I’m back! Hope you all had a wonderful gluttonous Christmas and New Years and like me, are now trying to undo the waist damage done! And yes, I have managed to a get a blog post in before the end of January, so I can still say Happy New Year readers! Or, in this case, Bonne année et bonne santé for the Francophones, as I’m writing about delightful French cider in this post.
A little before Christmas, the two founders Alex and Pierre of “La Chouette Cider”, which landed on Hong Kong’s shores last August, very kindly sent me 3 bottles of their pure apple juice cider (4.5% alc/vol), which is produced and bottled in Normandy where Pierre’s grand-fathers made cider. I LOVE cider as it’s far more palatable for me to drink versus beer (except for the Belgium fruit beers), I like fruit-based alcohol, so was more than happy to give La Chouette a try. It was great timing as well, as they sent me a packet of spices to make mulled cider!
La Chouette
So how does this cider differ from others? I was interested to find out that they use 100% French “cider apples”, which are specific apple varieties such as Crab Apples dedicated to cider making, whereas most ciders are made from “table” or “dessert” apple varieties. The cider apples provide a more complex aromatic profile with a hint of bitterness (not detectable when I tried it) and a lovely tart edge.
Another attractive aspect of La Chouette is that it is a pure apple juice cider with no added sugar, no added colouring and no added flavouring. Unfortunately most ciders are made from reconstituted apple juice with added sweeteners and sometimes added colourings and flavourings. And what does La Chouette mean? La Chouette, or The Owl, is so named to reflect the relationship between the farmers in the North-West of France who made their own cider with apples from their orchards in barns where owls would nest. Aww.
When my samples arrived I was excited to whip out my saucepan and make mulled cider for myself and the other half. The packaging is clever and cute with an owl face superimposed on an apple outline. Their spice packet of 4 cloves, 1/8 tablespoon of nutmeg, 2 cinnamon sticks and 2 star anise were plonked in the saucepan and 2 of the bottles of cider cracked open and poured in. After 15 minutes of gentle heating over low heat, I served our first homemade brew of mulled cider.
Making the mulled cider!
Christmas was served in a mug. It was warm, soothing and delicious. The other half was too busy on the PS4 to fully appreciate the fruity aroma so I pretty much finished 1.5 bottles of mulled cider on my own. Oh well! Due to the natural sugars from the apples, there is no need to add sugar to the mulled cider mix. Whilst I liked the sour note, this may not be to everyone’s taste. When drunk chilled, La Chouette is fruity, crisp and tart and has a lovely golden hue when poured into a glass.
Christmas in a mug! See my tree?
I’m excited that La Chouette is available in 35 points of sale in Hong Kong (bars, restaurants, delis) as it means that I can now enjoy a pure apple juice cider without any of the additives, as well as make mulled cider whenever I feel like! You can find your nearest shop on their website: http://www.lachouettecider.com/en/ and also learn about the history of French Cider if you want to impress people with your knowledge!
Merci Beaucoup La Chouette pour la cidre!
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