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Aspall Cyder. The look and feel of the vintage-style bottles, the taste of the apples; everything about this iconic drink transports you to a classic English village, or in particular, a tiny hamlet town in Suffok, Aspall.
Founded in 1728 Aspall has become part of the grain of British heritage. The small parish town decided to go against the grain, and rather than grow cereals, Clement Chevallier decided to plant apple trees. Almost 300 years later, they are now one of the most popular cider brands in the country.
This summer, let yourself be transported to the smells and tastes of the magical Suffolk countryside whilst overlooking London’s tower bridge. Butler’s Wharf Chop House has transformed their terrace with greenery and apple blossom for the summer months, inspired by Aspall’s abundant apple orchards.
Butler’s Wharf Chop House will offer a bespoke Aspall Cyder Menu featuring a selection of ciders including Aspall Draught Cyder5.5% , Aspall Organic Cyder 6.8%, Aspall Premier Cru 6.8% and Aspall Imperial Vintage Cyder 8.2%.
Plus, Head Chef Behzad has crafted a selection of new dishes using Aspall Cyder as their secret ingredient, to be enjoyed alongside your drinks. Enjoy the likes of Aspall Cyder Brined Pork Chop, charred hispi cabbage, whisky peppercorn sauce and Miso & Aspall Cyder Mussels. Relax like you really are in the countryside and finish it all off with the perfect ode to Aspall with Behzad’s Apple Tarte Tatin.
So what does make Aspall cyder so unique? Well firstly, it is spelt with a ‘y’ and not an ‘i’. Why?
Aspall Cyder has only ever been spelt with a y, and this is to indicate the strength and quality of the cyder. Their unique process of fermentation means that Aspall is double fermented. Juice is squeezed from an apple and the 100’s of yeast present in the skin take control of the process and apples are stored for 2 weeks before they are squeezed to ensure high levels of tannins. The apples are then pre blended before they were mashed and ground to a pulp, before being transferred to oak barrels for fermentation.
Unlike other ciders, with Aspall, the fermentation process is long and slow, usually taking all winter as the temperature drops and slows down yeast activity. The arrival of spring means that the cyder is ready, when it is then moved into clean barrels. Depending on the variation of cyder, sugar is sometimes added add this stage provide a second fermentation, making the cyder stronger and high quality.
With more apple varieties than grape varieties, there is no surprise that Aspall is able to produce such a variation of high quality cyder. Today they grow 46 different varieties of apples on their estate, which all fall into 3 categories; sweets, sours, and bittersweets. Sweets are responsible for the flavour and aroma, the sours have a sharp acidity that provides the racy style of the Aspall cyder, and the bittersweets add the complexity and structure.
The Aspall Brand
The Aspall brand stays true to it’s traditions. Their apples are still pressed in the original Aspall Cyder House and their unique bottle is now trademarked and recognised around the world as the signature bottle of Aspall cyder. In the past, Aspall sold due to the quality of their cyder, so when the cyder was relaunched on a national scale in the 1990s, they replicated the very bottle their grandfather used to use. The sentiment behind its design was that high quality liquid deserves a high quality bottle.
Pairing Aspall Cyder
So with a cyder that has the sophistication of a wine, what should you pair it with? There are many good reasons to consider drinking cyder instead of wine in fact. Broadly speaking cyder goes very well with dishes based around chicken, pork, ham and bacon. It also pairs naturally with apple-based dishes such as pairs well with chutney, crumble, relish or stew. This why the Aspalls cyder pairs so perfectly with Butlers Wharf Chop House.
Try out our amazing selection of Aspall Cyder to pair with our unique and perfectly matched Butlers Wharf Chop House Aspall menu. Those Apple Cyder mussels are waiting to be enjoyed whilst looking over the River Thames.
See the full Aspalls Cyder and food menu here.