Happy Hour at Home - Montparnasse Cocktail

This cocktail is a real find!  I'm obsessed with Calvados and love to find new ways to use it.  I learned about this cocktail from David Lebovitz's blog and Instagram, where he has been posting French cocktails.

I have a dream to go to Normandy where Calvados is made (and to Brittany where the similar Lambig apple brandy is made).  Until then I'll enjoy this cocktail.

Here's how I made it.

Montparnasse Cocktail Recipe

1.5 oz Calvados

0.75 oz elderflower liqueur

0.5 oz lemon juice

0.5 oz sparkling hard cider

Garnish:  apple slice 

Combine the Calvados, elderflower liqueur and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker with ice

Shake until well chilled

Pour into a cocktail glass and top with cider

Garnish with an apple slice

Road Trip - Grand Rapids

Back in 2012 we visited Grand Rapids, Michigan for the first time and we loved it!  At the time it was the #1 beer city in the USA.  Since it is less than 4 hours from home, we had to check it out.

This summer, circumstances conspired to get us back there again.  We wanted to see Dolly Parton on tour but the dates close to home were on weeknights meaning booking a day off work so we could stay overnight rather than drive 2 hours home after a concert.  But she was playing Grand Rapids on a Saturday night, so we could make a mini-vacation out of it! 

Some things have changed a lot since we were last in Grand Rapids.  It's still a beautiful, clean, vibrant city, but there are so many new breweries, bars and restaurants.  The hotel we stayed in had only been open for two weeks!  We visited lots of new places and some old favourites from our last trip.  Here are the highlights:

We stayed at the brand-new Homewood Suites downtown.  The hotel is nice and the location is fabulous.  All the rooms have a full kitchen.  The building is a converted furniture warehouse and has some odd features, like interior windows that face into empty hallways, and a second-floor lobby that can be hard to find from the street.  But we really enjoyed the room and location.  We could walk anywhere downtown easily. 

But the first thing we did after checking in was hop in the car and head to Siciliano's Market for local craft beer and cider for our hotel room fridge.  Then it was off to Greyline Brewing Co. for our first drinks of the day.  

Road Trip - Bayfield, Ontario

Wow, it's been a while since there's been a new post on this blog! Since we moved last December there has been lots going on and now that it's summertime, we're really enjoying our new yard and garden. 

This is one of the things we've been spending time on.  Our house's previous owner planted beautiful perennial gardens so every week brings a new surprise.  

But last weekend we decided to take a break from our garden and head on a little road trip to Bayfield, Ontario.  Bayfield is a little village on the shores of Lake Huron, between Goderich and Grand Bend.  It's only about an hour from home.  We've been there on day trips several times but this time we stayed overnight at The Little Inn of Bayfield, located right on Main Street in the centre of town. 

The Little Inn is an historic property recently under new ownership and it was a perfect place to stay. We had a little room with a king sized bed on the second floor. Service at the front desk was beyond friendly and helpful. In fact, service was absolutely fantastic everywhere we went in the Inn and its restaurants and bars. 

The first thing we did when we arrived was make a beeline to the Inn's weekly Backyard BBQ, every Saturday this summer from 11:30 am until 3:30 pm or until the food is gone. It's all you can eat for $19.99 per person and the food was surprisingly delicious!  We had pulled pork, ribs, chicken, brisket, corn, potato salad, pasta salad, coleslaw, amazing biscuits, and even pie for dessert. 

We also ordered some craft beer for Matt and a bourbon sour for me.  The BBQ is served outside in a lovely back garden with plenty of sun and shade. The service was once again terrific, especially from the young man handling the grill.

Next we headed for a walk down Main Street, which is great for shopping.  And then we walked down to the marina and main beach.  There are three beaches in Bayfield and we had a lovely time swimming in the lake.

For dinner we headed to the Black Dog Village Pub. We've had lunch here many times and we were looking forward to being able to stay longer and enjoy their extensive beer and cocktail list.  Unfortunately, service wasn't quite up to their normal standards so we were only able to order one cocktail each with dinner.  

The food was fantastic though!  This cauliflower & quinoa salad was so good I can't wait to attempt to make it myself. 

After dinner we were still thirsty so we headed to the Ashwood Inn's bourbon bar.  This place has been nicely renovated and has a huge patio.  

We headed back to our Little Inn for one last cocktail in their wonderful bar.  

We had a great sleep and in the morning we were delighted to find that breakfast was included with our room rate.  The breakfast buffet had eggs, bacon, sausage, cold meats and cheeses, excellent chicken and roasted vegetables, salads and desserts, plus juice and coffee. It was an unexpected treat. 

