With a Christmas dinner menu of Glazed Ham, Roast Yams with Pears and Bourbon, and apple pie for dessert, the question of what to drink naturally arises. If you live in or near the apple-growing regions of the northern United States or Canada, you are poised to experience what I think must be the Next Big Thing in the world of drink: high-quality, artisan hard apple cider, whose delicacy, complexity, and overall deliciousness can easily measure up to fine wine. I’m not talking about anything that comes in a 6-pack, or that has flavors added—I am talking about nothing but the juice of fine apples, preferably from a blend of apple varieties (including bitter or sour ones you wouldn’t want to eat or cook with), fermented into a dry, effervescent, yeasty brew with an alcohol content somewhere between beer and wine, in a 750-ml bottle with a cork, with a soft, delicate apple aroma evoking cold winters. (more…)
