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History of cider
From the XIIth century with the invention of the press, apple cider making is growing rapidly throughout France and especially in the West. Manufacture and enthusiasm spread throughout northern Europe until the beginning of this last century.
Local competitor from wine, cider is nowadays mainly produced in the west of France (Normandy, Bretagne) and you could almost forget the orchards still operated in the north, the Pyrenees, the Pays d’Othe in Champagne … Discrete but true to tradition, farmers and their fans continue to produce cider.
Last twenty years, the consumption of cider is steadily increasing. Low alcohol product and refreshing, it is a drink that can be enjoyed with friends and who knows also take its place at the table to accompany the gourmet creations. Cider is well known as an accompaniment for breton pancakes.
The exquisite virtues of apple cider
In the first century AD, Hippocrates was already recommending all the benefits of “apple wine”, a drink made from fermented apple juice, which becomes truly cider during the first millennium. We owe the invention to the people of Biscay in Spain.
Then the cider is the drink of the Princes. Charlemagne and William the Conqueror attributed great value to its refreshing, antiscorbutic and energy virtues. Charles IX appreciate its medicinal aspect and encourages the planting of apple tree.
How to buy cider
Prefer a traditional cider! Apples picked mechanically intensive orchard can not wait until they mature and are pressed immediately after harvest. Industrially, the cider is pasteurized and carbonated with carbon dioxide to block any changes in the product.
In a traditional cider, at every stage, we try to achieve the optimum aroma: ripe apples, slow fermentation, fermentation on natural yeasts. You will find that gradually forms a slight sediment at the bottom of the bottle. There is evidence that the fermentation is the result of fermentation in the bottle. It takes several months to get a quality product.
You will notice that the color of a traditionnal farmer cider will change very quickly: cider becomes darker in a few minutes after opening the bottle, due to oxygenation of the liquid. The natural apple sugar amount involved in the fermentation process make every bottle different, cider producers try to stabilize the production quality in taste with minimum sugar additions.
