A Cider Tasting Methodology
I enjoy tasting cider. Not just drinking it (I quite enjoy that as well), but trying to objectively quantify each cider I come across. Towards that end, I have developed a basic set of rules for myself. These rules and guidelines help me to be more objective about my cider tasting.
If you enjoy drinking cider, then I urge you to, on occasion, sit down and really pay attention to a bottle or two. Perhaps use some of the guidelines I outline here. Take some notes. Think about what you are smelling and tasting. Not for any elitist purpose. Indeed for the opposite reason. To get down into the magaya yourself and start seeing, smelling, and tasting the way you would if you worked with cider every day. Tasting is not elitist at all. It is the closest we can hope to get to a familiar palate without going and working in a llagar ourselves.
Preparing to Taste Cider
Before we begin tasting the cider, we have to get ourselves organized. A few tools, a way to keep notes, and a comfortable place to sit are all we really need. Let’s look at each of these in turn.
Equipment For Tasting Cider
There is much to be said for the traditional form of Asturian cider pouring. When it is done by an expert, there is really no better way to properly aerate cider. That said, very few of us are experts. And even fewer have an expert escanciador on stand-by at home to pour for us.
So, for my cider tasting, I use the same mechanical escanciador for all tastings. The one I have is made by Guixidrin and works via manual pump action. I highly recommend it for those serious about drinking still cider at home. It takes all of the guesswork out of pouring a good culín.
I also use a standard Asturian style cider glass. They are cheap and easy to come by in any bazaar in Asturias, and are traditional. So why deviate?
Printed Tools
I have developed a few tools of my own to help in evaluation. I have a laminated SRM chart of my own design for describing the color of the cider. It provides a way to set the glass in the center of the chart for easier identification of the color. Click on the image of the chart to the right to download your own copy suitable for printing.
I have also developed an English language lexicon from the traditional Asturian phrases used to describe cider. You will find it linked at the bottom of every cider review I post here.
I have also worked out a tentative style standard for Asturian cider. As far as I know, it is the first complete standard published in English. Certainly it won’t be the last. I hope not at least. I would much prefer that Asturian cider take its rightful place among the other great ciders of the world and get the recognition that comes with accepted standards from the large tasting bodies. If I can help shepherd that along, I’ll be happy with my contribution.
Bottle Preparation
The best temperature to drink cider is whatever the temperature of the bottle in front of you is. The second best temperature is 14℃. I keep my cider in a fridge for just long enough to chill it to optimum temperature. For me that turns out to be just about the same amount of time that it takes for a refrigerated cheese to come up to the proper temperature for eating. Cheese out, cider in, wait 40 minutes, enjoy! Life could be much worse.
I invert the bottle a couple of times before uncorking and putting it in the escanciador. That helps to disperse the lees into the cider and gives me a more authentic dispersion.
Personal Cider Tasting Preparation
Being personally prepared for tasting cider is just as important as preparing your tools and your cider.
- While I do drink plenty of cider at llagares or sidrerías, I do not take tasting notes there. I prefer to take a bottle home and do my “official” tasting in the same calm circumstances for each cider.
- I do not like to taste cider after eating. Therefore I usually wait a couple of hours after a meal to avoid any lingering taste fatigue.
- I also try not to taste more than one or two ciders in a sitting, for the same reason.
Tasting Cider
With your equipment and notes assembled, you can now begin the actual tasting! We will be evaluating all of the organoleptic properties of the cider. That’s just a fancy word for all of the sensory input we get from the cider all together. The look, feel, flavors, sensations, and aromas of the cider combine into the organoleptic profile.
I pour a number of individual samples when tasting a cider. It is easier to pour a sample for observing color and clarity directly from the bottle, and then to pour a second one with an escanciador to evaluate how the cider “behaves in the glass”.
Observe
Pour a small sample directly from the bottle. Use an SRM chart (like the one I provide above) to accurately assess color. Almost all sidra natural falls between SRM 2 (Pale Straw) and 4 (Pale Yellow).
Hold the glass up to a light source to assess clarity. Most Asturian ciders will be slightly cloudy due to suspended lees, and that is expected.
Then, using my escanciador, I pour a proper Asturian sample. Observe the bubbles. You want the foam (espalme) to disappear quickly, leaving a lace of small bubbles that linger long enough to drink the cider at optimum carbonation (aguante).
There should also be a thin film (pegue) that adheres to the sides of the glass before and especially after it has been drunk.
Ciders that exhibit these glass behavior qualities exactly to the standard are said to be panizal.
Smell
Smelling cider is a two stage process. First smell the sample without disturbing the glass too much. Make note of the aromas. Then, swirl and swish the glass and smell again, to see what, if any, additional aromas are released as a result of the swirling. In both cases really get your nose in there. Stick it all the way in the glass. Don’t be shy.
Feel
Then, the first sip. I hold this first sip in the mouth for a few seconds. All the better to evaluate the mouthfeel. Is the cider thin or full? Soft or sharp and metallic? Syrupy or Astringent? Warming or cooling? I keep my mouth closed for this sip, to allow retronasal perception to be at the maximum for getting the finish and aftertaste.
Taste
Perhaps from the first sip, perhaps from a second, I try to get the big flavor components. How are the apple flavors in contrast to the others? Do they taste more green or sweet? Under- or over-ripe? How acidic is the cider? Low, soft acidity? Big, bold acidic tastes? A nice balance of the two? How astringent is it? Is it super tart, or more sweet?
Are there any additional flavors? Citrus peel and floral aromas and flavors are common in Asturian ciders, though rarely remarked on here. What is noticed are defect flavors. Specifically flavors of wild plum and hazelnuts are seen as major defects.
Swallow
How long is the finish? That is, how long do the dominant flavors linger in the mouth after it is swallowed? Do any new flavors appear in the finish?
Overall Impressions
Then I sit back, finish the rest of the bottle (if I am only tasting one cider, which is what I prefer), and think about how all the preceding things come together. Is this an average cider – good but not great? Does it have some sort of defect? If I do find an egregious defect, I usually set aside the review and wait until I can buy another bottle from a different lot and compare.
Or is this cider a world-beater? Redondo as they say here. Or slightly less than that, is it pistonudo, a really great example of the style?
