Pairing Modern & Specialty Ciders with Cheese
When temps start dropping and leaves start falling, it means one thing: apple season—and therefore cider season—has arrived. Hard apple cider has exploded as an alcohol category in recent years, especially in New York State, as liquor laws have been expanded to grant farm distillery licenses to farms making craft beer, cider, wine, and spirits. There are currently more than 900 cideries across the U.S., and local craft brands are appealing to a wider audience with their complex and nuanced drinks.
That’s right: apple cider doesn’t have to mean an overly sweet beer alternative. After all, there’s more than one way to make cider, and the ingredients and process alter the type of cider that’s produced. The United States Association of Cider Makers (USACM) has identified about a dozen cider styles, which fall under the umbrellas of heritage, modern, and specialty. Heritage ciders refer to European-style ciders, popularized in the UK, Northern France, and Northern Spain, while modern ciders are generally made in the U.S. Specialty refers to ciders with the addition of other ingredients. Unsurprisingly, cider pairs exceedingly well with cheese, thanks to its high acidity and varying levels of dryness. We talked to experts in the cheese and cider field about their favorite cheese and modern cider pairings to enjoy all season long.
Modern U.S. Cider
Left Bank Ciders
According to the USACM, modern U.S. cider is made primarily from culinary American apples like McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Granny Smith, Gala, and Fuji, which are generally lower in tannins and higher in acidity, with bright and refreshing flavors. Tim Graham and Anna Rosencranz, who launched Left Bank Ciders in Catskill, New York, this year, adds that a modern cider style could be one that is fermented in stainless steel as opposed to wood, as barrels were the only way to ferment for hundreds of years. “These ciders are usually more fruity, cleaner, and apple-forward,” says Graham. “They pack a punch with more fruit aromatics and, depending on the blend, are sharper due to less micro-oxygenation and malolactic conversion, which usually happens in barrels.” Graham and Rosencranz say that these ciders pair well with creamy, fatty cheeses like triple creams and other soft cheeses. “Our cider Tina, which is a mix of wild apples from the Catskill mountains, would be especially juicy paired with creamy cheeses, as it has good acids, enough tannin to add structure but not a noticeable bitterness, and just a touch of residual sugar to complement a heavier cheese,” says Rosencranz.
Specialty Ciders
Hopped Cider
Hopped ciders are made by adding hops to cider and they tend to display a strong hop aroma, although they aren’t as bitter as an IPA or Pale Ale beer. Angela Steil, an Advanced Cicerone and manager of education for Murray’s Cheese in New York City, recommends leaning into the hop characteristics with a cheese that has a floral or herbal coating, like Alp Blossom. “My favorite though,” she says, “is to get these floral and sometimes dank smelling ciders paired next to the lightest end of a washed rind cheese, like White Lakes Rachel, to give a nuttiness and creamy backbone to the cider that lets the aromatics shine.”
Wood-Aged Cider
Pretty self-explanatory, this category includes any ciders aged in wood barrels. Flavors can vary widely due to the type of wood, as well as if the barrel was previously used to age, say, a whiskey or wine. “It’s lovely to pair the sturdiness of aged flavors in both cider and cheese,” says Rosencranz of Left Bank Ciders. “For example a really dry cider with some barrel age character, like our Old Gold cider, which is a whiskey barrel-aged cider that has whiskey and wood notes on the nose, would pair nicely with a hard, aged cheese that has a robust structure.” She and Graham suggest an aged Cheddar or Gouda to go with a wood-aged cider.
Rosé Cider
Shacksbury Cider photo courtesy of Michael Tallman
There are two types of rosé ciders: heritage and modern. Heritage rosé ciders use rose-fleshed apples like Niedzwetzkyana, Geneva Crab, Redfield, or Hidden Rose® to get the pink hue, while modern rosé ciders usually add other pink-colored fruits or botanicals to apple cider. For example, Shacksbury Rosé from Shacksbury Cider in Vergennes, Vermont, gets its pink color by aging their apple cider on Syrah and Zinfandel grape skins, which are used to make rosé wine. “Last fall, we had Tom Bivins from the Vermont Cheese Council come to our Harvest Camp and put together his favorite Shacksbury and Vermont cheese pairings,” says Luke Schmuecker, Director of Marketing for Shacksbury. “The one that really stood out was Shacksbury Rosé and Jasper Hill Farm Bayley Hazen Blue. Our Rosé Cider has a round mouthfeel and a solid amount of fruit character from the grape skins, so you want to pair it with something that can stand up to it. When you pair Bayley Hazen with our Rosé Cider, the nuttiness and a little salinity come forward to balance out the fruitiness.”
Recommendation: Romilly Cidre Rose Gold 2020 NY International Cider Competition
Botanical Cider
Botanical ciders can vary widely as they are ciders made with any combination of herbs, nectars, and leaves, including tea, which can be added either before or after fermentation, according to USACM. Andrew Jones, co-founder of Tin City Cider in Paso Robles, California, makes a botanical cider called the Ned Flanders, which he suggests drinking with a fresh herbed Chèvre. “The Ned Flanders is made with Dragon Pearl Tea, which has a richness that is both enhanced by the herbal element and complemented by the high acid of this style of cheese,” says Jones. Schmuecker, from Shacksbury Cider, agrees that a goat cheese is the way to go. Shacksbury’s Vermonter uses juniper berries for a piney, herbal nose. “I would double down on the herbal side with the Goat Tomme from Twig Farm,” says Schmuecker. “Twig’s Goat Tomme does a great job showing off what makes Vermont cheeses so special—the pasture. Vermont pasture is full of everything from red clover to chicory and this cheese allows that diverse, herbal diet of those happy goats to shine.”
Fruit Cider
Any other non-apple or non-pear fruit can be added to a cider to make a fruit cider. Fruit or fruit juice can be added before or after fermentation and can include anything from cherries to blackberries to peaches. Because of this, pairing options can vary widely. Tin City Cider makes a fruit cider called Parrothead, which is produced with pineapple. “I like something with a harder texture and more complexity, like an aged Gouda or Manchego,” says Tin City’s Jones. “They both have a nice caramelized quality with nutty notes that highlight the zesty character of this type of cider.”
Recommendation: Fishback & Stephenson First Crush Double Gold 2020 NY International Cider Competition
Sour Cider
Wild yeasts and bacterial fermentation are the key to sour ciders, which typically have high levels of acetic and lactic acids, not normally present in apples. It’s usually unfiltered and often looks cloudy and is abundant in microorganisms that contribute to its complex flavor. “Often, the wild fermentation process results in a sour, acidic, earthly profile, which would pair nicely with a stinky, funky, washed-rind cheese,” says Graham of Left Bank Ciders. “They accentuate each other’s weirdness nicely—a microbial party of unconventional flavors.” Try sour cider with Taleggio, Limburger, or Stinking Bishop.