Calvados (apple vodka): how to drink and what to eat. History of Calvados

A strong alcoholic drink, Calvados, made from fruit raw materials - apples or pears. This a type of French brandy, which is obtained by distillation (a drink with a strength of up to 6 degrees).

Homeland and the only original producer of Calvados - Normandy. This is an area located in northwestern France. A recipe for Calvados made from apples at home exists, but it is somewhat complicated.

Calvados belongs to the elite species. Previously (at the beginning of the last century) he enjoyed great popularity, which mainly extended to Normandy, where he was local national drink. French legislation regulated its production by only a few departments, one of which it is named after.

Interesting! The preparation of Calvados should include only those fruits that are grown in the same area: apples and pears.

Based on these rules, the drink is apple or apple-pear brandy with a strength of at least 40 degrees, but reaching up to 60. The legislation also provides for the presence of three possible types Calvados:

  1. AOC calvados.
  2. Calvados Domfrontais.
  3. Calvados Pays d'Auge, which is especially appreciated by amateurs.

All types are tied to the production areas and have specific technological characteristics.

How is it produced?

Making Calvados is a complex, time-consuming technology consisting of the following steps:

1. Selection of fruits from local harvests belonging to special varieties. These are small apples with flavor, separated according to taste. for 4 groups:

  • bitter - 10%;
  • sour - 20%;
  • bitter-sour-sweet;
  • sweet.

The last two groups make up 70% of the raw materials. Sometimes pears are added, and the ratio changes. So in Calvados Domfrontais, according to the standard, these fruits can make up half.

2. Cider is made from this mixture within 5 or 6 weeks. But in some unique recipes it ferments for 6 months, giving a strength of up to 7 degrees.

4. The distillate (in French - eau-de-vie) is aged in a chamber that is burnt on the inside, with thick walls and porous wood.

5. The product is transferred to “old” barrels, where the alcohol-containing liquid different ages(at least 2 years) mixed in the required ratio.

How to do it at home?

Homemade Calvados is prepared from moonshine in the following steps:

  1. We get low alcohol cider ( easy homemade wine) by fermentation apple juice.
  2. Produce from cider (distillate).
  3. Withstand it in an oak barrel.
  4. Filter.

Only apples of the highest quality are used among the ingredients. According to different recipes, they add to cider honey, spices (vanilla), sometimes they ferment it together with cake. Simple and complex technologies improve, supplement by inclusion in the fermentation process yeast or raisins(50 g each).


Calvados, made at home from apples, is informally called " apple cognac ". During the production process they use single and double distillation recipes. Drinks prepared at home may also vary in this parameter. The first technology is carried out continuously in a vertical distiller.

The second option is more accessible: in a moonshine still. In this case, the alcohol-containing liquid is divided into fractions. The first portions are thrown away, as they contain harmful substances.

When preparing Calvados with your own hands, it is better to use barrels for aging. Before use, new containers are steamed, soaked and washed with 20% alcohol.

Pay attention! After the first two years of storage, Apple Calvados acquires an almost endless shelf life.

Classic recipe

How to make Calvados at home so that the drink retains the aroma of apples and resembles the real thing? First of all need to mix apple varieties, taking 4 parts of sweet and bitter fruits, adding 2 parts of sour fruits. We prepare in the following steps:

  • Squeeze the juice without pulp, keep it for a day at normal (up to 25 degrees C) temperature conditions.
  • Remove the foam, pour the liquid into the fermentation chamber. Put on a throat or medical glove with a hole in the finger made by a needle.
  • Move the bottle to a dark fermentation room and keep it there for room temperature until you get cider.
  • When the contents become lighter, a sediment appears, and the bubbles stop appearing (or the glove deflates), the process can be considered complete. You need to drain and filter the drink from sediment.
  • Obtain distillate from cider using. Measure the strength with an alcohol meter.
  • batch with water to a strength of 20 degrees, distill again. Select the 40-degree liquid, draining its first 12 percent as an unusable, harmful part (technical alcohol).
  • Get moonshine at 70 or 80 degrees, place it in an oak barrel or in a glass container with the addition of oak stakes (read:).
  • Dilute the liquid to 40 degrees with water, pour into jars, seal tightly, wait for ripening in the dark and cool for 6 months or a year.
  • Filter, bottle and seal.

