Catching a Rainbow

The name cider comes from the ancient Hebrew word shekhar, which refers to an alcoholic drink, which was other than wine. The Bible refers to this drink in the book of Numbers (6.3 the same word route gives us the word intoxication, for after all cider is an alcoholic drink.

The ancient Greeks translated the Hebrew shekhar into sicera, or sikera, which eventually translated into Latin, as cisdre. Over time the ‘s’ was dropped and the drink became known as cidre and cider in France and Britain respectively.

Cider traditionally, is made only from the juice found within an apple. However, today commercial large-scale cider producers make their version of the drink from apple concentrates with the addition of water and sugar. These drinks should not be confused with the cider, made by traditional means in the same way for thousands of years, and which actually taste of apples.

Apples were first found in the Far East on the border of northwest china and all modern day varieties appear to have descended from the original stock according to Barrie Juniper, Emeritus Fellow in the Department of Plant Sciences at Oxford University,
“it appears that a single species still growing in the Ili Valley on the northern slopes of the Tien Shan mountains at the border of northwest China and the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan is the progenitor of the apples we eat today” (as cited in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apples)
With Apples of course comes cider. In its most primitive form cider would have been made from the collection of wind fallen apples, collected, piled high and the juice would have flown freely. Apples spread west into Greece through the Fertile Crescent of Persia, and on into Egypt. The first written account of an apple orchard can be found in Homer’s Odyssey. In it he describes to his ageing father his memory of this orchard…

"12 pear trees bowing with their pendant load, and ten, that red with blushing apples glow'd". . .
During the first century BC Varro a roman scholar, who later became known as the most learned of all the roman scholars, wrote on the propagation of apples, their storage and the construction of an apple store.
When the Romans arrived in England in 55 BC, they were reported to have found the local Kentish villagers drinking a delicious drink made from apples. According to ancient records, the Romans and their leader, Julius Caesar, embraced the pleasant pursuit with enthusiasm and the drink became popular with the legionnaires.

In the first century AD, Pliny described how farmers would auction the fruit on the trees to cider manufacturers, a practice which is still carried out today in some Kentish apple orchards.
In the eight century AD King Charlemagne passed a decree that all Norman farmers should plant apple orchards and although the populace learned how to tend to their charges they were not sure what to do with the vast glut of apples that soon ensued. Cider making was one outlet and in the 12th century this was further extended when the first Calvados was made.
Although a milestone, this would not have been the first time that cider was made in France and does not explain how and when cider making came to Brittany.

It is possible that it was introduced by the invading Normans as well as the Franks who descended on the region by way of Germany.
When the Romans invaded Britain, they found the local populace drinking a fermented drink made from apples, cider. When the Britons invaded Brittany they also would have taken their cider making skills with them.

In the eighth century there began the twenty-year Moorish invasion of Southern Europe, including parts of France. The Moors reached as far north as Tours on the banks of river Loire and it is possible that they also brought with them the art of cider making as not all of the invaders abstained from alcohol at that time. Brittany lay on the northern bank of the river and may have learnt the skill of cider making from the invaders from the south.

It is not being over simplistic to say that Breton cider is made from apples; just as wine is made from grapes. Throughout Europe, where one passes the northern limit of the grape vine, one finds apple orchards and cider.
Whereas beer is a mixture of numerous ingredients, wheat barley oats hops etc, cider is a far purer and simpler drink and has now become the second most popular alcoholic drink in France, after wine.

As with wine the yeasts required to make the finished cider are obtained naturally developing on the cider apples as they lay maturing on the orchard floor and as with wine the fruit is collected, crushed and the extracted juice fermented and stored in Oak barrels. The analogy does not end there.
Just as there are different grape varieties such as Merlot Grenache and Pinot Noir, so there are cider apple varieties such as ‘Amère Vieuxville,’ ‘Coëtquentel’, and ‘Damelot.’

