The Return Of Newark Cider

New Jersey has in recent years, been known for their wines and champagnes. Yet another heady beverage is making a comeback -  Newark Cider. This clean tasting fruity brew is being made in state again and is gracing tables as it did in George Washington's day.

Rachel Wharton, a food writer and editor at  The New York Daily News took a break from her newspaper to write this piece for today's New York Times Food section. Newark cider was a great favorite of colonial New Jersey.It was also the treasured choice of George Washington who called it "the champagne of ciders". For decades cideries graced the Newark ,New Jersey area, thanks in part to the vast amount of apple orchards located the various hillsides bordering the town. They were perfect for growing fruit. The slopes have cool nights and warm days which protect the fruit from frost along with helping to accumulate flavor and sugar. The apples, themselves, are descended from the four varieties that make up the brew. Campfield, Povoshon, Granniwinkle and Harrison, the most celebrated of the quartet are the ones used. Together they create a crisp clean cider with notes of caramel and brown sugar, thanks to the Poveshon.Yet it is the Harrison apple that makes the cider sing.They have both the astringent tannins and high acidity that give the drink its' very rich, sugary flavor.

The entire Jersey cider industry was ready to be consigned to history  however it was revived to Charles Rosen.This former chief executive of a Manhattan advertising agency that dealt with other liquors, Svedka Vodka and Mike's Hard Lemonade, wanted to reintroduce this staple of Revolutionary New Jersey. He invested all his money in the business , long gone thanks to first urbanization  and then Prohibition.In 2011 he was looking to effect change in the state. It was then he was handed the magazine Edible New Jersey which had an article about the history of Newark Cider.The article's author, Fran McManus offered a suggestion at its' end - the apples were being grown in other states - why not bring  them back home? Mr. Rosen decided to give it a try. In 2015 he planted several thousand hard to find vintage cider apple saplings. While waiting for these to grow , he produced mainstream ciders such as cherry -cranberry with apple juice bought from other orchards. There is a new Champagne style cider made entirely of Harrison apples, found when his lawyer, Thomas Villardi, came upon a deserted cider mill in Maplewood NJ and with it , the trees. There is also the Ironbound Cider Company that has a tap room and tasting room where New Jersey sourced ingredients are turned into delicious dishes that go perfect with the cider. It's located in Asbury ,New Jersey, just a skip away from the Bridgewater Commons Mall.

New Jersey is known for many things. Cider will once again be one of them. New Jerseyians will enjoy this heady brew  the same way George Washington did.