Scrumpy ciders originate from ‘West country’ England. The Scrumpy name refers to a ‘rough’ or unfiltered cider that is usually quite alcoholic. These ciders have historically been made with a blend of unselected apples, whatever happens to be around, leftover, or stolen.
In our modern, Northwest version of a scrumpy, we use a blend of high acid Pacific Northwest apples and add a touch of special ‘ice juice’ to raise the alcohol to 11% abv and create a dry, strong cider. We make the ice juice by taking fresh pressed Northwest apple juice and freezing it solid. Then, slowly over the course of several days, we let the intensified ‘ice juice’ drain out, leaving a frozen slushy of water crystals behind. The resulting high sugar, rich juice provides a boost of apple taste and the fuel needed for the yeast to reach that “Serious” ABV!