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I got this (dutch) recipe on Twitter a few months back. Translated it's called: apple with bubbles. I made it, and it was nice, simple process, and produced a nice summer style drink. But I was wondering, what did I make, and which parts can I try to vary with?

Translated recipe:

  1. Put in a big jar: 1 apple (small chunks), 1 slice of lemon, 500ml water, 1 tsp honey, 20gr sugar, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 cinnamon stick
  2. Cover jar with cheesecloth
  3. For 3-4 days, put it somewhere without direct sunlight, stir/shake it twice a day. (So get some nice fermentation going)
  4. Transfer/filter through cheesecloth liquid into a bottle
  5. Leave the bottle outside the fridge for 2 days, make sure to releave it of pressure.
  6. Put the bottle in the fridge for 2 days minimum. After that you have a week to drink it

So, uhm, what did I make, and which elements are essential for the process?

Davy Landman
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    Some kind of spontaneously fermented cider? can you find the original recipe ? – Max Oct 18 '20 at 16:21
  • Lesson two: Applejack ;) – Tetsujin Oct 18 '20 at 17:11
  • essential elements : apples, time. (I've been known to take the really good fresh cider from farmer's market, swap out the lid with an airlock, and then leave it on my fridge door for a couple of weeks, so it gets lightly shaken regularly) – Joe Oct 19 '20 at 18:12
  • @Max I have the original recipe, it was a picture of a book. And there was the "apple bubbles" name. – Davy Landman Oct 19 '20 at 18:42
  • @Joe Thanks for the reminder! (I prefer the early stages of fermentation, when there’s the fizz and slight to medium alcoholic tang. – Stephie Oct 19 '20 at 18:57
  • BTW, if you like baking and are interested in experimenting with wild yeasts - your setup is pretty much what’s done to capture wild yeasts (from the apple peels). I would leave out the spices, just in case. – Stephie Oct 19 '20 at 19:12
  • @Stephie I'm nearing on my 59th sourdough bread, so wild yeast is no stranger to me :) that's also another reason I wanted to try and improve this. But thanks for all the tips everyone, I'll just start fermenting away some of our own apples. Any good tips for calculators for ratios between ingredients? – Davy Landman Oct 19 '20 at 20:33

1 Answers1

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What you made is a watered down version of a fermented or hard cider - the natural yeasts in the apple produce CO2 and alcohol, the sugar adds a bit of extra food for the yeasts, as does the honey which also contributes to the flavor, like the cinnamon stick and fennel.

In short, you used the spontaneous fermentation like it’s traditional for wine and cider, just with a diluted fruit mash.

For tweaking:
The sugar (or honey) is necessary as you added water to the apple juice. The spices are optional.

I currently have a batch of something quite similar on a shelf, where I first fermented apple peels and cores in water (using up leftovers) and now am fermenting it a second time to make vinegar.

Stephie
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  • Interesting, so I did made apple cider? Structure wise it tasted more like Limoncello, but not at all that strong. Also, most recipes for cider come very close to the approach for beer making, with quite an involved process. this was a lot simpler :) – Davy Landman Oct 19 '20 at 18:40
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    If you want the fizz, it’s a tad more complicated - see beer, some ciders or champagne. But lots of “fermented apple juice drinks“ just let the CO2 escape and then get a stable alcoholic drink with no real effort. Most (Swabian apple wine) means “fill a vat with fresh, unpasteurized juice, add an airlock, wait until the bubbling stopps”. “New wine” as sold in southern Germany means grape juice that has just started to ferment and fizz, consumers can control the sugar vs. alcohol balance by storing the bottle either in the fridge or leaving it at room temperature. See Joe’s comment. – Stephie Oct 19 '20 at 18:53