CiderCon 2022 Sessions - Designed for Professionals, Beneficial for Consumers

Although CiderCon 2022 was a conference devoted primarily to cider professionals and members of the American Cider Association, there were plenty of seminars that benefited a layperson like me.  I attended four of these seminars that were at times very complimentary. In the future, the organizers may want to schedule the seminars on a goal-based path so that each builds upon previous sessions. 

400 Years of American Alcohol: Cider, History, Cocktails and More
This session was hosted by mixologist Tiffanie Barriere and over two cocktails using Potter's Craft Cider, she highlighted the history of cider - particularly through the eyes of Black historical figures. These figures included James Madison Ruffin -- an emancipated slave who managed many agricultural projects before and after the Civil War, including the planting and maintenance of Appomattox Plantation’s apple orchards and its cider fruit.  She told the story of Antoine Amedee Peychaud, who "came to New Orleans from the island of San Domingo, the former French colony that is now Haiti. By 1832 he owned an apothecary in the French Quarter where he made his famous bitters ... which was the essential ingredient in the official Sazerac cocktail. Among many bartender guides, Barriere introduced us to Tom Bullock, the famed bartender at the St. Louis Country Club and author of the 1917 bestseller The Ideal Bartender.  According to George Herbert Walker, a club member and both the grandfather and great-grandfather of a chief executive, "I doubt if he has erred in even one of his concoctions."  

Introductory Palate Training
This session was hosted by Darlene Hayes who also oversees the American Cider Association's Certified Cider Professional program. This was a foundational seminar on participants can familiarize themselves and train their palates to individual structural elements within cider.  We sampled a control cider in terms of that cider with different levels of sugar, acids, and tannins.  Worth repeating often. 

A Cider Among the Faults
Nicole Leibon hosted this session on determining which cider was the innocent control cider and which were fatally flawed. The panelists discussed several faults such as Volatile Acidity from Acetic acid (vinegar) and emphasis on Ethyl acetate (nail polish), Diacetyl (overly buttered), and Acetaldehyde (stale bread). 

Top of the Mitten: High Latitude Ciders from Northern Michigan 
Another session hosted by Nicole Leibon and where we finally started tasting retail ciders by exploring Michigan's 45th parallel.  Through two ciders each from Tandem Ciders, Left Foot Charley, and Presque Isle Farm. The beauty of this session is that these producers source the same apple varieties from the same orchards and use different fermenting methods to produce completely different ciders. Some are produced using controlled fermentation whereas others by wild ferments with some creamy and round and others funky and chewy.

Wild, Clean & Free: Harnessing the Beauty of Wild-Fermenting, Without the Flaws
This session hosted by Christine Walter of Bauman's Cider would build upon the previous by continuing the tasting of wild-fermented sparkling cider and Pet-nats.  We started with the delicious Kossah Wild Fermented from Raw Cider, followed by the 2017 Roxbury Russet Pet-nat from Artifact Cider, and finishing with the Sponti 2020 from Sundstrom Cider.  This last is fantastic, a wild fermented cider, aged on lees, and bottled unfiltered. Sparkling apple funk. 

A Popup New York Cider Tasting at Cidercon 2022

One unexpected and memorable event at CiderCon 2022 was a popup cider tasting organized by the New York Cider Association.  This consisted of a handful of Empire State cider makers, mostly from the Hudson River Valley, pouring multiple ciders to attendees. This tasting not only showed off the array of different apple varieties favored in New York, but also a range of styles.  

I started with a familiar sight: Graft Cider and Pennings Farm Cidery pouring at the same station. Although Graft has not opened a tasting room, their Flagship ciders are widely available in the mid-Atlantic -> try their  Farm Flor Rustic Table Cider.  I've visited Pennings in the past, but until this tasting, didn't appreciate their single varietal ciders as I've always brought home their light & dry Simple Cider. I really enjoyed the English Yarlington Mill with its astringency and tart flavor. Two more English apples were the Cox's Orange Pippin -- which bursts with various flavors -- and the tart Harry Masters Jersey. Can't wait to return to Warwick, NY. 

Abandoned Hard Cider, from Woodstock, poured the most interesting ciders, some made from a single tree. They also bottle and can cider made from foraged apples. The bottled 2020 Foragers Reserve was fermented naturally and carries a fresh yet farmhouse feel, whereas the canned The Forager is finished in a barrel to promote a rounder structure. Abandoned also cans a Barrel-Aged cider that provides even more vanilla and spices to the fresh cider. 

For true farmhouse ciders, search for those produced by Elizabeth Ryan at Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider.  The apples are grown from two Hudson Valley orchards and made using "classic European cider making techniques". This includes natural fermentation, unfiltered, and sometimes naturally effervescent.  Expect plenty of complexity and a pleasant funk in these ciders. 

Clarksburg Cider is located just outside of Buffalo and releases a plethora of ciders. Their Dry Hard Cider is very solid but I had a special affinity to their Savory Citrus which is made with a twist of lemon and a touch of sea salt.  A Gose cider. In addition, their Bourbon Barrel Cider is delicious where the bourbon notes do not overwhelm the apple flavors. 

