Tempted craft ciders tingle the taste buds

Three new Irish craft ciders are to be launched at the upcoming All-Ireland Craft Beerfest by Northern Ireland's dj's juice and cider.

The company, which recently clinched a deal with DJ Wetherspoon, the UK pub chain, for its handcrafted ciders, will be marketing its products for the first time in the Republic of Ireland.

Debuting at the All-Ireland Craft Beerfest, 23rd to the 25th September at the RDS, Dublin, will be dj's Irish Craft Medium Dry Cider, Irish Craft Medium Sweet and their new Normandy-style Cider. All the products are being launched under the artisan producer's Tempted? brand in 500ml bottles.

The festival, which will feature over 40 beers and ciders along with select whiskey makers, is backed by Bord Bia, the Irish food board.

Tempted? Kent-style craft ciders, developed by husband and wife team Davy and Janet Uprichard in their small processing plant near Lisburn in County Antrim, are listed in public houses, restaurants and off-licences in many parts of Northern Ireland. This success, together with the deal with Wetherspoon, has led the enterprising couple to expand into the Republic of Ireland, then Great Britain.

Dj's uses bramley, dessert and a few cider varieties of apples in their products, all sourced from local growers in County Armagh.

The artisan business also produces apple juice under the dj's juice Naturally Pure brand. The apples are pressed, with only a little Vitamin C added, bottled and pasteurised within two days. dj's juice is then ready to be labelled, boxed and delivered to their customers. By keeping dj's juice pure the company aims to retain the fresh and refreshing taste of locally grown apples.

At Christmas, they created a Winter Spice juice by blending dj's apple juice with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and a hint of soft brown muscovado sugar.

Served warm dj's Winter Spice juice is a great way to banish winter chills. Both juices was free from preservatives, added colourings, flavours and sweeteners. The couple began pressing apples for cider in November 2009.

"Making cider seemed a logical development because apples are plentiful particularly in Armagh. There appeared a gap in the market especially for a Normandy-style craft cider. In Somerset and Normandy there are nearly as many recipes for craft cider as there are apple orchards. I reckoned it was time to develop one here in Lisburn," Davy Uprichard says.

The apples are pressed in the small processing plant and the pure juice is left to ferment for over six months. Then the cider is lightly carbonated and pasteurised as it is bottled. In two days the juice is completed, ready to be labelled, boxed and delivered to our customers.

"We set out to create an uncomplicated and healthy fruit drink, produced locally, that would be just like drinking apples.

"We add a yeast solution to start the fermentation and sugar syrup to sweeten at the end," he says. "However, the cider is still predominantly made with pure apple juice, unlike more commercially produced ciders where the legal requirement is a minimum of 35 per cent apple juice."

This pure pressed apple juice is pressed without water or sugar, only a little vitamin C is added to stop the apples discolouring, just like adding a squeeze of lemon to stewed apples