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
478: Pommeau: What Happens When a French Classic Lands on U.S. Labels [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:18
What is Pommeau? Pommeau is a: fortified blend of fresh apple must (unfermented) and apple brandy (typically Calvados in Normandy or Lambig in Brittany). The unfermented apple juice and brandy are combined before ferment…
477: 2025 Ultimate Cider Pairing Guide for Thanksgiving [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:38
Learn how to pick the right Cider and Perry for every dish on the Thanksgiving table. This week we are not chasing brand names. We are building flavor intuition. Consider Thanksgiving not as one single taste on a plate;…
476: Be Medieval, Rack that Cider| Secondary Fermentation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:18
How to clarify, stabilize, and finish cider the right way The Purpose of Secondary Fermentation when Making Cider Once the apple juice has started fermented and it is now slowing down, it is time to rack over your cider…
473: Tiny Bubbles | How to Make a Pét Nat Cider [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:53
What makes a Pét Nat cider sparkle naturally and how is it connected to the rural method you might have heard about in the UK? In this episode, we take a practical look at: What Pét Nat cider is and how it relates to the…
471: Cider Tourism 101 | Newton Court, UK [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:50
Newton Court Cider began as a 30-acre farm selling apples to Bulmers. When the market changed, Paul Stephens turned those same orchards into a modern day cider business. Front view of Newton Court's restaurant and visito…
470: Hedgers, Crossman's, and Coates: UK Cider's Entwined Histories [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:55
In October 2024, Cider Chat MC Ria Windcaller recorded with Tom Vowles of Hedger Cider and Ben Crossman in Somerset. Initially, the two recordings felt like separate brand stories. Then, nearly a year later to the day as…
469: Getting Lost, So You Don't | UK Totally Cider Tour 2025 Recap [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:58
UK Cider Tour 2025 Audio Snap Shots Wallace and Ria in Bristol In this Episode 469 of Cider Chat, we brings listeners inside the UK Totally Cider Tour 2025 through the voices of the guests who joined. From Somerset, Glou…