Scrumpy — farmhouse cider of Dorset
A dry, rough farmhouse cider, cloudy and pressed from sharp cider apples, fermented without artifice. A thirst-quenching table drink, it was drunk cool, drawn from the barrel.
A dry, rough farmhouse cider, cloudy and pressed from sharp cider apples, fermented without artifice. A thirst-quenching table drink, it was drunk cool, drawn from the barrel.
In our house, we didn't trust well water — it was cider we drank, from morning to night, young and old, but watered down for the children. Ours was cloudy and stung the tongue, made from the sourest apples in the orchard, crushed and left to turn on their own in the barrel. A mug of this scrumpy, after a day splitting rock under the Channel wind, and you felt revived.
- •Sharp cider apples — a large quantity (raw material, sugars and tannins)
- •Wild yeasts — naturally present (spontaneous fermentation)
Scrumpy — farmhouse cider of Dorset
A dry, rough farmhouse cider, cloudy and pressed from sharp cider apples, fermented without artifice. A thirst-quenching table drink, it was drunk cool, drawn from the barrel.
Why this dish? In southwest England, water was not always safe, and farmhouse cider — 'scrumpy', cloudy and sharp — was the daily drink of Dorset folk, from fields to coast. Mary and her family drank it like everyone around them.
In our house, we didn't trust well water — it was cider we drank, from morning to night, young and old, but watered down for the children. Ours was cloudy and stung the tongue, made from the sourest apples in the orchard, crushed and left to turn on their own in the barrel. A mug of this scrumpy, after a day splitting rock under the Channel wind, and you felt revived.
Ingredients (period version)
- Sharp cider apples — a large quantity (raw material, sugars and tannins)
- Wild yeasts — naturally present (spontaneous fermentation)
Ingredients
- Freshly pressed, unpasteurized cider apple juice — 5 litres (must to ferment)
- Cider yeast (optional, for reliability) — 1 packet (controlled fermentation)
- Fermentation demijohn with airlock — 1 (equipment)
Method
- Pour the unpasteurized apple juice into a clean demijohn.
- Allow wild fermentation to start, or add cider yeast for more reliability.
- Fit an airlock and let ferment in a cool place for 2 to 4 weeks, until bubbling stops.
- Rack into clean bottles, leaving the sediment behind.
- Let mature for a few weeks in a cool place; serve cool, dry and slightly cloudy. (For adults only.)
How it was made : Scrumpy was produced on southwest farms without temperature control or added yeast: apples were pressed in a screw press, the juice collected in wooden barrels, and natural yeasts left to do their work. The result was dry, cloudy, and sometimes very alcoholic. Diluted with water, it was given even to children, for lack of reliable drinking water.
The contemporary twist : Served in a modern version over ice with an apple slice and a mint leaf — or as a non-alcoholic 'shrub' with cider vinegar and sparkling water for younger ones.
Mary Anning · Charactorium
