

 

So far #ciderchat has been absolutely awesome. But this week we have a biggie. David White and I came up with the idea of dedicating an entire chat towards the upcoming Oregon Cider Week which starts June 20th.

I have contacted a few top guns and they agreed to join us as we chat about the weeks events  and of course whatever else comes up.  Special guests include Bushwhaker Cider,  Tieton Cider Works, Wandering Aengus, Finnriver Farm and Cidery,  and Schilling  Cider.

Join us on twitter and follow hashtag #ciderchat at 6pm PST/9pm EST 6/12/14.

 

#ciderchat with Tilted Shed Ciderworks

#ciderchat

6/5/2014  6pm PST / 9pm EST

Ellen Cavalli and Scott Heath, are the husband and wife team behind Tilted Shed Ciderworks – a small cidery in the center of wine country, Sanoma County. Well actually Sanoma County was once a leader in apple farming and Tilted Shed aims to bring back that almost forgotten tradition.

 

Experimenting in New Mexico from 2007 to 2011, Scott Heath, the mad scientist/cider maker honed his cider making skills and brought his partner back to Northern California and opened Tilted Shed, producing small batch ciders the traditional way – from pressing to blending by hand.

Ellen, the master behind the scenes takes care of sales, marketing and distribution and will be joining us this week on #ciderchat along with Scott Heath, talking apples, cider making and the future of California cider.

 

 

Join other cider fans on twitter by following hashtag #ciderchat on Thursday 6/5/2014 6pm PST / 9pm EST.  See you there.

#ciderchat with Gidon Coll of Original Sin Cider

#ciderchat

5/29/14   6pm PST / 9 pm EST

 

Of all the guest host I have had on #ciderchat Gidon Coll is the only one I have personally met.  I met Gidon at Philly’s first cider fest Cider Core last autumn. Although it was pretty damn busy, we still were able to chat for a few minutes.

Gidon is a pretty damn cool bloke and really rocked the cider tent that afternoon.  Gidon is the cider maker and owner for Original Sin Cider, a New York award-winning cider company that specializes in refreshing and traditional ciders since 1997.

 

I can’t say it better than this so I took a section of Gidon coll’s beginning cider history from Original Sin’s web site:

“Coll immersed himself in the history and the craft of cider.  He experimented.  He brewed batch after batch in a small upstate New York winery.  He sought counsel from a local wine expert and from the owners, bartenders and patrons of bars he frequented in New York City’s Lower East Side and East Village.  He collected feedback from everyone he knew, adjusting and tinkering with his cider’s flavor until it was clean, crisp, and practically perfect. Then he enlisted friends to painstakingly hand-label bottle after bottle.  He lugged cases and cases in and out of NYC’s subways, delivering bottles to establishments of Manhattan and Brooklyn.”

30 states and 17 years later:

Join us as we get down and gritty with the man behind Original Sin Cider on Thursday 5/29/2014 at 6 pm PST / 9 pm EST.   Just follow #ciderchat and tweet along for an hour of fun with Gidon Coll.

 

#ciderchat With Eleanor Leger From Eden Ice Cider

#ciderchat

5/22/2014  6 pm PST / 9 pm EST

 

 

When I first started this blog I wanted to feature more than just reviews plus I didn’t have access to as many ciders as I do now.  I don’t quite remember how but I came across Ice Cider on-line and wanted to learn more about this cider style. I did some research and contacted the “Ice Queen” herself Eleanor Leger from Eden Ice  Cider.

Like other small cider makers she was cool enough to answer a few of my questions. To read the full post, click here.  I’d like to tell you a little about what Ice Ciders are but I will let Eleanor herself give you the inside scoop.  Oh, and she makes more than just Ice Ciders. See her web page here.

 

 

Eleanore Ledger will be the star of our #ciderchat on twitter Thursday 5/22/2014 at our usual 6 pm PST / 9 pm EST.  Remember to sign onto twitter Thursday and follow hashtag #ciderchat.  Follow along and share you questions and thoughts on cider.

#ciderchat With Bill Bradshaw

 #ciderchat

5/15/2014

2pm PST / 5pm EST / 10pm BST

 

 

You hear about super athletes like John McEnroe and Michael Jordan cradling a tennis racket or basketball in their hand before they could ride a bike. Well our #ciderchat guest Bill Bradshaw had a camera in his hand at seven years old and probably a pint of ale or cider also, though he may not admit that.

“Exploring the international cider world through a lens”. That pretty much sums it up.  Both photographer and cider blogger Bill Bradshaw has already written three cider books:

#ciderchat – A Virtual Cider Party

#ciderchat

5/8/2014  6 pm PST/ 9 pm EST

This week I thought we would try something different. Instead of inviting a guest host, I thought we would have ourselves a virtual cider party. We can discuss some popular topics such as what glassware to serve cider. the never-ending debate over traditional cider apples vs other apple varieties.  We will discuss our favorite cider styles. chat about upcoming events and discuss new cider trends. And just goof aff while drinking our favorites cider.

Sign into Twitter Thursday 5/8/2014 at 6 pm PST / 9 pm EST. Follow hashtag #ciderchat and add #ciderchat to your tweets. See you at the virtual bar.

 

#ciderchat With Bushwhacker Cider

#ciderchat 5/1/2014 6 pm PST/9 pm EST

 

You can always tell what kind of drinking city you have based on their local pubs. Philadelphia, one of the biggest beer drinking cities has hundreds of beer bars and rightfully so.  Will Philly ever have a cider pub?  sure but not anytime soon. But for Oregon they do (Bushwhacker Cider) and rightfully so. It just goes to how big cider is becoming in the NW.

We are on a roll with #ciderchat. We have gotten to know some big cider folks, well I mean the names are big not the people. This week we have Bushwhacker Cider, America’s first cider pub in Portland, Oregon.  bushwhacker produces in-house ciders and offers guest ciders on tap as well as over 200 bottles.  I live on the wrong side of the country.