Turbo Cider More Flavouring
More ideas to try, the options are endless
What is Turbo Cider?
If you’re wondering “what is Turbo Cider?” or “How do I make one?” then check out my previous article Simple Turbo Cider first and then come back for the exciting world of flavouring!
Sweet and Fizzy?
Our goal for today is to look at a few of the adventurous flavouring options, but before we begin there are a couple of basic options that are applicable to all situations:
- Sweet or Dry
- Carbonated or Still
These options are explained in more detail in Turbo Cider Flavouring.
All the flavour options today can be combined with the basic level of sweetness and level of carbonation options to vary the end result to personal taste.
Fruit Extract or Concentrated Flavours
The easiest option for flavouring your turbo cider is to use concentrated flavour drops, extract or essence. These can be extremely concentrated so sometimes just a few drops are enough. It’s always helpful to add these flavourings cautiously, testing and increasing the dose to taste.
The advantage of concentrated flavouring is the sheer breadth of variety, you are not limited just to fruit flavours but just about anything you can imagine is available: chocolate, vanilla, toffee, strawberry cheesecake, the options are endless.
As mentioned earlier, flavour essences are often extremely strong, but they have an additional advantage of being clear so they do not impact the colour of your cider. Other options, such as the strawberry flavdops in the picture below, a brightly coloured and will change the overall colour of your cider.
Flavouring using this approach is different to natural flavours, and it is often possible to detect that an artificial flavouring has been used. The best way to explain this difference is to imagine a sugary cherry sweet, compared to eating a fresh cherry. Flavourings tend towards the artificially sweet (like to cherry sweet) rather than the naturally tart end (of the natural fruit). There are many manufacturers so there are plenty of variations and opportunities to experiment.
This wouldn’t stop me from considering these options, the sheer degree of choice makes them a wonderful option that can be used individually or in combination. Just remember that it is easy to use too much, simply be cautious with the quantity used.
Real Fruit
Adding real fruit to your turbo cider can be done at various different points, and each will have a slightly different impact.
During Primary Fermentation- adding real fruit into the fermenter will add to the available sugars available for fermentation, while the early addition will give greater opportunity for fruit flavours and aromas to impart into the must. This is almost certainly the most common point that real fruit will be added.
Secondary Fermentation- After racking is another point that fruit can be added, but at this stage there are additional considerations regarding the impact this will have. Unless the ABV has reached the maximum tolerance for the yeast, adding fruit at this point is adding sugar and fermentation will simply restart. This will increase the alcohol level and have much less effect on the flavour and aroma.
Stabilisation- There are multiple ways to prevent fermentation from restarting, this can be achieved through preservative chemical additions, or through pasteurisation. Both these options prevent the yeast from continuing any fermentation. Fruit added after stabilisation has a similar effect to a tea bag in your cuppa, it will more fully provide flavouring, colour and aroma to your cider.
Bottle Conditioning or Serving- Fruit can be added to your recipe at any stage, including inside the bottle during conditioning.
Spice It Up
From chippings from a whiskey barrel, or the toasted wood from a french oak tree, to local or exotic spices, the list of what is possible with herbs and spices is endless. There are more alternatives available regarding the number of herbs and spices than we could possibly cover here. Basically, anything on your spice rack is an option.
Exactly as for real fruit, additions can be made at any point in the lifecycle:
- Pre-Fermentation (Mixing),
- Primary Fermentation,
- Secondary Fermentation (Racking), or
- Through Barrel or bottle conditioning.
Unlike fruit, however, herbs and spices typically do not contain sugars so there are no such concerns regarding restarting fermentation to worry about.
In my experience with concentrated flavourings, I found it too easy to use too much, with herbs and spices the problem was the opposite and I found myself to be overcautious and remove the additions too soon.
The freshness of the herbs and spices also plays an important role, I discovered to my chagrin that some of the spices from my spice rack were perhaps long past their best.
In general, herbs and spices will need more time to mature and develop than flavourings, so give yourself plenty of time before planning to open the latest bottle.
Sweet Apple Pie Spiced Cider (5L Recipe)
One of my favourite turbo cider flavours uses a combination of ALL the options described so far! In addition to the basic turbo cider, additions were made in secondary fermentation and at bottling:
Secondary Fermentation (10–20 days)
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 1 Green Cardamom pod
- 5 Allspice Berries
- Half a Nutmeg (grated)
- A few drops of Vanilla Essence
Bottling (minimum 7 days)
- A few drops of Apple Essence
- Non-fermentable sugar for additional sweetening
- Priming Sugar for bottle carbonation
The video playlist of Turbo Cider v2.0!
While Sweet and Carbonated still scored top with all my friends, the sweet apple pie spiced variety provided a tasty alternative to all that sweetness.
As a new home brewer, I have been documenting each brew, including mistakes, discoveries, surprises and shared tastings. It has been so much fun. Each recipe has its own playlist of episodes and can be viewed on the 1-Gallon Homebrew YouTube channel.
I love turbo cider, as do many of my friends and colleagues it turns out!
If you’ve enjoyed reading then please clap, like, smile, follow and all that jazz to be notified when future articles are released.
Cheers
Rob
