It’s safe to accuse those of us at Blue Bee Cider of having a fruit obsession, particularly when it comes to fermenting said fruit. From a creative standpoint, one of our many blessings as a cidery is the freedom to incorporate fruit other than apples into our recipes. Mill Race Bramble, for example, was the first berry-infused cider in Virginia when originally released in 2013.
The challenge is to push the envelope and continue creating fresh and unique recipes. Fanfare, our wild mulberry cider, was inspired by a neighborhood tree dropping purple fruit onto the brick sidewalk in our old Manchester home. And now, we are pleased to introduce Aplomb, a barrel-aged cider featuring sugar plums picked in the suburbs.
As chief forager at the cidery (not a real title, though it feels accurate and it certainly sounds cool), I’m always on the lookout for fruit growing wild in and around Richmond. A couple of summers back, I was out to dinner with friends Laura & Kevin Fix, residents of Chesterfield County.
“Hey, we have a plum tree in our front yard,” Laura said. “Would those be of any interest to you at the cidery?”
Um… yes.
Over the course of two summers, I picked about 90 pounds of plums with assistance from Mackenzie Smith and Nicole Martorana (my coworkers), and Suzanne Robertson (my cosmic mate). Compared to the tiny mulberry, plums are gloriously heavy and provide instant gratification as they fill buckets. My picking method was similar to the mulberry approach: place a tarp on the ground, get up in the tree, and shake branches.
This fall, our cidermaker Taylor transferred 100 gallons of Winesap apple cider to two wine barrels provided by Early Mountain Vineyards. In early November, we hosted Brittany Mullins (of the popular Eating Bird Food website and social media empire) to help crush the plums into the barrels, then we aged the concoction for three months before carbonating and bottling.
Aplomb! was supposed to be released on Valentine’s Day, but the government shutdown has delayed production – we needed the government to approve our final labels before we can package Aplomb! This is an unpleasant throwback reminder to the 2013 shutdown, which stalled the release of Mill Race Bramble, Hopsap Shandy (Virginia’s first dry-hopped cider), and Harvest Ration (our dessert cider collaboration with Catoctin Creek Distilling Company).
Alas, it shouldn’t be too long now. We will release it on Saturday, March 16. Aplomb! will be on draft in our tasting room, with a limited supply of bottles available for purchase.
-Brian Ahnmark
