Episode 178

What’s shakin, cocktail fans?

Welcome to episode 178 of The Modern Bar Cart Podcast!

This time around, we’re expanding our scope to include fermented beverages – in particular, cider. We chat with authors and cider buffs Dan Pucci and Craig Cavallo who are about to release a book called American Cider.” It traces fermented apple beverages through the temporal and physical landscape of our nation and alerts us to cider trends and production legacies that are right here in our own backyards just waiting to be discovered.

In this fruity, fermented conversation with Crag Cavallo and Dan Pucci, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How each of these gentlemen fell in love with apples and cider through their shared experiences in the New York hospitality scene and their happy proximity to the Hudson Valley – one of our nation’s most prolific apple hubs

• Why cider developed differently in America than it did in Europe, and how different geographic, cultural, and economic factors contributed to various dark ages and revivals in the apple world.

• Of course, we talk about different exciting apple varietals with cool names like “Northern Spy” and “Black Twig,” as well as the four different categories that all cider apples can be placed into.

• We explain the different decisions that cider makers encounter on their way to delicious ferments, including yeast, terroir, and naming conventions.

• We offer tips for sourcing excellent cider for your home bar and even how to start experimenting with making your own cider,

• And much, much more.