Utrecht cider importer Margot Sanderse brings in ciders from the UK and Wales via her mobile bar and online shop Het Ciderhuis. She is an entrepreneur who is touting cider to the Dutch and slowly helping transform their palate.
Margot Sanderse | Het Ciderhuis
Utrecht is between 30-40 minutes from Amsterdam, and is a bustling arts city.
Den Haag is best known for its International Court of Justice, and because of the presence of so many international embassies, it is also a hot spot for food and drinks.
Margot recommended in The Hague the following 2 bars serving cider.
The Club de Keet where this recording took place is no longer open – Massi is still in Amsterdam and the big hare that was this dive bars namesake: was named Keet
Cider Investment and Development through Excise Tax Reduction (CIDER) Act (H.R. 600) was introduced by Representatives Earl Blumenauer democratic and Chris Collins. a republican from New York state's 27th congressional district and democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York who sponsored the CIDER Act (S. 1459).
Which goes to show you that Cider unites both major parties in the US. Woot woot! And we all know that a good chat is time well spent.
Do know that this is a Tax legislation thing – that business minded people work towards to help reduce the tax burden.
Prior to this Act cider that was carbonated by the cidermaker or naturally (as in bottle conditioned) could be taxed at the champagne rate of 3.30 or 3/40/gallon if the carbonation level was too high.
Yikes! Imagine being a small batch cidermaker and finding the most delicious cider that you have ever made is now going to be so expensive that only us nerd cider drinkers will buy it.
so the CIDER Act has increased the carbonation level for hard cider! woot woot
And it now includes pears in the definition of "hard cider"
I am not sure what the pears think about that – I think – apple trees and pear tree could give a hoot about our human taxations.
And now cider is has boosted it's alcohol by volume (ABV) to surpass 7%. It now has the range of at least 1% and 8.5%. Lets just hope the big chemical companies don't get involved and start making apple tree hybrids on steroids that boost sugar content.
In all it was a boom for cider in the US.
Personally, I like both still and sparkling cider. It is all good. And quite exciting.
It is now up to the cidermakers to run with this new Act and continue to grow as an industry overall And for cider consumers to let the cidermakers know what you want. I am sure as the new year and years to come we will be re-visiting his topic. In all it is a new playing field and quite exciting.
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