Before leaving Bayfield we stopped at the cutest bird store I've ever seen. Porter's Hill has a great selection of bird feeders and seed, plus other great gifts. And the service is extremely knowledgeable and friendly.  We will be back here for sure. 

On the way home we stopped by one of our favourite places, Twin Pines Cider House. We've been here several times but were pleased to see they now they have a new tasting room on the main floor.  We picked up some cider and glasses and headed home. 

It's so great to have such a wonderful getaway so close to home. Bayfield is definitely close enough for a day trip, but it was very relaxing to stay overnight. We will be back soon for sure!  

  

Craft Cider Revelations: Q&A with Revel Cider's Tariq Ahmed

This post comes from Matt Brown, The Beer Baron. Find him on Twitter & Instagram @geekcanuck

Last summer, the Clockwatching Tart and I got to spend a wonderful evening in Toronto on the Craft Cider Cruise. As you’ll see in the original article, one of the most exciting aspects of the cruise was discovering Revel Cider Co., which was brand new at the time. Since that time, we’ve been lucky enough to try a few more Revel ciders on rare occasions at Milos’ Craft Beer Emporium, but it wasn’t exactly easy to come by. So, you can imagine our delight when we saw this poster online and in the window at Milos’:

So, before we get to our Q&A with Tariq Ahmed, Revel Cider’s self-proclaimed “CEO, cider maker, delivery guy, sales guy, janitor – everything really”, let’s take a look at the four ciders that helped celebrate Revel Cider’s one-year anniversary celebration!

Bittersweet Freedom 7% abv: First up was Bittersweet Freedom, made from a blend of Bittersweet crab apples and Freedom, a heritage variety. “I chose Freedom apples for Bittersweet Freedom because it had nice acidity, a touch of tannin, and I found it along with the Bittersweets at the same time. Sometimes you just gotta work with what life gives you. I found Freedom had some great characteristics (tannin + acidity) when I tasted it for making good cider. It was also great that it happened to be organically grown from a farmer I trusted,” says Tariq. Personally, I enjoyed the slight bit of funkiness and tartness and that it started clean and crisp, with a lingering sweetness – a great start to Revelations month!

Oud Blanc 9% abv: The Clockwatching Tart was out of town and missed this one, but I’m glad I didn’t, as it was the highlight of the month for me and the best new cider I’ve tried in the past year. Admittedly, between loving Oud Bruin, the Flemish sour style of beer it is based on, and loving Ontario Riesling wines, I was pretty much the target demographic for this one, but still, it was amazing. Blended with Niagara-grown Riesling, I described Oud Blanc in my notes as aromatic, tart, bracing and amazing, which sounds about right. “I might make some of the Revelations releases again. Definitely Oud Blanc. But not till next year,” says Tariq.

Wild Honeycrisp 6.5% abv: Honeycrisp is without a doubt my favourite variety of apple for eating, but it isn’t cheap, which is probably why I’d never had it in a craft cider before now. The wild yeast imparts a bit of a tropical flair that isn’t present in the apple itself, Wild Honeycrisp was a very plesant surprise – even for Tariq himself. “For Wild Honeycrisp, I just brought the juice in and let the wild yeasts already present ferment it. I did that because I was curious what would happen.”

Revelry 7.5% abv: To celebrate Revel’s one-year anniversary, the final release of the month was Revelry, which uses the old pioneer technique for creating Apple Jack, which was a more potent version of cider. “Cryo-concentration is a technique developed in Quebec. Basically, it’s the same as making ice wine, except you press the apples and let the juice freeze - as opposed to letting the whole fruit freeze. Then you skim the ice off the top and use what's left,” says Tariq. The end result is something more sweet, warm and welcoming than the clean, crisp and funky ciders from earlier in the month. If you imagine Willy Wonka making a drink out of candy apples, you wouldn’t be far off on that Revelry was like.

Q&A with Revel Cider’s Tariq Ahmed

Q: How did you discover craft cider?

A: I discovered craft cider in Montreal originally quite a few years ago. I was 18 and had just won two Via Rail tickets from work at the time so a friend and I decided to go to Quebec. The hostel we were staying at was doing a pub crawl of brewpubs but I hadn't quite developed a taste for beer yet. An Australian named Shaun who we made with friends with told me to try the ciders - I was amazed that all of them were very different, even though they were made within walking distances. I've since gone back to Montreal after starting my business and had other phenomenal Quebec-made ciders. 

Q: What inspired you to open Revel?

