By Dave Woods
New media and marketing manager
JOPLIN, Mo. —
I had never heard of Crispin Ciders until last week.
It should come of no surprise to readers of this column that I’m a fan of fermented fruit. I pick up a six pack of cider from time to time and have my favorites.
English and Irish ciders, such as Magner’s and Bulmer’s, tend to be too dry for my tastes. I prefer their American cousins. Wyder’s Pear Cider is a great, sweet sipper for people unfamiliar with ciders. The Woodpecker and Woodchuck Cider lines are a little dryer, but still very drinkable.
Last week, Chris Fream, sales manager for Crispin Ciders in Minneapolis, Minn., was in Missouri launching their line statewide and was in Joplin sampling his ciders.
I caught up with Chris at Pizza by Stout and tried his apple and pear products, of which Crispin is so proud. The Fox Barrel brand of ciders is a Crispin product, too.
“We really want people to know that ciders don’t have to be sweet and sticky and tough to drink,” Chris said of their all natural, gluten-free ciders. “We brew session ciders and you won’t get heart burn or an upset stomach when you drink them.”
A session beer or cider is one that you can toss back more than a couple of and suffer no sugar hangover or other ill effects. Some beers and ciders are so heavy and syrupy that drinking more than one is a challenge.
Not so with Crispin’s ciders, Chris said. He believes ciders are a really refreshing alternative to beer and wine. I agree.
“The country was founded on cider,” Chris told me. “They were the first alcohol beverage in America and in many places around the world.”
‘Getting adventurous’
In colonial America, drinking water was often unsafe and fermented hard ciders, beers and rum were the natural alternative to drinking germ-infested water.
I was born too late.
Many -- if not most -- of our founding fathers were cider fans. George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson produced ciders and some of their recipes live on today. In fact, Chris explained, Johnny Appleseed sowed his seeds to produce apples for cider production and not for eating. There’s some Booze Beat history for you to mull.
Brewed in Colfax, Ca., Crispin’s brands are relatively new to the growing cider market. About 15 years ago, Crispin’s founder and owner, Joe Herron, a former pharmaceuticals guy, developed a new vitamin infused soda and sold it to PepsiCo.
Joe noticed that the cider segment of beverage market in America paled in comparison to the cider market in Europe. In Europe, ciders account for between 10 to 15 percent of the adult beverage market, but in the united States ciders are only a fraction of the total adult beverage market.
Joe saw an opening and an opportunity. He moved to Minneapolis, took the money he made and started putting his cider company together. Joe found a California company that was able to make a cider with the flavor profile for which he was looking and invested some cash.
The first case of Crispin’s original hard apple cider shipped in October, 2008, and in 2009 the company released their Honey Crisp Cider made with organic honey.
“It caught on so well that it became the company’s No. 2 seller,” Chris said, “It sparked the whole idea of getting adventurous with cider and doing things no one had ever done before.”
Over ice, that’s nice
Unlike most ciders, Crispin’s products are designed to be served over ice. That’s what gives them a light, crisp and drinkable flavor profile, Chris said.
Crispin today brews a lighter version of their original, a maple flavored apple cider and a Brute, a European-style, extra-dry apple brew. Chris called Crispin’s Brute the “champagne of ciders,” because of its light and sparkling appearance and dry flavor profile.
Another popular Crispin bev is named “The Saint.” It’s a cider fermented using Belgian yeast traditionally employed in beer making. It has, Chris said, a particular appeal to craft beer drinkers.
Chris said there are several more offerings from Crispin that will soon be available in the area. A black current version will soon hit Joplin beer and liquor retailers.
I was feeling a little adventurous during my cider tasting excursion at Stout and opted to try a half-and-half with Crispin’s original apple and a float of Guinness on top. Tasty. Crispin is authorized to use the Guinness brand name when touting the mixablity of their brews. I tried a Crispin and Blue Moon and it pleased. I’m told Crispin pairs well with Dos Equis.
“I’m hard pressed to find something that Crispin doesn’t work and mix well with,” Chris said. “It always complements and never is a cover up.”
Chris told me he has even mixed the cider with sake and “was amazed how good it tasted.” It’s not a mix I would try, but I’ll take his word for it. A coaster I found on the bar top at Stout suggested I try a Snakebite, a combination of Crispin and Harp Lager. Sounds good --Emaybe next time.
Cheers!
