Duganson
Active Member
Hiya all,
So yesterday my wife, a friend and I went through about a 2 liters of a lavender infused cider creating a trial. The intent being to cover up some of the more pronounced lavender astringency and aroma, sweeten to balance with some considerable acidity (and eventual force carbonating) and round out the finish. Here's a pic:
We tried:
Trials were run my adding measuring the percent addition as grams then topping the pot with Cider up to 100 mLs then agitating until incorporated.
The Dark Belgium Candi Syrup I made with the help of SnickAsuarusrex's old thread found HERE.
Using that recipe I extrapolated a recipe for caramelizing honey in the hopes of not getting to much of the 'burnt' flavors discussed in the Bochet thread (found HERE.)
My results on this weren't spectacular but I did manage to get a carmelized honey that didn't boil up or blacken and was certainly sufficient for the trial, if anyone has any interest in this I would be happy to talk on it more later.
Results:
For the purposes of the trial both my friend and I found the 7% Maple Syrup addition to be optimal at both toning down the lavender astringency and balancing out the acidity. It didn't, however, effect the nose much at all. The finish on this addition added a pronounced spiciness that was not at all 'maple-y' but helped the finish by keeping something on the tongue 2-3 seconds after swallowing.
The 9% addition left too much cloying sweetness in the finish but was still - AMAZINGLY - not 'maple-y'. the 3% and 5% additions weren't sufficient at any of the trial parameters, in fact, the two driest additions of all types were immediately vetoed by all, owing to the high astringency and acidity of the cider.
Our second favorite addition was the 7% Belgium Candi Syrup. This lent the nose some roastiness that played well with the lavender without crowding it out or muddying it, the astringency was tamed mid-palette but the finish got dry and a bit puckering still. My wife loved this one but explained that she would rather it be more like a traditional wine, and asked if I would retry this batch with higher ABV and a Vanilla addition (yes dear
)
The 9% addition was also too sweet but really lent the cider some fun caramel flavors that I think would be good for food. This addition also beefed up the mouthfeel enough to round out the finish.
Third favorite was the Carmelized Honey. This was a strange one, considering all the three additions ( even the 1%) made the cider taste almost Cola like. No one objected to the transformation, though the lavender was lost by 3% and the 5% tasted more like a flat Rum and Coke then a cider.
Next favorite was the Apple Juice Concentrate. This - as I guessed - was the addition that would cover back up the lavender notes with some actual apple flavor and aroma. This it did, but it didn't do much for either the mouthfeel or the finish.
Lastly the Clover Honey was just boring. It added sweetness but no interplay with the lavender, it added mouthfeel but no lessening of the astringency. I had to make the 11% addition just to get some honey notes and by then it was WAAAAYY too sweet to quaff.
In closing I had a lot of fun with this experiment, both in making the caramelized sweeteners and running them up against the tried and true sweeteners. I hope this gives you guys and gals some insights into your cider-making. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Cheers
So yesterday my wife, a friend and I went through about a 2 liters of a lavender infused cider creating a trial. The intent being to cover up some of the more pronounced lavender astringency and aroma, sweeten to balance with some considerable acidity (and eventual force carbonating) and round out the finish. Here's a pic:
We tried:
- Rice's Clover Honey at 1%, 3%, 5% and eventually 11%
- Apple Juice Concentrate at 3%, 5%, 7% and eventually 9%
- Maple Syrup at 3%, 5%, 7% and eventually 9%
- Dark Belguim Candi Syrup at 3%, 5%, 7% and eventually 9%
- Caramelized Honey at 1%, 3%, and 5%
Trials were run my adding measuring the percent addition as grams then topping the pot with Cider up to 100 mLs then agitating until incorporated.
The Dark Belgium Candi Syrup I made with the help of SnickAsuarusrex's old thread found HERE.
Using that recipe I extrapolated a recipe for caramelizing honey in the hopes of not getting to much of the 'burnt' flavors discussed in the Bochet thread (found HERE.)
My results on this weren't spectacular but I did manage to get a carmelized honey that didn't boil up or blacken and was certainly sufficient for the trial, if anyone has any interest in this I would be happy to talk on it more later.
Results:
For the purposes of the trial both my friend and I found the 7% Maple Syrup addition to be optimal at both toning down the lavender astringency and balancing out the acidity. It didn't, however, effect the nose much at all. The finish on this addition added a pronounced spiciness that was not at all 'maple-y' but helped the finish by keeping something on the tongue 2-3 seconds after swallowing.
The 9% addition left too much cloying sweetness in the finish but was still - AMAZINGLY - not 'maple-y'. the 3% and 5% additions weren't sufficient at any of the trial parameters, in fact, the two driest additions of all types were immediately vetoed by all, owing to the high astringency and acidity of the cider.
Our second favorite addition was the 7% Belgium Candi Syrup. This lent the nose some roastiness that played well with the lavender without crowding it out or muddying it, the astringency was tamed mid-palette but the finish got dry and a bit puckering still. My wife loved this one but explained that she would rather it be more like a traditional wine, and asked if I would retry this batch with higher ABV and a Vanilla addition (yes dear
)The 9% addition was also too sweet but really lent the cider some fun caramel flavors that I think would be good for food. This addition also beefed up the mouthfeel enough to round out the finish.
Third favorite was the Carmelized Honey. This was a strange one, considering all the three additions ( even the 1%) made the cider taste almost Cola like. No one objected to the transformation, though the lavender was lost by 3% and the 5% tasted more like a flat Rum and Coke then a cider.
Next favorite was the Apple Juice Concentrate. This - as I guessed - was the addition that would cover back up the lavender notes with some actual apple flavor and aroma. This it did, but it didn't do much for either the mouthfeel or the finish.
Lastly the Clover Honey was just boring. It added sweetness but no interplay with the lavender, it added mouthfeel but no lessening of the astringency. I had to make the 11% addition just to get some honey notes and by then it was WAAAAYY too sweet to quaff.
In closing I had a lot of fun with this experiment, both in making the caramelized sweeteners and running them up against the tried and true sweeteners. I hope this gives you guys and gals some insights into your cider-making. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Cheers
