Capital cider Pairings

For curious drinkers wanting to sample around the category, Capitol Cider in Seattle offers a cider flight of three 3-oz. pours for $14, says Sara Harvey, chef de cuisine.

The 160-seat tavern currently offers four cider flights: a Spanish-style flight, a single varietal-style flight, a showcase of E.Z. Orchard ciders and a continental flight with American ciders, including Alpenfire Bittersweet, AeppelTreow Perry and West County Golden Delicious.

Capitol  Cider also came about from a passion for apple beverages. Opened in 2013, it “was not a haphazard choice to feature ciders. We always wanted to be an educational spot for cider,” explains Jonathan Chambers, beer and cider manager.

This includes recommending food pairings, which are written into the menu. The tavern bases many of its matches on how the food would work with wine. “Cider is technically apple wine,” Chambers says.

That’s why seafood dishes are an ideal pair for cider, including Capitol Cider’s clam frites, with ground bacon, garlic, thyme, French cidre and fries ($14). The menu suggests that diners pair this dish with E.Z. Orchard’s Hawk Haus ($8 for a 6-oz. pour).

“This cider provides an aromatic, herbal, mineral and yeasty background that compliments the fattiness of the shellfish,” Chambers explains.

Staying with seafood, Capitol Cider offers a Fish and Chips plate, with cod cooked in Blackthorne Cider, plus lemon and house-made tartar sauce ($16). The menu recommends this with Domaine Bordatto Cidre Sagaro Basandere ($7 for a 6-oz. pour), a semi-sweet English style cider.

“It’s not too heavy, and has real nice acidity,” Chambers says. “It’s got a little funk like a Spanish cider, but also more body. It helps balance out the high salt of the fish dish.”

Capitol Cider, a 160-seat tavern in Seattle, incorporates recommended food/cider pairings into the menu.

East Meets West

Bushwhacker Cider, which recently opened a second location in Portland, is another concept based around premium ciders and the cuisine that pairs well with them.

For example, Pinkston notes that the lamb vindaloo in a Mediterranean curry sauce, with potatoes, spinach and garlic ($10) works well with dry and tart ciders, such as the house-brewed Le Grande Pomme ($5 per 8-oz. pour). A single varietal cider, Le Grande Pomme is made with Manchurian crab apples.

“It really opens up the vindaloo,” Pinkston says. “On the palate, the vindaloo tastes completely different than if you weren’t drinking a good dry cider.”

Another option with the vindaloo, he adds, is the Baird and Dewar Farmhouse Cider ($5 for a 16-oz. pour). The producer ages cider in oak barrels after an open fermentation. The result is a cider with flavors similar to a chardonnay or saison beer.