Podcast: Traditional Irish Cider

Say St. Patrick’s Day and many think of corned beef and cabbage with a beer. Perhaps and Irish coffee.

Fact is that it was cider that was the drink of the Celts of ancient Europe.

These days traditional Irish cider is Imported in bulk and bottled in Florida. Kelly’s Cider is a crisp light dry cider, made from traditional bittersweet cider apples.

John J Kelly’s Irish Cider was started in 1997 by Brendan Daly from Dublin and John Cronin from Kerry. Both had previously lived in the USA and knew of the growing demand for cider there, especially among the thousands of young Irish who had migrated to the States in the 1980’s – this was the initial target group for the cider. Daly had made cider for several years in Tipperary before starting Kelly’s Cider.

The initial plan was to import the cider in bulk and bottle it in the states.

Traditional cider is made from bittersweet cider apples that are grown in Ireland, England and France. These apples are only grow for fermentation and are not used for eating or cooking. They are not grown in the U.S.

Interestingly, in the 19th century, cider was very popular in the Northeast U.S. Very large quantities were consumed even after the German immigrants introduced their new lager beers. Prohibition ended the production of hard cider in the U.S. Old, established orchards of bittersweet fermenting cider apples were cut down and farmers switched to other crops. After the repeal of Prohibition, cider never made a comeback. Beer companies lobbied to have a lower tax than cider and farmers could grow barely very quickly. A productive orchard of bittersweet cider apples would take many years to grow a high productivity level. Beer quickly became the drink of choice in the U.S.

A new demand for cider began in the 1980’s in New York, Chicago, Boston and other “Irish” cities.

In this Conversation, we speak with Jim Massoni about how Kelly’s Traditional Irish Cider is introducing folks to the traditions of cider from both sides of the Atlantic.

At: http://conversationsontheroad.podbus.com/?p=575