You know that guy you meet who constantly uses his fingers to make inverted commas. Well…if you met me I would annoy the hell out of you. You see, I do that all the time. I do it when I talk about the mass-produced “cider” that some commercial producers make, bottle and sell. Some may call it “cider” but, in fact, often it isn’t cider at all. It’s actually made from a fermented apple concentrate.
That means concentrated alcohol – sometimes 12 – 13 %. And, yes, if you’re thinking the only way to water that down is to…water it down… you’re right. So they do. Which means less alcohol. Cool. But also less flavour. Not so cool. But enough about that. Let’s look for the silver lining. Luckily, we make genuine cider.And what makes our cider a genuine cider? Well, ingredients for a start. We use the real deal. Elgin apples. Up to five different types to be exact. We even make a pear version and, yes, those are as good. For us fruit is key – it’s the backbone of our product. The quality of the raw ingredients also means that, at Everson’s, we don’t really need to add much else. Ingredients are one thing though. You need someone to actually do something with them. We’re lucky to have a secret weapon. William Everson. Having built up a bit of cult following as a garagiste winemaker in Elgin, he realized that the same factors that come into play when creating a beautiful bottle of wine can be adapted to create a perfect cider. Things like terroir. Things like soil condition. Things like the fermentation processes. Things like climate. So he set out to make a cider. Starting with those Elgin apples (or pears), our process involves crushing the fruit and fermenting the juicein tanks, along with a premium cider yeast. From there the juice is aged in oak, racked and filtered. The final step is a hit of CO2 to make it a sparkling cider. What you’re left with in the bottle is the good stuff. Genuine, proper, real cider. This is a drink with actual flavour profiles and subtleties. This isn’t a cider that you drink when the bar runs out of beer. It’s something to be appreciated. And while we might not spend loads of cash on advertising or promotions, we hope the proof is inside the bottle. Crack one open and find something that has been crafted the old fashioned way. It’s honest and it’s real.