How to cook quickly?

How to prepare Calvados more simply and quickly? It is possible to prepare a similar drink for vodka. Essentially this apple tincture up to 35 degrees with strong alcohol. A simplified method for preparing Calvados at home is not very complicated. It is recommended to include only quality apple and vodka. Compound:

  • 2 kg apples;
  • 1 liter;
  • 200 g sugar;
  • 10 g sugar with vanilla;
  • 150 ml water.

The preparation steps are as follows:

  1. Cut clean apples into cubes without core, put them in a glass jar with vanilla sugar and mix.
  2. Fill with vodka, seal tightly with a lid and keep for 2 weeks in the dark at room temperature.
  3. Strain the contents and squeeze through cheesecloth. Boil the syrup for 5 minutes without foam, pour it into the tincture when cooled.
  4. Mix, bottle and store in a cool place for up to 3 years.

How to drink Calvados?

The rules for drinking Calvados are depending on variety and aging. For children under 4 years of age, it is consumed as an aperitif and addition to the meal.

More aged varieties are drunk to improve digestion after meals ( digestif), using special glasses with a thick bottom, filling them 1/3. First, they inhale the fruity aroma and savor the taste, and then taste it.

The strength of the drink can reach up to 50 degrees; some people add Calvados to the cocktail, combining it with tonic and other ingredients. Traditionally used as a snack cheese, bread, confectionery, desserts and fruits. And the taste is quite suitable for meat dishes.

Calvados- This is a strong alcoholic drink, which is made on the basis of apple cider, much less often pear cider. According to French law, three fairly large regions located in northern France have the right to produce this alcoholic drink.

Right away when introducing the drink, I would like to say that many people make a mistake when pronouncing the name. Emphasis on the word calvados is placed on the last syllable. That's right - Calvados.

Calvados has the status of a French regional product and is subject to the rules of the "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée". Simply put, this rule means that only an alcoholic drink that is produced according to certain rules in one of the three appellations can be called Calvados.

The largest appellation by area is called AOC calvados. There are about 6 thousand producers in the appellation, 400 of which are large. For producers from this appellation, there are no strict rules related to the production technology of Calvados, so the level of quality of the drink can vary greatly. The technology is dominated by single distillation with aging of the distillate in oak barrels for at least two years.

Calvados Pays d'Auge has about 2.5 thousand producers, 40 of which are large. Local production technology from apples involves double distillation and aging in oak barrels for at least two years.

The youngest appellation is Calvados Domfrontais, which was formed in 1997. There are about 1.5 thousand manufacturers, only 5 of which are large. Manufacturers of this appellation widely use pear alcohols in their preparation. During production, they practice single distillation, and the product itself is aged in oak barrels for at least three years.

The strength of Calvados depends on the manufacturer, and can range from 20 to 55 degrees. An interesting fact is that currently in France, almost twice as much Calvados is drunk as Armagnac and Cognac combined.


How to drink Calvados correctly?


The answer to this question must be sought in the homeland of this drink. The French, and in particular the Normans, drink it as an aperitif or when changing dishes. The fact is that it has long been noticed that a glass of Calvados promotes digestion very well. Tourists who have visited Normandy testify that the traditional dinner in the north of France is very plentiful - one dish follows another, and all dishes are high in calories. And, in order to help digestion, in between serving dishes they drink young apple brandy. The Normans themselves like to drink the drink before and after meals, but drinking it together with dishes is not accepted. Fans of this drink believe that it is good on its own and only one product can ideally harmonize with it - cheese, and mainly of savory varieties.

What do professionals say about use? And their recommended method of consumption is quite simple - slowly emptying a glass of Calvados in small sips. Some strong varieties of Calvados go well with smoking a cigar. Of course, you can drink from cognac glasses, but small tulip-shaped glasses are best. As for serving temperature, Calvados tastes best at room temperature. This drink is ideal for drinking on its own, but numerous cocktails are equally good. It is interesting that the tradition of drinking this brandy by the Normans is in many ways similar to the traditions of drinking vodka by the Russians - they eat, drink and sing a lot.


