REVEL CIDER

INTERVIEW WITH TARIQ AHMED (SPOTIFY)

2018: I met up with Tariq, the mastermind behind Revel Cider, and his accomplice Stephen earlier this year while visiting Toronto. After a quick curbside introduction, we wandered down the street to Bellwoods Brewery where we proceeded to drink excessively. In fact, our lunch time drinking session went so well we were nearly an hour late for our dinner reservations. Needless to say, I could barely stop myself from guzzling their supremely complex, textural ciders. We chatted about fermentation dynamics, the quest to find rare apple trees scattered around Ontario, and how Tariq’s Muslim parents feel about him producing alcohol professionally.

Tariq was in the Plant Sciences program at the University of Guelph when he started experimenting with Cider making. His friends were impressed enough to encourage him to turn his hobby into a business, and after earning a grant via the University’s Center for Business he rented a small space and got to work.

Their ciders are made exclusively from Ontario grown apples; they’re constantly hunting for interesting varieties and terroirs to add to their arsenal. Nearly all their products are wild fermented. They are admittedly fond of brettanomyces and the shocking range of flavour profiles it can create in cider. In addition to apples, they love working with other local products: honeycomb from Rosewood, lees and grape skins from Pearl Morisette, botanicals and cherry pits from Dillon’s Distillery.

Some of their ciders are barrel aged which they believe adds depth and complexity. This also helps with stability, as they add very little sulphur to their bottlings. They do not fine nor filter their ciders, once again, opting for complexity and flavour over clarity.

Tariq is constantly challenging my perceptions of what cider can be. Recently he made a Sauvignon Blanc aged on Crab Apple skins, a cider aged on Cabernet Franc skins previously used in a Burdock Brewing Beer, and a wine made exclusively from spontaneously fermented cherries. It’s hard to keep up with all their projects, but it’s their dynamism that has drawn me in. 

MADE ON THE TRADITIONAL LANDS OF THE: HO-DE-NO-SAU-NEE-GA (HAUDENOSAUNEE) | ANISHINABEWAKI ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ | MISSISSAUGAS OF THE CREDIT FIRST NATION | MISSISSAUGA | WENDAKE-NIONWENTSÏO | ATTIWONDERONK 

TIME & PLACE

This is Revel’s flagship cider. The juice from culinary apples is aged on the pomace of tannic cider apples for six-eight months. Culinary fruit tends to lack texture so most cideries back sweeten, but this extended maceration on high quality cider varieties adds depth without sugar. The cider is then can conditioned, resulting in a much nicer bubbled structure than forced carbonation.  6.5% ABV

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Sonata

For this cuvée they used 250g/l of Montmorency Cherries, macerated with the cider for three months, stones and all. The cider was wild fermented and can conditioned. It was neither fined nor filtered. 6.5% ABV

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SOIF

For this cuvée Tariq wild fermented cider on whole cherries and strawberries. They copied Cantillon’s fruiting rate of 200-300g/l of fresh fruit. Once fermentation was finished, they pressed off and let it macerate with Zweigelt skins. This imparted mild tannins and structure. No sulphur was added. 6.1% ABV

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SPRING

This cuvée is made by macerating blue, red, and golden plums from Niagara for seven months in their base cider. It is released in their classic lightly sparkling style. 6% ABV

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PERA

This perry is made from tree ripened Bartlett Pears. After crushing and allowing the mash to macerate it is pressed off into tank for fermentation. Unfermentable sorbitol and low levels of acid make pears particularly hard to work with. 4% ABV

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BITTERSWEET FREEDOM

This is a single variety cider made from Hyslop Crab Apples. So far, they’ve only been able to find three of these trees in Ontario, so production is limited. Additionally, the trees only fruit every second year, but their farmer decided to harvest the micro-crop from an off year resulting in only 300 bottles. The wild fermented cider was aged in a barrel that used to hold tarragon infused wine. It is then bottle-conditioning resulting in a modestly sparkling cider. 8.1% ABV

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