The Cider Route

Normands are very proud of their culture.  Go to any patisserie  or charcuterie and ask them what Normand dishes they have available and they will glow and show you with pride what their people like to eat.  One of the things that the Normands are really proud to call their expertise is apple-based alcoholic drinks.  Apple farms dot the countryside in Normandie, especially in the Route du Cidre (Cider route) area.  Driving through this area we frequently came upon signs that read Ferme de Cidre or Calvados ici. We stopped at a few of these cider farms and the producers were always more than happy to show us their facilities, teach us process of making cidre and calvados and sell us a bottle of their delicious home-grown cider (which, when bought on the farm, is really not expensive).  Just a few notes on what the producers told us about the process (all in a very passionate way of course):

"Excuse-me Monsieur.  Can you tell me how it works?"

Cider:
It takes about 6 months to make.  The apples are shaken off the trees (traditonally, the trees are planted only 100 per hectare to ensure max. sunlight) or gathered from the ground.  After beeing stored for a couple of weeks to let them mature, they are pressed. The next step is purification, a process that seperates the floating solid matter (known as le chapeau brun -brown hat) from the clear juice.  This apple juice is pure ecstasy.  Seriously, I had to stop myself from putting my mouth under the spout and swallowing litres full.  We were forced to settle for the cupful the farmer had offered me. Anyway, this juice is then slow-fermented for three months.  Finally, this partly femented juice is bottled with just the right amount of yeast so that over the course of two months, the cider becomes naturally carbonated inside the bottle, like champagne.  Chris almost put a light out and crapped his pants the first time he opened a bottle.  He did not expect the cork to shoot out so violently.  Alcohol content ranges from doux (sweet) at 3% to 5% for brut (dry) and demi-sec (semi-sweet) coming in at 4% (our favorit).

 

The apple orchard.  Nothing big, nothing small, just efficient. 

 Bernard pressing the apples. He was so happy and proud to show us his apple concoction, he even gave us a room to sleep in that night !

 Let's press together, yeah yeah yeah !

That's where the purest, sweetest (naturally) juice goes.  Can we just lay in there and gulp?

The result? Delicious cider !

Calvados (apple brandy):
Known as the "finest destiny of the apple", Calvadoes takes even longer.  First, the raw apple juice, including the chapeau brun left by the pressing, is fermented for 6 months, with a fast fermentation, followed by a slow one. When all the sugar has turned into alcohol, the juice is distilled, usually twice.  The resulting liquid is clear but takes on a beautiful delicate golden color from the oak casks in which it's aged from two years to many decades.  The alcohol content is usually about 30%.

Putting the juice in the cask.  See you in 6 months !

Phew ! Got that?  Ready to make some cider now?

Another Normandie favorit is pommeau, an amber-coloured aperitif made by mixing unfermented apple juice with Calvados.  This was, by far, my favorit drink as it had the perfect sweetness and was not too strong.  A great after-supper drink.

 A very sad day.  We're out of Pommeau and a far ways from Normandie.

And so, we've decided, when we get back home, and rack all the red wine waiting for us in the carboy, our new project will be home-made cider!  

Other regional drinks include cognac, amergnac, floc, champagne...and much more to discover!