History of Calvados


The predecessor of Calvados, the drink cider, was first produced in France by the Vikings in the 11th century. Several centuries later, they learned to turn cider into apple brandy or, in simple words, into fruit moonshine by distillation. The first written mention of this process dates back to the mid-16th century. Gradually, apple distillers began to appear on the territory of Normandy, who at the end of the 16th century created a corporation whose activities were dedicated to the development of technology for the production of Calvados. For a long time, this drink could be called homemade, since it did not gain any popularity outside of Normandy. As they say: “They drove themselves, they drank themselves.” Interesting fact, that no tax was even charged for its production. Compared to cognac or grape wines, Calvados was not considered a drink worthy of attention. Only at the end of the 18th century did the state pay attention to the producers of this brandy, as a result of which a decree appeared on the rules and responsibilities of producers of fruit distillate. At the beginning of the 19th century, Norman apple brandy received its current name.

Calvados became widespread outside its homeland during the First World War, due to the fact that it found itself in grocery set soldier's rations. Although this drink and became widespread, but he did not immediately gain recognition. Only in 1942, with the adoption of two special decrees, Calvados was legally recognized as a high-quality alcoholic drink.


Calvados production technology


In the recipe for preparing Calvados, the fundamental principle is a blend of several alcohols from different varieties apples Some recipes involve the use of pear spirits in addition to apple spirits. There are hundreds of apple varieties for Calvados, however, each manufacturer uses no more than 20-40 varieties. All apples are divided into 4 categories - sweet, sour, bitter and bittersweet. Each manufacturer has its own secret of proportion when mixing varieties. The vast majority of the product produced is apple calvados, apple and pear are produced much less.

In general terms, the production technology is as follows: after harvesting, apples are pressed, then the resulting juice is subjected to a fermentation process, resulting in low alcohol drink, the so-called cider, having a strength of 3-6 degrees. The cider is then distilled using a still. Distillation can be single or double. During the distillation process, apple alcohol is obtained, and this is the so-called main fraction. During the distillation process, the head and tail parts are separated and are not used in further technology for the production of Calvados. The resulting alcohol is sent to age in oak barrels for at least two years. Calvados gets its color precisely from aging the spirits in a barrel.

Based on the aging time, Calvados are divided into the following categories:
  • Fine, Trois etoiles or Trois pommes - aged for at least 2 years. The aging may be indicated on the label with three stars or three apples;

  • Vieux-Reserve - brandy aged for at least 3 years;

  • V.O.(Very Old), VO, Vieille Reserve, V.S.O.P. (Very Superior Old Pale), VSOP - aged in oak barrels for at least 4 years;

  • Extra, X.O. (Extra Old), XO, Napoleon, Hors d’Age, Age Inconnu - aged 6 years or more;

  • Calvados designated Age 12 ans or 15 ans d’age have an aging period of 12 and 15 years, respectively;

  • Special category- vintage Calvados - are very rare. Now on the market you can buy a drink from 1946 and 1973;


Famous manufacturers


High-quality Calvados are now produced by many, but the most valued products are from the following manufacturers: Busnel, Boulard, Rere Magloire, Fiefs Cent-Anne, M. Dupon, etc.


Due to the lack of supplies of original imported Calvados to the USSR, our citizens do not have a culture of drinking this drink, and it has not gained much popularity. Although domestic manufacturers have repeatedly attempted to market a product called Calvados. But somehow it didn’t work out.

A very interesting fact is that Calvados in France is one of the components of the most variety of dishes. Well, of course, these are numerous snacks and sauces, also often used for cooking meat in the oven. In addition, perhaps not a single dessert in the northern provinces of France is complete without the use of our brandy - these are pies, soufflés, cakes and even ice cream. No matter what culinary experiments are carried out, only a young drink is always used.

The price of Calvados largely depends on the manufacturer and year of aging. So, a young drink can cost a couple of euros, but vintage varieties can cost several thousand euros.

Calvados– an alcoholic drink of the brandy class, made by distilling cider. The traditional place of production of this drink is the Lower Normandy region in France.

The history of the creation of Calvados dough is connected with the history of another alcoholic drink - brandy. Golan merchants once turned to French farmers with a request that they come up with a way that would allow them to produce stronger wines. The fact is that when transported by sea, drinks quickly deteriorated. French farmers began to distill wine to produce brandy.