Another non-Hudon River Valley cider producer was Lindner’s Cider located just east of Binghamton in Delaware County. They poured their 2021 Highlands made from Newtown Pippin, Winesap, and Gold Rush apples. This is a refreshing cider, slightly effervescent with some oak-induced notes and roundness from barrel finishing. 

The final, yet perhaps most interesting portfolio, was presented by Angry Orchard Hard Cider. The first was the single varietal Potter's Perfection - a medium bittersharp English apple. This was far from the semi-sweet ciders which Angry Orchard is known for and provides savory, tannic, and sharp acidic elements to the cider. They also produce a "manufactured" Ice Cider ($36) where the juice is left outside to freeze. This concentrated juice is then fermented producing a delicious dessert cider. Finally, Angry Orchard created a Pommeau (Pommeau of Walden - $48) where they blended eau de vie spirit with traditional French bittersweet apples and then aged three years in French oak. Fantastic.  I need to plan a trip to their Walden tasting room to purchase each one of these. 

Richmond Cider Roundup During CiderCon 2022

CiderCon 2022 provided Richmond cideries a tremendous platform to showcase their ciders during several after-hour events. Augmenting the River City's vibrant craft beer scene are three cideries, Buskey Cider and Blue Bee Cider (located in the popular Scotts Addition neighborhood) and Bryant's Small Batch Cider -- situated just south of the State Capitol.  A few weeks ago I was able to visit Bryant's primary orchard tasting room in Nelson County and gained an appreciation of that operation. However, the first night of the conference was my first visit to both Scotts Addition cideries. 

Buskey Cider

Buskey seemed to be the center of attention at CiderCon hosting tasting events on consecutive nights. They started by pouring cider from almost a dozen other Virginia cideries including Albemarle CiderWorks and Old Town Cider.  This Winchester cidery's dry Albemarle Pippin cider is excellent and its sharp dry finish was very similar to Buskey's dry cider.  Both are very worthy everyday refreshing ciders.  CiderCon also allowed me to meet a few orchard growers who tutored me on the intricacies of the Black Twig apple which led to a more interesting tasting.

On the second night, I participated in a seminar presenting Buskey's barrel program.  This session consisted of a sampling of five barrel-finished ciders, all but one currently bottled. These ciders all started from Nelson County apples which were fermented dry then placed in different barrels they purchased through a broker. One of these was a Gin barrel and this imparts several botanicals into the cider's aroma leaving citrus and some coconut on the finish. The Brandy barrel overwhelmed the cider with too much apple fruit and was the least favorite. The Mezcal barrel imparted an abundant amount of smokiness, but in an enjoyable amount, which elevated this as one of my favorites. The Sherry was also appreciated because of the nuts and dried fig and raisin flavors that the cider absorbed. Finally, we were served their Scotch cider, straight from the holding tank and peat was everywhere.  This was a fascinating tasting both from the ciders and the opportunity to talk to the Buskey personnel and other attending cider makers. 

Blue Bee Cider
After apprenticing at Albemarle CiderWorks, Courtney Mailey headed to the city to open her own cider operation and plant an urban orchard. From that orchard and another in Nelson County, she creates some of the most delicious ciders in the Commonwealth.  Many of these are single varietal ciders that you can sample through a Manchester flight. This penta-flight starts with the Harrison, a colonial-era cider apple from the northeast where the full-body, tannic, and abundant acids match the tasting sheet.  The Hewe's Crab follows and this was the most common fruit variety grown in eighteenth-century Virginia. It is thought to be a cross between the native American crabapple, Malus angustifolia, and a domesticated European apple. The funkiest of the group was the Spitzenburg, discovered in the late 1700s by an early Dutch settler of that name. It was found at the settlement of Esopus, on the Hudson River, in Ulster County, New York.  Lots of sweet and tart flavors but also some funk. The English Dabinett cider apple was the most interesting of these single varietals. The aroma is pure apple, like biting a kid's packaged lunch apples.  However, the flavor is bittersweet and tart. The final cider was the Golden Russet, a cider apple that arose in upstate New York in the 19th century, possibly derived from an English russet variety.  This cider showed a nice balance between tannins and acidity.

On a return trip, I had a glass of their Aragon 1904 which is one of Blue Bee's original ciders. This off-dry cider is made from a blend of modern and heirloom apples and is full of flavor, slightly tart - nice acids.

Bryant's Small Batch Cider
As much as I love Bryants'Brite Good dry brut cider, I used this visit to taste some of their flavored ciders.  For the conference, they made sure they had on tap a Banana Bread cider that tasted as advertised.  Not over the top, but noticeable walnuts and banana. I also went with a Coffee Chai cider for a little caffeine boost. The tea strongly presented itself and adversely overwhelmed the coffee.  I definitely preferred the version I sampled at their Nelson County barn. The Richmond taproom has another difference from the barn. With the paintings and other art, you feel like you are tasting in a Victorian parlor as opposed to a 1900s barn.