Once upon a time, we were a little less discerning when it came to our alcohol consumption. If the price was right, we'd drink it, with little thought given to what it does to our insides or how it flares up our allergies.
Thankfully, the fortunes of natural booze are changing for the better, and organic wine is no longer the dirty word it once was. Smart consumers want to know more about what goes into their drinks, and producers, for their part, are growing weary of cutting corners.
The next frontier? Cider. The partners behind The Great Canadian Cider Company had been making an organic ice cider in Quebec for five years before learning there was nothing comparable in Ontario. The marketing duo paired up with a cidermaker and set out to create the best organic hard ciders in Canada using locally grown organic apples.
The Great Canadian Cider Company counts itself among the one per cent of orchards certified as organic in Canada. They only use locally grown Canadian apples with no water, concentrate or preservatives added to the final product. Their apples are free of pesticides, herbicides and other nasties. As a result, the apple tree has to work harder to survive and thrive, producing more of those all-important antioxidants.
This low-intervention method extends throughout the whole process. The Great Canadian Cider Company age their apples naturally, converting their starches to sugar all by themselves. The hand-selected fruit is then cleaned and pressed, with the leftover pomace used as an organic fertilizer, making sure that absolutely nothing is wasted.
So far, the company has developed six different organic ciders; Nice & Dry, Not Too Sweet, Good & Hard, Cranberry, Hopped Up and Ice Cider. Their flagship cider, Nice & Dry, champions the less-is-more school of thought with its clean and crisp taste. This cider's refreshing flavour makes it a perfect pair for dishes like grilled salmon or pizza.
Nice & Dry can be found in over 200 LCBO stores and will soon be appearing at 450 grocery stores across Ontario. The rest of their product line will be rolled into the Ontario market gradually, with several new ciders hopefully scheduled to hit the market later in 2018.
Great Canadian Cider Company's commitment to cider-making means that when you crack open a can this summer, you're enjoying something that's as close to nature as possible. Because if it doesn't happen naturally, it doesn't happen at all.