The name "Calvados" comes from the name of one of the departments of Normandy. It is believed that the department of Calvados got its name from the Spanish ship "El Calvador", which crashed off the Normandy coast.

The history of modern Calvados begins in 1553, when Gilles de Gouberville described the practice of distilling cider in his diary. In 1941, the name of this drink was enshrined in the “Rules of Authenticity of Origin”.

Calvados, or, as it is also called, French apple brandy, is one of the most popular drinks in France; it is bought along with cognac and Armagnac. Until 1914, the drink was consumed exclusively in France, but then its fame as a “drink for brave soldiers” spread throughout the world. The love of French soldiers for this drink was of great importance in the popularization of Calvados. It was they who contributed to his fame. The drink began to be called Calvados after the French Revolution, when most provinces were renamed. Apple brandy began to be called by the name of the province where it was traditionally produced.

At one time, Calvados was considered cognac for workers, but soon this drink conquered true connoisseurs good alcohol all over the world. Also, a special love for Calvados appeared after the works of Erich Maria Remarque, where he described Calvados with great trepidation. But the decisive reason for its popularization was the spread of the phylloxera disease, which in a short time destroyed French vineyards famous all over the world. The acute shortage of grapes for wine production contributed to the fact that the French introduced Calvados to the world market.

Climatic conditions were also favorable for the production of Calvados in France. The abundance of apple orchards, rich in harvest, contributed to the production of first cider and then Calvados. Many varieties of apples were developed in Normandy, which are also used for the production of Calvados.

At the beginning of its history, apple brandy was more of a drink for the lower classes. Only in 1942, the French government not only recognized it as noble, but even assigned the OAS category, according to which only a drink made in France in certain regions, from apples of the specified varieties and using original technology, can be called Calvados on the world market. All other drinks that are made from cider in any other country will be called “apple brandy” on the world market. The law specifies 48 varieties of apples from which Calvados can be made. Of particular importance is not only the variety of apples, but also the barrels in which the drink is aged. They must be made from French oaks.

Calvados is aged for about 10 years, and sometimes much longer. A drink aged for more than 10 years is also called the “sun of Normandy.” This is a very aromatic Calvados with a sophisticated bouquet.

Useful properties

The beneficial properties of Calvados are due to the benefits of the malic acid it contains. In reasonable doses, it has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system and digestive tract. The calorie content of this drink is only 256 kilocalories per 100 grams.

Types of Calvados

There are three types of this drink depending on the place of production: AOC calvados, Calvados Pays d’Auge and Calvados Domfrontais.

AOC calvados is the largest appellation for the production of Calvados. AOC calvados is characterized by a wide variety of styles and varying levels of quality. Calvados is produced by single distillation. It is aged for at least 2 years in oak barrels.

Calvados Pays d’Auge – this appellation uses exclusively apples to produce its product. The drink undergoes fermentation for six months, then double distillation is used. Aging in oak barrels allows the final development of the taste of Calvados.

Calvados Domfrontais - the appellation differs from all the others in that apple trees grow worse here, but pears grow well. Pear alcohol is used here in 50% of cases. Single distillation is used, the drink is aged for at least 3 years.

Production technology

The production of genuine Calvados takes place using special technology. To begin with, the best apples and pears are selected. Apples should be small in size with a distinct smell. These varieties are common in Normandy. Calvados is obtained by mixing several varieties of apples. The drink is made from 10% bitter apples, 70% bittersweet apples and 2% sour apples.

After distillation of cider, Calvados is a clear liquid.

The drink becomes Calvados only after aging in oak barrels. It is then that it acquires its unique color and aroma.

How to drink and what to snack on?

It is believed that there are no strict rules for consuming Calvados, but there are still some points that should be followed in order to fully discover the taste of this drink. To get real pleasure, gourmets drink apple brandy slowly, stretching one glass for 30-40 minutes. They drink Calvados in small sips, combining it with expensive cigars.

Young apple brandy is served as an aperitif, while the aged drink exhibits its taste and aroma best after a meal.

