Elgin – We all know the saying about life handing you lemons. In Elgin, life hands you apples. So what do you do? You make cider. Proper cider, using up to five different kinds of apples, and one made with pears.
After getting a little bit lost, or as I like to call it, taking the scenic route, I ended up at Everson’s Cider where I was met by Michael Everson, who operates this family business with his dad, William.
In Cape Town you’ll find them at the Old Biscuit Mill on Saturdays, and Everson’s is available at selected establishments like House Of Machines in Shortmarket Street.
Everson set up a table and chairs in the dappled sunlight, and set up the basic range of four ciders. It was quite the revelation; these ciders taste like the real fruit that is used to make them. Apparently you can apply most of the same rules to cider as you do to wine, in the making and the tasting.
The “basic” apple cider uses five different types of apples, and it’s not overly sweet. The cloudy cider is sweeter, and that’s because it’s got some pure pressed apple juice added to it.
The pear cider tastes, well, like pears, but my favourite – and the one I bought to take home with me – is the mulled cider.
You won’t see that under the products on the website. It’s cider with all sorts of delicious spices like cinnamon and star anise and orange zest added to it.
There was a tank of it just behind us, and Everson lifted the lid and allowed me to inhale a deep breath of its Christmas cakey aroma. You can drink it out the bottle as is, but it’s recommended slightly warmed, and according to Everson, it’s even better with a shot of dark rum.
Then there are the big bottles of cider aged in brandy barrels (I have a bottle of that too, waiting to be sampled), and the dry, single varietal cider.
Today on the farm, they are bottling something called Gnarr, which is a scrumpy. Scrumpy originated in the west country of England, but it’s a name now used to distinguish locally-made ciders produced in smaller quantities and using traditional methods.
Everson’s Gnarr is a still cider presented in a squat 750ml bottle sealed with wax. On the bottle it says: “Don’t expect smooth-sipping and subtle nuances here guys. This noble rot is a ballsy, big drink packed with caramel and popcorn notes. You can drink it all day. As long as you don’t plan on using your legs.”
Sounds fantastic.