Ice cider
Encyclopedia
Ice cider is the cider
equivalent of ice wine
: a fermented beverage made from the frozen juice of apple
s. There are two main approaches to producing ice cider: cryoconcentration and cryoextraction. Cryoconcentration involves harvesting the fruits late in season and leaving them in fresh storage until late December, when they are pressed and the fresh juice is left to freeze naturally. In January, the concentrated juice begins the process of cold fermentation. Cryoextraction (not the same as the cryoextraction of wine) is similar to the traditional method used to produce ice wine: apples are left on the trees, at the mercy of the weather, until the end of January. They are picked when the temperature hovers around -8°C to -15°C, and then pressed and left to cold ferment for months.
, a small town in Québec
just north of the Vermont
border, by Christian Barthomeuf, a pioneer of Québec's small wine industry. He continues to develop the product in collaboration with La face cachée de la pomme in Hemmingford
, Montérégie
. Ice cider first became available in stores in 1996. Today it is widely distributed by Québec's government-run chain of liquor stores, the Société des alcools du Québec
(SAQ), where it accounts for about 70% of all sales of Quebec products. There are about fifty producers. Most are of very small size, attracted in part by the very low capital costs required to enter the business. In a press release dated 8 June 2008, the SAQ confirmed that "sales of Québec products have increased six-fold in five years at the SAQ, from 2 million in 2002 to just over 12 million dollars in 2007."
The leaders of La Face Cachée de la Pomme, in collaboration with the Association des cidriculteurs artisans du Québec
, held discussions with government stakeholders to enable the development of a designation reserved for ice cider in Québec. In 2005, a bill was introduced in committee and subsequently filed.
Cider
Cider or cyder is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice. Cider varies in alcohol content from 2% abv to 8.5% abv or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, such as Germany and America, cider may be termed "apple wine"...
equivalent of ice wine
Ice wine
Ice wine is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape must to be pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more...
: a fermented beverage made from the frozen juice of apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
s. There are two main approaches to producing ice cider: cryoconcentration and cryoextraction. Cryoconcentration involves harvesting the fruits late in season and leaving them in fresh storage until late December, when they are pressed and the fresh juice is left to freeze naturally. In January, the concentrated juice begins the process of cold fermentation. Cryoextraction (not the same as the cryoextraction of wine) is similar to the traditional method used to produce ice wine: apples are left on the trees, at the mercy of the weather, until the end of January. They are picked when the temperature hovers around -8°C to -15°C, and then pressed and left to cold ferment for months.
History
The first claim to commercial ice cider was in 1990 in DunhamDunham, Quebec
Dunham is a city in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 3,396.-Population:Population trend-Language:Mother tongue language ...
, a small town in Québec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
just north of the Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
border, by Christian Barthomeuf, a pioneer of Québec's small wine industry. He continues to develop the product in collaboration with La face cachée de la pomme in Hemmingford
Hemmingford, Quebec
Hemmingford, Quebec may refer to any of two entities:*Hemmingford , Quebec, a township municipality*Hemmingford , Quebec, a village municipality enclaved in the township one...
, Montérégie
Montérégie
Montérégie is an administrative region in southwest Québec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Granby, Longueuil, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Saint-Hyacinthe, Sorel-Tracy, and Vaudreuil-Dorion....
. Ice cider first became available in stores in 1996. Today it is widely distributed by Québec's government-run chain of liquor stores, the Société des alcools du Québec
Société des alcools du Québec
The Société des alcools du Québec , often abbreviated and referred to as SAQ, is a provincial Crown corporation in Quebec.-Organization:...
(SAQ), where it accounts for about 70% of all sales of Quebec products. There are about fifty producers. Most are of very small size, attracted in part by the very low capital costs required to enter the business. In a press release dated 8 June 2008, the SAQ confirmed that "sales of Québec products have increased six-fold in five years at the SAQ, from 2 million in 2002 to just over 12 million dollars in 2007."
The leaders of La Face Cachée de la Pomme, in collaboration with the Association des cidriculteurs artisans du Québec
Quebec cider
Quebec cider is crafted in the apple-producing regions of Montérégie, Eastern Townships, Chaudière-Appalaches, the Laurentides, Charlevoix and Québec, in Canada. The revival of cider is a relatively new phenomenon, since Quebec's alcohol regulating body, the Régie des alcools, des courses et des...
, held discussions with government stakeholders to enable the development of a designation reserved for ice cider in Québec. In 2005, a bill was introduced in committee and subsequently filed.
Definition and standards
Cidre de glace: drinks produced by the fermentation of apple juice, which must have a concentration of sugar before fermentation made solely by the natural cold of at least 30 Brix and whose product has a residual sugar content of at least 130 grams per liter. Finally, the alcohol will be obtained over 7% and less than 13% alcohol by volume. In addition, the specifics must be met:- no chaptalizationChaptalizationChaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The technique is named after its developer, the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal...
; - no addition of alcohol;
- no artificial apple juice or grape must;
- permission for artificial cold cider (-4 °C) for malic precipitationMalic acidMalic acid is an organic compound with the formula HO2CCH2CHOHCO2H. It is a dicarboxylic acid which is made by all living organisms, contributes to the pleasantly sour taste of fruits, and is used as a food additive. Malic acid has two stereoisomeric forms , though only the L-isomer exists...
; - no additional flavours or colouring;
- no concentration of sugars by methods other than natural cold;
- no use of concentrated apple juice, regardless of origin, whatsoever;
- organoleptic profile of the product corresponds to that of an ice cider as determined by a trade committee;
- the producer of ice cider cultivates the apples;
- the pressing, preparation and bottling of cider ice occur at the site of production.