It is also customary to drink Calvados between various dishes. This method of using it is known as the “Norman hole”. Apple brandy makes it easier to digest rich foods, so it is indispensable for holidays accompanied by feasts.

What is the best way to snack on Calvados? It is recommended to snack on this drink with savory cheeses, fresh fruit. Calvados also goes well with coffee and chocolate. According to French tradition, best addition Calvados includes cheeses such as Camembert and Livaro. It is not recommended to snack on it with citrus fruits, as well as foods with a pronounced taste. Men can combine the drink with cigars.

Use in cooking

In cooking, Calvados is used to prepare many dishes, as well as alcoholic cocktails. The drink is also often included in desserts.

Young Calvados is indispensable for roasting pork, cooking veal, poultry, and fish dishes. For example, you can cook guinea fowl wings with apples. Wings are fried in a pan on butter, add sliced ​​apples to them, pour 500 ml of cider and three tablespoons of Calvados over the meat with apples. Wings are served with apples.

As for cocktails, Calvados is perfect for making a semi-dry aperitif called “Angel's Hopes”. To prepare this drink you will need to mix 20 ml of Calvados, 20 ml of gin and 20 ml orange liqueur. Serve the aperitif in a cocktail glass.


How to do it at home?

You can make the famous French Calvados at home.

In order to get a drink that is most similar to the original in taste and aroma, we will need 10 liters of 6% apple cider, 10 kg apple pulp and 1 tbsp. l. Sahara. Cider is best made from sweet and sour apple varieties; the fruits should be slightly unripe. To begin with, picked apples are left to ripen for several days in a warm room. The juice is then squeezed out of them, and the pulp is left for further production of Calvados. The cake is poured warm water and leave for a day, then it is squeezed out and added to the juice, based on the proportions of 80/20.

The wort is poured into a prepared container and left to ferment. To make the fermentation process at home go faster, you need to chop several unwashed apples, adding sugar and water to them. When the apple starter begins to ferment, it should be poured into the wort. The cider is left to ferment for 3-6 months, installing a water seal on the container. You can use a rubber glove with a hole as a water seal. The wort is left to ferment in a dark place at a temperature of 20 degrees. Then you can start distilling the cider. This can be done using moonshine still or alembic. After the first distillation, you should get alcohol with a strength of 25-30%. Next, the liquid is distilled again. The resulting liquid is poured into oak barrels for aging.

The benefits of Calvados and medicinal properties

The benefits of this alcoholic drink have been known since ancient times. Thus, a glass of Calvados stimulates appetite and has a beneficial effect on digestive processes. Natural malic acid, which is part of this drink, stimulates metabolic processes and improves blood circulation.

The benefits of Calvados are closely related to moderation of its use. Minimum dose The drink allows you to improve the body's defenses and significantly increase overall tone.

Harm of Calvados and contraindications

The drink can cause harm to the body due to individual intolerance and excessive consumption. With all the usefulness of Calvados, do not forget that it is an alcoholic drink with an alcohol content of about 40%. Calvados is contraindicated for pregnant women, children, and people with chronic diseases.

