2017 ESSENCE
SOLD OUT Ice Cider
$26 | 500 ml
Scents of fried apples, sage, and brown butter lead, supported by hints of herbs de Provence. On the palate, salted caramel and lemon curd. The finish is a lingering silkiness of apple butter, acidity, and summer savory.
Serving Suggestion:
Pair this cider with a sharp bleu cheese, a warm ginger cookie, or crustless Italian cheesecake.
The Story of Essence 2017
In October of 2018, we released the 2017 vintage of our Essence ice cider after nearly a year from pressing to bottling. We pressed our apples—a blend of Spigold, Melrose, Fuji, Idared, Jonagold, and Empire—November 9th through November 12th, froze the juice, and extracted the sweet essence in early February of 2018. From 2000 gallons, we pulled 330 gallons of high brix juice to ferment and bottle.
The 2017 vintage is unique in the successfulness of the extraction and in the duration of fermentation. The cryoconcentrated juice measured approximately47 brix in February, so high that we had difficulty getting it to ferment. After three inoculations with yeast and 7 months fermenting in stainless, the cider contained 260 grams of sugar/liter and 9.45% alcohol. To reduce the residual sugar and add some tannins, we blended in dry bittersweet cider, resulting in 20% residual sugar and 9.2% alcohol.
Ezra Sherman, Cider Maker/ Orchardist
Apple Varieties:
- Idared
- Fuji
- Melrose
- Jonagold
- Spigold
- Empire
- Liberty
Production Notes:
- Late harvest fruit pressed in mid-November, then juice froze and allowed to go through several freeze-thaw cycles; cryoconcentrated juice collected at incredible 47 Brix
- 7-month fermentation stalled with 25% residual sugar; dry cider blended in until final RS of 20% was achieved
- 300 cases bottled
Numbers:
- Residual Sugar 20%
- Alc/Vol 9.2%