Ice Cider is one of the most exciting things to come out of the Northern American Climes since downhill skiing! Well, that would be stretching the winter-esque verbiage just a tad, but bear with me here just for a moment. I’m thrilled to share with you my passion for a dessert wine so unique that an entirely new flavor profile has to be honed within your brain. Unless you’ve spent any time in the Normandy (northern-decidedly un-touristy) region of France or in the frozen tundra of upper New York State and Vermont, it’s highly unlikely that the words Ice Cider would mean anything to you. But please allow me to introduce you to a product that is certainly as elegant as ice wine. But costs a 10th as much!
As a comparison, Ice wine is one of the scarcest forms of wine in the world- and it is understandably expensive. The grapes have to freeze on the vine without turning to black goop- it’s a process that already is expensive because the grapes (either Vidal or Riesling) are not an easy grow in the cold climates. Enter the much more durable apple. Apple cider has only been produced in the Niagara Peninsula and just beyond. The art of freezing the freshly crushed juice before fermentation is an art that many have never heard of, much less tasted.
That is until the Eden Cider Company in Vermont radically changed the way that cider can be enjoyed. Instead of drinking a glass of apple cider lightly fermented in a glass like beer or champagne, or sparkling-style-mixed with Guinness in a velvet- a miniscule portion of ice cider is a veritable revelation of flavor.
Ice Cider is concentrated goodness that only gets better over time. Just like German ice wines age over decades, Ice Cider can be laid down for longer than you would imagine. They are durable things that taste delicious on release too! For 29 bucks, DrinkupNY has something that very few people have ever tasted, much less know exactly what Ice Cider tastes like.
Heirloom Apples are not to be eaten un-cooked! That sounds so foreboding, when actually- heirloom apples are precisely the kind of apples that go into cooked foods. They have flavor far beyond the apples that you reach into a tree and freshly pick. Heirlooms are concentrated and tart. Some may say that they are bitter across the palate and quite drying. Others may want you to steer clear of heirlooms all together because they are quite ugly to look at. Whatever the case may be, the apples that make up the Eden “Heirloom” Ice Cider are things of rare beauty. Because no matter what they look like, heirlooms create liquid pleasure that goes down your throat, drop by drop into liquid driven dreams.
Sometimes you’ll want to mix with the Eden Heirloom Ice Cider and I’d say- go right ahead.
Rolling, Tumbling and Cascading of Pearl’s Infinite Wisdom
3 oz. Eden Heirloom Ice Cider
2 oz. Guinness Foreign Extra Stout- left to go flat overnight
4 oz. Sparkling Cider
Preparation:
Into a pre-chilled Burgundy Glass:
Add the “flat” Guinness
Float the sparkling cider on top
Finish with another float of the Heirloom Ice Cider
Serve and prepare another… They’re so good!
Cheers from all of us at DrinkUpNY!
Warren Bobrow is the celebrated author/bar man and mixologist responsible for the 1st book on the topic, Cannabis Cocktails.
Warren has written to date four books, Apothecary Cocktails, Whiskey Cocktails and Bitters/Shrub Syrup Cocktails. His first book, Apothecary Cocktails was nominated for a Spirited Award at the 2014 Tales of the Cocktail. Warren has been a dishwasher, and a pot scrubber- a cook- and a saucier. He cooked professionally around the country, Portland, Me., Charleston, Sc., Scottsdale, Az., New Hope, Pa., He owned and lost his fresh pasta manufacturing company located in Charleston, SC in 1989- Hurricane Hugo.
Then came a twenty-year career in Banking. Don’t ask! Demoralizing yet, essential.
Fortunate to do what he is passionate about, Warren has five books in May 2017 and more ideas on the way. Ministry of Rum judge, Rum XP associate, American Distilling Institute, Saveur 100, Oxford Encyclopedia, Sage Encyclopedia, Whole Food/Dark Rye, Liquor.com, Barrell Bourbon. He taught a deep dive on rum at the Moscow Bar Show, taught at Stonewall Kitchen, Attended the Fetes Gastronomie in Burgundy, traveled to Abruzzo in Italy for wine and Michelin starred foods, just to name just a few. From failed-executive assistant in a bank to tastemaker to the world.
Never working yet never not working. Smoke and Mirrors. Authentic.