There are two main ways of pressing the juice, the ‘rack and cloth’ method and the ‘straw press.’ both of which are to be found in Brittany today.
The ‘rack and cloth’ press is the most common and is better suited to larger scale production as it is easier to operate.
The apples are first washed and then fed into a grinding mill, which crushes them into a rough chopped pulp.
The press is lined with cheesecloth, although now nylon mesh is more often used, and the pulp poured in. The cheesecloth is folded over enclosing the pulp and a circular slatted wooden frame, usually oak, is placed on top. Another layer of cheesecloth is set in the press and more pulp added. The procedure continues until the press contains a dozen or so cheeses and the press is full. Pressure is exerted by means of a screw like vice and the juice is extracted, chilled and stored.

The older more traditional method of making cider and which can still be found on small-scale farm producers is by means of a cider cheese made with straw.
The base of the press varying in size is usually made of stout oak planks with a gully or gutter running all round leading to a collection tank.
A rectangular frame slightly smaller than the base plate is made from heavy planks of oak and into this frame is piled straw- wheat, barley or oaten. The chopped apples are then scooped onto the straw, which not only gives the cheese strength and texture, but also acts as a filter for the juice; which starts to flow almost immediately.
A second layer of straw is added and the frame is gently eased to the top of the pile so that the process of layering can start again. Apples straw, straw and apples all carefully placed on top of each other until the Cheese is in some cases six feet high and held together simply by the fibrous nature of the straw. As the press is tightened the cider gushes from the cheese in a golden torrent, threatening to overflow the culvert and cascading into the collection tank. Although fast and furious to start the final pressing can take as long as twenty-four hours to complete and for all the juice to be extracted.

In 1998 Cider producers in Cornouaille, an ancient region of Brittany encompassing south Finisterre, part of Morbihan and the Cotes d’Armor received the coveted Appellation Cornouaille Contrôlée and was the first in France to receive the AOC.

However, not all cider in Brittany is of this standard, the cider of ciders, the traditional delicate farm produced product which has become part of the Breton psyche.
One still finds factory cider, dull lifeless one that has never known an oak barrel. Ciders made from concentrate, sugar and whose overly effervescent fizz has been contrived by the unnecessary addition of alien gas.
Ciders we have become used to in Great Britain, chemical monstrosities with artificially elevated levels of alcohol only appreciated by the sad unfortunate homeless sitting on their Brighton park bench.

The real ciders of Brittany have such clarity and depth of character that even those who do not normally choose cider as a drink will enjoy them. They are light; fresh with such a taste of apples that no one could confuse them with any thing else.
Like good wine, good cider is made by a combination of factors all working together for the common good, and not only apples. The soil, rainfall, sunshine and the knowledge of the artisan all combine to make cider the perfect drink regardless of personal taste.
In Brittany there are four main cider categories and they relate to the sweetness of the finished cider.

The driest of the ciders are the sec, where much of the available sugar has been converted into alcohol and so have the appearance of being drier. As a consequence they also have higher alcohol levels of around 6%. The reduced sugar gives them a clean fresh taste, vibrant and make them eminently suitable for drinking with seafood especially shellfish.
Then the demi-sec; more sugar less alcohol, around 4-5% its golden robe more pronounced- perfect for drinking chilled on its own; with friends.
The Brut with its moderately effervescent foam, light sweetness, is the perfect accompaniment to be had with crêpes.
The Doux the sweetest of them all, soft as summer rain. Rarely exceeding 3%alcohol, inconsequential, difficult to pour, foam cascading down the edge of a chilled glass, evocative, rich…perfect with apple pie and cream.

(The demarcation is not strict and depends on producer a Brut by one producer may appear sweeter than a Doux from another.)

Cider was not normally taken seriously, it was a local drink of the farms not normally found or appreciated outside the regions of production, but that is now changing.
The prestigious hotel group, Relais et Châteaux, have constructed a cider trail; linking together some of the regions cider producers with nearby Relais et Chateaux hotels and restaurants. Thus giving the discerning guest the opportunity to see the production and then experience the product at a nearby hostelry. To visit the Cider Trail, click HERE.

Cider has been classed as a poor relative to the more affluent wine; but that is now changing. In Brittany cider is becoming ever more popular, not to compete with wine but to stand alone in its own right as a truly venerable and exciting drink.





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