208: Calvados and Apple Brandy Tasting

208: Calvados and Apple Brandy Tasting

Author: Ria Windcaller: Award-winning Cidermaker, Podcaster | Craft Beer Columnist January 15, 2020 Duration: 1:08:15

The tables are set with 6 stemmed glasses per person, each holding a tasting of Calvados or American Apple Brandy. There are over 60 settings. It is a sold out night. At 6:30 pm, the house lights are lowered and it is ready-set-go!

On this 1st of November we are here to taste brandy and find out the difference between Calvados and Apple Brandy, and believe me there is a very wide difference between these two spirits.

The event is is the kick off to the 25th Annual Franklin County CiderDays. I have asked Ambrosia Borowski to present, because like me we both love Calvados and have traveled to France to taste this spirit where it is born.

Calvados Tasting Ambrosia Borowski and Ria Windcaller Ambrosia Borowski and Ria Windcaller

This episode will follows my typical script of having an intro and an end. You also have the option to view the presentation at the Cider Chat YouTube Channel and see the slide show presentation too.

Here are the main topics discussed.

How to Taste Calvados

  • Look
  • Smell
  • Taste
  • Imagine

How to taste Calvados How to taste Calvados

History

  • Brandy
  • Calvados
  • American

History of Brandy, Calvados

Regions

  • Normandy
    • Climate
  • American
    • Major Regions

Regulations

  • Norman AOC
  • American Brandy Laws
  • Apple Jack
  • Brandy vs eau de vie

Regulation for Calvados and Brandy

Distillation

  • Alembic Still
  • Hybrid Still

Calvados distillation | how Calvados is made

Maturation

  • Barrel Types
  • Climate
  • Blending

Maturation with Calvados

Order of Products Tasted

  1. Uncle John's Apple Brandy, Michigan
  2. Rhine Hall - Apple Brandy - Louisville, Kentucky
  3. Copper & King Apple Brandy
  4. Sang-Froid single variety Grimes Golden, Maryland - this is a bonus Brandy that was brought to the Tasting by the producer
  5. Calvados Claque-Pepin Fine
  6. Calvados  Coquerel 
  7. Calvados Chauffe Coeur VSOP

Calvados and Brandy producers Slide 1: Calvados and Brandy producers

All these products can be found in the US. Ask your local liquor store to for these and other fine Calvados spirits.

Click on link below to view the Slide Show Presentation used at this Tasting

Help Support Cider Chat Please donate today. Help keep the chat thriving!

Find this episode and all episodes at the page for Cider Chat's podcasts.


There’s a whole world in a glass of cider, and Cider Chat is your invitation to explore it. Hosted by award-winning cidermaker and writer Ria Windcaller, this podcast travels far beyond the bottle to meet the people who make the global cider culture so vibrant. Each conversation is a journey-you might find yourself in a heritage orchard learning the history of forgotten apple varieties, in a bustling taproom with an importer explaining regional traditions, or in a kitchen with a chef pairing cider with unexpected foods. The discussions get into the delightful nuances, too, whether that’s the semantics of what we even call this drink or how the concept of terroir translates from soil to sip. It’s not just about production; it’s about the community, the travel, and the stories that fermentation unlocks. This is for anyone curious about the craft, history, and sheer enjoyment of fermented apple juice in all its forms. So, pour a glass and settle in for a series that feels like a wide-ranging, informative, and genuinely good-humored chat with friends who happen to be obsessed with cider. You’ll come away with a deeper appreciation for every effervescent, tart, or sweet sip, hearing directly from the growers, makers, and enthusiasts who are shaping this drink’s exciting present and future.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 501

Cider Chat
Podcast Episodes
298: Gallettes and Cider [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:31
Gallettes at Scott Farm with Eden Specialty Cider Gallette dinners have been showcased at Scott Farm in Dummerston Vermont on Wednesday throughout 2021. Gallettes are a French cuisine where a batter is swirled around a f…
297: Flavorful Righteous Odd Apples [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:46
Are Apples Odd? They sure are for those who solely define apples not by their names (which are often rather exotic like Mountain Rose or Kingston Black) but rather call them by their color, red, green or yellow. In this…
296: Bauman's |Oregon's Destination Farm Cidery [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:59
Who is Bauman Cider Christine Walter is the cidermaker and visionary of Bauman's Cider. She grew up on an apple farm in Oregon runned by her family. As she tells it, Angry Orchard's "Crisp" was the first cider she ever t…
295: Western Cider | Missoula, Montana [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:59
Who is Western Cider Texans Michael Billingsley and Matthew LaRubbio are childhood friends who now both live in Montana and founded Western Cider in 2010. The cidery is based in Missoula and has an indoor and outdoor tas…
294: Lockhorn Hard Cider | Bozeman, Montana [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:48
Who is Lockhorn Hard Cider Alaskan natives Anna and Glenn Deal opened Lockhorn Cider in 2010 in Bozeman, Montana. Anna is a botanist and Glenn came to Montana to study and is a nurse. Lockhorn makes modern ciders with ap…
293: Lee McAlpine of Montana CiderWorks | Established 2002 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:51
Who is Montana CiderWorks Lee McAlpine is the Founder and Owner of Montana Ciderworks based in Darby, Montana. In 2022, Lee will celebrate the 20th year of operations and has a special Pommeau release made with her cider…
292: A Little Italy at Westwind Orchard | New York [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:39
Who is Westwind Orchard and their cider Fabio Chizzola & Laura Ferrara are the owners/farmers of Westwind Orchard located in Accord, New York on the west dies of the Hudson River. The orchard was bought in 2002 and was a…
291: The Century Farm of Ploughman Cider [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:39
Who is Ploughman Cider Ploughman Cider is based in Wenksville Pennsylvania on a family farm owned by the Wenks Family for the past 100 years. The farm is called Three Springs and it is exactly 1.5 miles from the ancestra…
290: Publican Perfection at Tattiebogle Ciderworks | Pennsylvania [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:32
The Publican at Tattiebogle CiderWorks Cidermaker Curt Henry has been envisioning a future cidery in Acme Pennsylvania overlooking the lowland valley in southwestern portion of this commonwealth for years. In 2017 he had…
289: The Road Less Traveled at Big Hill Ciderworks | PA [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:35
The Makers at Big Hill Ciderworks Troy Lehman and Ben Kishbaugh are long time friends who originally met while working in the automotive industry. Years later they team up on a very new career path as cidermakers! Both m…