Thank you to Netgalley and Ten Speed Press for the chance to read and review this ARC;


I am pleased to say I was tickle pink the moment I saw this book. I have a deep love for cider drinking and I've been moving slowly (and cautiously) toward the idea of trying to brew my own. This a curiosity brought on by my brother's own beer and mead making prowess.

I was so pleased to see how the beginning of this book was laid out to help with such things. That it's gentle, and tells you how to pick your apples, why and which kind, and even talks about how not to go broke getting what you want. That there is an explicit guide to which kinds of apples what which characteristics, how to recognize them, what they brought to the cider party in means of taste, and what the common varietals of those were.

I have to give a great kudos to the writers that the first almost 40% of the book is just around how to go about making cider, everything from the beginning to the end, and all the questions you might have in-between. I was stellar-y blown away by their meticulous attention to detail, the way they made it clear enough even a beginner could understand, and left me with very few questions by the end of it.

Also, the end having a resource center and a dictionary of possibly lesser known words was amazing.

The recipes, of course, are to die for. They sounds breathtaking and I want to start trying several even now. I think I want to start with honey, or champagne, or bourbon varieties first, to wow and surprise my tasters. What about you? Where do you want to start, good reader/cider maker? ( )

This book is pretty enough to go on the coffee table and written in an informal, conversational style that encourages reading it like a book rather than just flipping through it for a recipe. It's very accessible and doesn't really assume any prior knowledge.

My mate and I have been talking about making cider for years, and this book prompted us to get off our arses and get to work. Our first batch is already drinkable, and just now in bottles!

I grew up in Amish country and every year we waited for cider season. We bought fresh apple juice (locally called cider), cloudy and thick, from roadside stands or direct from local farmers who made it from windfalls and other ugly apples that did not go to the farmers markets. Drinking the cider was a complex operation because each of us liked it "turned" to a different degree. Several jugs of cider sat in the garage for varying lengths of time till someone decided that it was "done" enough and put one in the fridge to slow fermentation. Once in a while the jugs would explode if someone didn't loosen a cap. Once in a while a jug would go to vinegar if someone forgot about it. This is what Emma Christensen calls "Traditional" cider, made with wild yeast and no added chemicals or flavorings.

Now I am out in the world and I drink cider whenever I can find it, mostly opting out of beer. This is great when I am in the UK where cider is a normal pub drink and even scrumpy (a messy, yeasty rough cider) can be found in some communities. Finding bottled cider in the USA has gotten very difficult as the expensive and tasty imported brands give way to US flavored crap. I recently visited San Francisco and could not find a decent cider anywhere. Everyone was carrying that brand that does all the advertising or a very local brand that tasted of nothing but peel and was so bad I gave it back to the bartender and switched to wine.

Many of these brewers should take a look at Ms Christensen's book for some more sophisticated ideas on blending apples and yeasts to get real cider flavor that balances sweet, sour and bitter. I am particularly concerned that the finished cider does not taste of peel, which happens if brewers are using the wrong strain of Granny Smith (some these days have peel so bitter I have to peel them to eat) or, horrors, they are recycling pomace from an applesauce factory.

If you are interested in cider, and are already a beer maker, you are good to go with the recipes in this book. But I don't know many beer drinkers who also drink cider so perhaps there will be more people who want to make cider at home but are not familiar with home brewing. This book is a good starting place.

Ms Christensen's instructions are complete and correct but perhaps it would be a good idea to supplement this information with some time online watching people use the equipment, or talking to a neighbor who brews beer. Get a feel for the rhythm of things. Start with the simple recipes and a range of yeasts. The yeast makes all the difference (after the peel).

Ms Christensen's prose is clear and uncluttered. There are lots of photos of farms and orchards in the autumn. I am not sure this book needed to be so fancy. More equipment, fewer leaves.

I received a review copy of "Modern Cider: Simple Recipes to Make Your Own Ciders, Perries, Cysers, Shrubs, Fruit Wines, Vinegars, and More" by Emma Christensen (Ten Speed) through NetGalley.com. ( )