A: I wanted to own a farm originally - I studied Plant Science at the University of Guelph and did an internship at Manorun Organic Farm in Copetown (Just north of Hamilton) in the summer of my second year. They had an old wine press there that I ended up using to make mead, wine and ciders. I would grind/press/ferment after doing full days of labour on the farm. That was where I really fell in love with making alcohol. For me, it was just another way to preserve the summer harvest (I also did many pickles and preserves in my time there). I came back to school, took an applied business course (by the end of which you come out with a business plan) and applied for a grant program offered by U of G called The Hub. It's a business incubator. I pitched to a panel of judges and was selected among four other businesses to be in their first cohort. The grant helped but mostly the fact that the judges believed I had a solid plan was the reason I took it to the next level.

Q: What was your favourite experience during your first year of business?

A: I can't really pin down one moment as a favourite from the first year. It's been a pretty amazing ride with all the recognition and the great feedback. I'm hoping year two will be more of the same. The constant learning is what's best for me.

Q: What advice would you give cider lovers to help them choose the best ciders?

A: I would recommend giving everything Ontario-made a shot and deciding what style you like best. Just like beer and wine, you can make cider in many different ways - that's one of the reasons I love doing it. But not every style is for everyone; try it all and find what suits you. Ontario apples are phenomenal though. Also, traditional Spanish and French ciders are often good if you can find them.

Q: What's something you see in the craft cider world that is worrisome?

A: The most worrisome thing in the Craft Cider world right now, at least in Ontario, is the insane percentages that the LCBO takes from every sale (regardless of if you sell in their stores or straight to bars/restos). It can be as high as 56% currently. Until that changes, not many cideries will be able to operate profitably, severely holding back the industry in Ontario.

Q: What is your personal favourite cider you've brewed?

A: Personally, I really liked Bittersweet Freedom. It had a nice tannic balance, with great acidity. Tannin is one of the hardest things to find in Ontario apples so I could only make so much. Hopefully, that changes in the future. In the meantime, I've also made an aggressively hopped cider called XXX (in collaboration with Clifford Brewing and West Avenue Cider). It was phenomenal, lots of Citra and Galaxy Hops. I will be making that again.

Our special thanks to Tariq for taking the time to share with us – and for making such an incredible and unique selection of ciders to enjoy during Revelations month! Can’t wait ‘til next year and more Oud Blanc!

The Beer Baron - Craft Cider Cruise

This post comes from Matt, the Beer Baron. Find him on Twitter @geekcanuck

Despite not having too much of a taste for craft beer, the Clockwatching Tart has visited more breweries and craft beer shows across the continent than most beer geeks, all in the name of adventure (and being  good spot about one of my many obsessions). So, when I saw the chance to repay the favour by trying to win her tickets to the Toronto Craft Cider Cruise, I couldn’t resist. With a little luck and our thanks to Thornbury Village Cidery – who produce the lovely Thornbury Cider – we were off to Toronto to indulge our love for Ontario craft cider!

The Craft Cider Cruise took place aboard The River Gambler and before we delved into the wonderful array of Ontario craft ciders, we needed a bit of food and much to our surprise and delight, it was fresh, well made and delicious.

The Beer Baron - Twin Pines Cider

This post is from Matt, the Beer Baron

Over the years, I’ve dragged the Clockwatching Tart to countless craft beer festivals and bars across two continents – despite the fact that she legitimately doesn’t like beer. Beyond proving I’m a jerk and testing her patience, there are a few good reasons why even non-beer geeks might want to visit such places: 1) where there is craft beer, there is typically good, local food, 2) beer geeks are good people and more likely to argue over how much hops is too much hops than they are actually start a real fight, and 3) you might also discover some awesome cider!

That was the case about five years ago when we first discovered Twin Pines Orchard & Cider House at a little booth at the London Wine & Food Show. Since that happy first meeting, we’ve seen Twin Pines every year at the Wine & Food show, at this year’s Forest City Beer Fest and up at their cider house in Thedford, Ontario.

Recently, Twin Pines has been on our minds because it has started showing up on tap at Milos’ Craft Beer Emporium (which is one of those “you got chocolate in my peanut butter” type of great moments) and Twin Pines recently won an award for their Hammer Bent Red. Specifically, they picked up a “Best in Show" award at the 2014 Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition, which is a pretty wonderful accomplishment and more than enough reason for us to enjoy a beautiful fall drive back to visit the cider house again.

Pork Roast with Cider Gravy

I'm really enjoying pork roasts lately.  They are easy to cook and as long as you serve them with a tasty sauce, they're always moist and delicious.  A 1.5 to 2-pound pork roast serves us dinner plus lunch the next day with enough leftovers for another meal, like pork fried rice.  

I roasted this pork in the oven with mushrooms and onions, then made a pan gravy by adding cider, mustard and honey.  Here's what you need:

1 boneless pork loin centre roast

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, sliced

250g cremini mushrooms, quartered
3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp ground cardamom and/or nutmeg