According to statistics, in France Calvados is consumed in a significantly large quantities than, for example, Armagnacs or cognacs, the birthplace of which is actually this country. This fact can be considered one of many weighty arguments in favor of the popularity of this drink. This means that Calvados really is something interesting. But in order not to make a mistake and fully understand this, you need to know how to drink Calvados correctly. Beginners or simply people who are poorly versed in alcohol often call Calvados simply fruit brandy, or even apple vodka, and sometimes cognac. It is clear that this is not at all true and drinking Calvados like these alcoholic drinks would be the greatest mistake. For any real Frenchman, such a comparison would be considered simply insulting. Calvados is national pride France, because it is a drink with an exceptional character. However, there are no strict rules for the use of Calvados. However, in order to best experience all the richness of flavor and aromatic qualities contained in it, you should adhere to certain general principles about how to drink Calvados correctly. It is usually customary to drink Calvados from special glasses for cognac - wide, so-called snifters, or from those glasses that are intended for white wines. However, it is worth remembering that this is a matter of taste and, as we have already mentioned, there are simply no strictly clear rules on how to drink Calvados. Those. A glass of any other shape is allowed. It is simply believed that cognac drink manages to “open up” most successfully. The optimal serving temperature for a drink like Calvados is room temperature - perhaps this is also why, over the many years of the drink’s existence, strict rules for its use have not been developed. So, how to drink Calvados correctly? First, pour it into the glass of your choice, but do not try it right away, but wait a little so that the Calvados has the opportunity to “breathe” properly. The very consumption of the drink can be turned into a whole ritual. Initially, true experts recommend sniffing it to evaluate the aroma. Especially young Calvados will delight you with the aroma of green and juicy ripe apples. If you drink mature Calvados, then light tones of flowers, vanilla and spices are added to the apple component of the drink. After assessing the aroma, a tasting of the drink follows. At this stage, the younger your Calvados, the more fresh apple tones will be noticeable in its taste. Some connoisseurs even advise warming the glass in the palm of your hand for a while so that the excellent aromas can be fully revealed: apple aftertaste and others. Calvados is not only drunk in pure form, but is also often used for preparing the most different cocktails- for example, “Apple Blossom”, “Sunrise” and even the legendary “Hit an Apple to the Head”. This drink can also be a great addition to coffee, dark chocolate or fruit. This combination can be a great end to a dinner. By the way, very for a long time Calvados was consumed exclusively as a digestif, until one very fun fact: it turns out that in France itself it is customary to drink this drink before a meal to improve appetite, as well as during meals. There is even a common special term for this - “trou normand” - literally this phrase is translated as “Norman hole”. This process received this name due to the fact that small portions of Calvados are consumed during meals between courses, i.e. in such a short break, as if you came across a bump or hole on the road. It is believed that thanks to this use, Calvados has a beneficial effect on digestion and appetite. And this fact is even confirmed by some doctors: in their opinion, it is better to drink a glass of Calvados before a meal than to take various pills to improve the functioning of the stomach after a meal, and they also necessarily have different side effects. In this matter, the most important thing is to be moderate, not to overdo it with the amount you drink, otherwise the consequences may have a rather negative impact. To everything written above, we can only add that Calvados will be an ideal accompaniment for various gatherings with friends. This pleasant and warming drink is conducive to a sincere, long and leisurely conversation.

What kind of drink is this - Calvados, what is it made from, how to drink it correctly and what should you eat? First of all, it is a brandy made from apples (sometimes with the addition of pears), which is obtained by distilling cider into fruit vodka, aged in oak barrels.

The drink is very popular in France: “apple vodka” is often served between courses or as a digestif. It is also noteworthy that Calvados is intended exclusively for the domestic market, in contrast to the same cognac, which is exported.

From the history of the creation of the drink

In the 11th century, the Normans captured Normandy, a region rich in apple orchards. The invaders decided to dispose of them in their own way, launching a large-scale production of cider from apple juice. The drink was produced by fermenting the wort and did not exceed 4-5% in strength. Over time, they began to make brandy from it by distillation. Then it was called “Eau de vie des pommes” (“Water of life from apples”).

The first mention of Calvados dates back to 1553: then Gilles de Gouberville described in detail the entire process of producing the drink in his diary. And in 1600, in northwestern France, Calvados began to be produced on an industrial scale, thereby receiving official status.

However, only in the 19th century did it receive its current name: it was decided to name the drink in honor of the ship of the Invincible Armada, El Calvador, which ran aground off the coast of Normandy.

Now there is a method for preparing Calvados from concentrate. And judging by the reviews, it is in no way inferior to the original.

Characteristics of Calvados

Color

The color of Calvados depends on the variety of apples and the degree of aging in oak barrels, because it is the latter that largely influence the shade:

  • rich honey;
  • caramel;
  • dark amber;
  • light golden;
  • yellow golden.

Aroma

The aroma of Calvados varies depending on the base with which it was prepared:

  • apples;
  • pears;
  • prunes;
  • bananas;
  • tree;
  • spices and herbs.

Taste

  1. Flavor variations of Calvados depend on the type of apple, but the predominant notes are apple-pear or apple-floral notes.
  2. The drink has a strong aftertaste (more persistent than that of its “relative” cognac).
  3. It may even seem that Calvados is very strong, but this is not entirely true. The whole point is that you need to know how to use it. Drinking Calvados correctly (like the same cognac) means first letting it “breathe” for about 20 minutes in a glass. After this, it will become much softer and more aromatic.

