Polish Cider Festival is an online event dedicated for cider aficionados and those who don’t know anything about cider at all. Three days of talks with cider makers, sommeliers, journalists, and professionals. The main goal was to show Polish cider as an interesting drink which has nothing to be ashamed of. Polish ciders are made on a world-class level.
Let’s admit it – cider is misunderstood drink in Poland. There is a lot of confusion. Many think it is an apple beer, some think it is some type of fruit wine. However, more people are getting interested in making and drinking cider. It gains popularity and this event tries to show many aspects of cider and its influence. We will write about cider in details in our next post. Now we will just get you a short summary of all videos.
So let’s start.
Day one – 21st of May
The first live video focused on the history of Polish cider – there was a very interesting discussion between Tomasz Porowski from Cydr Ignaców and professor Jarosław Dumański from Nicolas Copernicus University in Toruń. They talked about the first written records of word “jabłecznik” (which means “cider” in Old Polish).
Then, we had a meeting with two cider makers. One is the legendary cider maker – Henryk Nowakowski who makes Cydr Tradycyjny z Trzebnicy and the other is Iwona Rybacka form cidery Cydrownia Przy Sadzie who started just 3 years ago. It was an exchange of experiences between new and old cideries.
Next video – a talk between Natalia Wszelaki, known as Cider Explorer and Marcin Wiechowski from cidery Kwaśne Jabłko. They talk about new waves of cider, trends and how cider is perceived in Europe and Poland.
The last video has the same format as the second – old cidery and a new one – they exchanged experiences. This time we had Dariusz Koroś form multi-award cidery Cydr Chyliczki and new cider makers from Cydr Podlaski.
Day two – 22nd of May
First video – a meeting with cider makers: Przemek Iwanek from Cydr Pełnia and Łukasz Sobór from Cydr Smykan, a story about how they started; their problems during a pandemic. A tale about flavours, ice ciders, hopped ciders and cider in kegs.
Next video – a talk with winemakers who produce cider. Yes, we had two of them – vineyards Winnica Chodorowa and Winnica Wieliczka. The owners talked about why they turned into cider, orchards, their customers and plans for the future.
Video three – cooking with cider, food pairing. How to pair cider with Polish and European food. Great lesson about flavours, aromas and local meals led by Jerzy Kruk, sommelier, and cider maker Marcin Wiechowski (Kwaśne Jabłko). Polish ciders are great with asparagus, fish (e.g. trout), pizza, and also with duck, goose, pork, seafood, mushrooms.
Video 4 – cider in restaurants. Is there any place on drink menu for cider in Poland? Sommeliers and drinks distributor talked about the tastes of clients, trends in cuisine, restaurants and Polish cider.
Day three – 23rd of May
A meeting with cider makers – a new cidery Cydr Tabun in Otomin village in the north part of Poland talks with more experienced cidery Kwaśne Jabłko. A discussion about setting up a cider mill, clients and their tastes, about the definition of Polish cider.
Next video “How do they do it abroad?” was a discussion with two cider makers – Ivo from UTOPIA cider (Czech Republic) and Karl from Fruktstereo Cider (Sweden).
Then, we have the last talk with Polish cider makers – Cydr Ignaców and two new cider mills: Cydr Filomelos and Cydr Frys.
The last meeting with Przemek Iwanek and Artur Napiórkowski – talk about the identity of Polish cider. Can beer fans turn into cider? Maybe craft beer is a good introduction to cider? What about hopped cider?
*
All live videos were hosted by Maciej Nowicki, a journalist from Winicjatywa website and wine magazine “Ferment. Pismo o winie” and Małgosia Minta, a blogger from Minta Eats.
