Apple by the Bottle

 More than 20 bartenders from different outlets in New Delhi recently gathered for a visit to Siqera, situated in nearby Manesar, Haryana. This was the first-of-its-kind consumer experience organised by team Siqera.The brand is a brainchild of three youngsters: Rishi Dhawan, Amar Srivastava and Amit Berwal. Amit and Rishi have been classmates in Singapore; Amit and Amar had known each other when they were working on a project with a brewpub in Bengaluru. The inception of Siqera happened over a cup of coffee. The entrepreneurs in them and destiny brought the three together for a common goal of starting a craft cidery. Rishi says that research on the origin of cider took them back to ancient times. It turns out in the Bible (New Testament) that any alcoholic beverage made from fruits (other than grapes) in those days was commonly termed as Sikera. That is where the name ‘Siqera’ came from.

What’s cider?

Cider is technically a wine, a product of fermented fruit (apple) juice. Just as wine grapes are different from table grapes, cider apples are more fibrous than sweet dessert apples. The later also lacks balance of sugar, acids and tannins. A winery which produces cider is called a cidery.

But why did the trio choose cider? “We wanted to bring good ciders to the mainstream. No doubt many brewpubs and micro-breweries across the nation are doing ciders, but their focus is beer and not cider,” said Amar.

The trio recognised this gap and thought to bridge it. Cider as a refreshing thirst-quenching drink fits perfectly into the Indian palate and hot climate – but it is not just a summer drink.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9hCkkBJL5a/

Amar notes that some wineries in Himachal Pradesh manufacture undrinkable and synthetic tasting ciders, bringing bad reputation to cider as a drink category. “I think this is the primary reason why no cider brands – even imported ones – have been able to create even a niche market in India,” he adds.

Production process

At Siqera, the cider making process is straightforward: apple juice concentrate is blended with water in fermentation tanks to the required concentration. The year 2019 saw a poor apple harvest in India both in terms of quality and quantity.

The inconsistent quality of Indian apples has been the primary driver for team Siqera to use imported apple concentrate juice to produce consistent quality cider without any worries.

The other important ingredient (80%) in Siqera cider is water. At the cidery, water is taken seriously: a purification plant sterilizes the water and demineralises it before it is mixed with apple concentrate.

A sand filter removes any solid particles; an activated carbon filter removes biological matter, smell/ odour, chlorine, etc.; and a reverse osmosis system takes away all minerals and microbes.

Yeast nutrients, such as calcium chloride or calcium phosphate, are added to water before it is mixed with apple concentrate to required concentration; this will be important for yeast survival and healthy fermentation.

The yeast is then pitched in juice to kick-start fermentation. A champagne yeast species, Saccharomyces Bayanus from Lalvin, is selected as it ferments to a much drier and neutral flavour profile. Such yeast allows the apple’s characteristics to shine through.

Rohit Arora