How much does Calvados cost?

The price of Calvados starts from 500 rubles. However, for a particularly demanding public, the price of the drink can reach several thousand rubles.

How to choose

If you want to purchase real drink, adhere to the following rules:

  • Only France (namely the Normandy region) has the right to produce Calvados;
  • the label must read “Appellation d’origine controlle”;
  • alcohol content fluctuates around 40%;
  • the original is always aged (Hors d’Age, Napoleon, Age Inconnu, Extra, V. S. O. P., X. O., Vieille Reserve, V. O., Reserve Vieux, Trois etoiles, Trois pommes, Fine);
  • There is a geographical standard corresponding to the “Authenticity of Origin” (apple “Calvados Pays d’Auge”, apple-pear “Calvados”, apple-pear “Calvados Domfrontains”).

How to drink Calvados correctly

The use of Calvados requires certain principles:

  1. Calvados does not warm your hands, unlike cognac. Therefore, it is better to hold the glass either by the base or by the stem. The normal temperature for the drink is 18-20 degrees.
  2. A glass for Calvados should be an elegant tulip-shaped glass with a thin long stem (like for grappa). It is in such a container that the drink will quickly release alcohol, but retain optimal temperature for consumption.
  3. Calvados is drunk in small sips (1 glass every 40 minutes), assessing its aroma and aftertaste. A cigar could be a smart addition to it.
  4. Young Calvados is suitable for an aperitif (then it should be served with ice or diluted with tonic in a ratio of 1:3), a mature drink is considered a typical digestif, and therefore is drunk in its pure form.
  5. Calvados is not served as an addition to the main course or appetizers. It should be drunk during breaks during lunch or dinner.
  6. Calvados is either not eaten, or eaten with what France is famous for, that is, cheeses: aromatic Pont-l’Evêque, sharp Livarot, soft Normandy or light Camembert.
  7. It is quite acceptable to use Calvados for making cocktails:
    • « Golden Dawn"(Calvados, gin, apricot brandy, freshly squeezed orange juice);
    • « Hawaiian apple"(Calvados, brandy, pineapple juice);
    • « Lumberjack Jack"(Calvados, Scotch whiskey, gin, lemon zest);
    • « Po-pom"(Calvados, Brady sherry, Angostura dash, brut cider, ice, fruit);
    • « Greenwich"(Calvados, gin, Creme de Cacao liqueur).

Types of Calvados

Young (aged up to 2 years)

  • It has a golden yellow hue and a pronounced aroma. fresh apples. It is considered the cheapest variety. Label inscriptions: “Fine”, “Trois pommes”, “Trois etoiles”.

Aging 3 years

  • Darker and more saturated shade, oak-apple aroma, pronounced taste sharpness. Inscriptions on the label: “Reserve”, “Vieux”.

Aging 4-5 years

  • It has a dark golden hue, a fruity smell and more mild taste. Inscriptions on the label: “V. O.", "V. S.O.P."

Mature (aged 6 years)

  • Amber or ruby ​​hue, the taste is very soft, contains a palette of baked apple, vanilla, chocolate, spices, coffee and roasted almonds. Inscriptions on the label: “X. O.”, “Extra”, “Age Inconnu”, “Napoleon” and “Hors d’Age”.

Old (aged from 6 years)

  • Similar to six-year-old, but has an even more pronounced taste and aroma, as well as a rich, lasting aftertaste. The inscription on the label: “Age… ans”, “… ans d’age”.

Millennial (annual)

  • Produced through the distillation of alcohol from cider made from one year's harvest, but aged in oak barrels for at least 20 years. The label indicates the year of the spill. It is considered especially chic to present the birthday boy with Calvados bottled in the year of his birth.

Similar drinks

If you love to cook alcoholic drinks yourself, then making an analogue of Calvados at home will not be difficult, since the recipe moonshine from cider or apple mash simple enough. But only a drink created in Normandy can be called “Calvados”.

Other producing countries make a similar drink using their own recipes, but they differ significantly from the original. For example, Spain produces sherry brandy, and Georgia - grape chacha, which belongs to the same class of drinks.

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