Esters

I recently had the honor of judging the Vashon Island Amateur Cider Cup at the 2nd Annual Vashon Cider Festival and I’ve got to say: they’re doing some great stuff over there.

Vashon Island is relatively small but they have three great cideries: Dragon’s Head, Nashi, and Shawnee Hill Farm. All three poured tastes for festival-goers, among other commercial makers from outside the island.

For the judging portion, I was joined by fellow Certified Pommeliers™ Maia Wohlert, Adam Wargacki, Storie Madrid, and Brandon Buza as we blindly judged across three categories:

• Bold and Beautiful: these ciders are robust, full-bodied, and impactful, showcasing complex flavors and strong structure. Often made from bittersweet and sharp apple varieties, they can have a wide range of alcohol levels but are always characterized by their intensity.
  • Sugar Level: Dry to Semi-Sweet
  • Acid Level: Medium to High
  • Tannin Level: Medium to High
• Delicate and Soft: Light, nuanced, and approachable, these ciders are elegant and subtle. They emphasize fruit purity and softness, often from dessert apples or other low-tannin varieties. The focus is on balance, with smooth acidity and little to no tannic bite.
  • Sugar Level: Dry to Sweet
  • Acid Level: Low to Medium
  • Tannin Level: Low to None
• Specialty: Specialty ciders focus on innovative and unique ingredients, techniques, or aging processes. These may include fruit blends, barrel aging, botanical infusions, or sparkling ciders. The sugar, acid, and tannin levels vary widely based on the style.
  • Sugar Level: Dry to Sweet
  • Acid Level: Low to High
  • Tannin Level: Low to High

We first split into two groups to evaluate and choose the top three for the two two categories. Adam and I were on point for Delicate and Soft. Interestingly enough, there were a couple of entries that took inspiration from Basque style. While it did not feel that they quite fit in the category, they clearly did not fit into Beautiful and Bold due to their relatively low tannins. As someone who appreciates that style very much, I enjoyed them quite a bit and was impressed with their overall quality.

After finishing our respective categories and a quick break, we can back together as a group to judge the much smaller Specialty category, which had perry and pommeau entries. The pommeau was delicious without being cloying, and won the category.

With all categories decided, it was time to revisit each of the category winners to award Best in Show. While it was a difficult choice, we ultimately crowned the Delicate and Soft winner as the champion. It was an incredibly complex cider that reminded us of cidermaster Tom Oliver, but with low tannin. It was light but balanced, and included baked apple, leather, and slight bandaid notes.

Congratulations to Jonathan Stein for taking gold in the Bold and Beautiful category, Terry VanderWaal for gold in specialty, and Alex Giron for gold in Delicate and Soft and best in show!

While organizers only intended the judging to take an hour and a half, we ended up coming in just shy of three hours because of our commitment to providing the amateur cider makers with robust notes and improvement ideas. As a judge, it can sometimes be intimidating to share your raw thoughts on something your name is attached to. However, I am of the opinion that there is value in being so vulnerable. I was briefly nervous when one of the cider makers found me afterwards to discuss what I wrote, but it soon became clear he wanted to thank me for my constructive criticism and that he found my notes fair. (It is worth noting that for 99% of the entries, our notes consisted of nitpicking and fine tuning; there were plenty of things I’d have been happy to enjoy during my free time!)

All in all, the amateur cider makers on Vashon Island have clearly spent lots of time and effort on their craft. I hope to be invited to judge again next year!