Team Benry made a quick trip to the market this morning (encouraged by a pregnant, grumpy and hungry Jennifer, and an equally grumpy, always hungry, not at all pregnant Henry), and managed to bag myself a big jug of authentic scrumpy. I’d seen it there before but balked at the idea of lugging around the huge flagon and looking like a severely misplaced wurzel, but today we were on our way to the car and I thought now is the time to strike!
Now, I love my cider, all kinds of cider. I love the really fizzy stuff that makes you warm and stupid, and I like the fizzy stuffy that just tastes nice on a hot day. So Mercury Cider, very nice! Cascade ‘Sparkling Apple Juice’, yummy. But do you know what, I love my scrumpy, only it’s always been a bit of a struggle to get.
I know that “scrumpy" can be used in many senses and means different things to different people, but to me, ‘Scrumpy’ means real cider. By that, I mean that it has to be made more or less entirely from apples, it has to have a kick, and it has to be made using something akin to ‘traditional methods’.
In essence, THIS means that the juice is pressed from the apples and then fermented naturally, without anything else much being added. The scrumpy is then left to mature and after a while will be ready to drink.
I guess that this means that scrumpy is a fair bit different to the ‘cider’ that most people will be familiar with (and cider that I like now and again). That stuff is mostly made from concentrated apple juice, sugar and water, then pasteurised and carbonated.
Here is scrumpy in its natural habitat
Now, I am happy to report that the highly scientific Krispy taste test has given the scrumpy that I got today the big thumbs up. To anyone in Tassie, I couldn’t recommend it more highly. As is the way in this ultra-modern, post-industrial economy, this little traditional independent operation has their own website too, South Country Cyder. Please support them, I hope to be buying this stuff off these guys for another fifty years!
As with all things on teh internets, there are many internets scrumpy-related, two of the better ones that I have found are The Scrumpy User Guide; and the very useful UKcider wiki. So if you're not already a scrumpy freak out guy or girl, give it a burl, you'll never look back!
Now, I love my cider, all kinds of cider. I love the really fizzy stuff that makes you warm and stupid, and I like the fizzy stuffy that just tastes nice on a hot day. So Mercury Cider, very nice! Cascade ‘Sparkling Apple Juice’, yummy. But do you know what, I love my scrumpy, only it’s always been a bit of a struggle to get.
I know that “scrumpy" can be used in many senses and means different things to different people, but to me, ‘Scrumpy’ means real cider. By that, I mean that it has to be made more or less entirely from apples, it has to have a kick, and it has to be made using something akin to ‘traditional methods’.
In essence, THIS means that the juice is pressed from the apples and then fermented naturally, without anything else much being added. The scrumpy is then left to mature and after a while will be ready to drink.
I guess that this means that scrumpy is a fair bit different to the ‘cider’ that most people will be familiar with (and cider that I like now and again). That stuff is mostly made from concentrated apple juice, sugar and water, then pasteurised and carbonated.
Now, I am happy to report that the highly scientific Krispy taste test has given the scrumpy that I got today the big thumbs up. To anyone in Tassie, I couldn’t recommend it more highly. As is the way in this ultra-modern, post-industrial economy, this little traditional independent operation has their own website too, South Country Cyder. Please support them, I hope to be buying this stuff off these guys for another fifty years!
As with all things on teh internets, there are many internets scrumpy-related, two of the better ones that I have found are The Scrumpy User Guide; and the very useful UKcider wiki. So if you're not already a scrumpy freak out guy or girl, give it a burl, you'll never look back!
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