Calvados is a French apple brandy made from cider apples. The drink is named after the region in Normandy where it is produced. Calvados has a strong apple flavour. It is often served as an after-dinner drink or as a digestif.
Calvados is made by distilling cider or apple wine. The resulting spirit is then aged in oak barrels for several years. The longer the calvados is aged, the more mellow and smooth it becomes.
Calvados can be enjoyed straight, on the rocks, or in cocktails. It is also commonly used in cooking, particularly in dishes that feature apples or other fruits.
The Calvados region is located in Basse-Normandie (Lowe Normandy), where apple cider was brewed perhaps as early as the 8th century. Calvados is one of France’s best-loved brandies, though unlike the grape brandies Cognac and Armagnac, Calvados is distilled from cider.
Whilst the popularity of French apple brandy grew, taxation and prohibition more or less contained it within the Calvados area. After the French Revolution, when the area was properly identified, the term Calvados was already in common usage when referring to apple brandy. The phylloxera outbreak during the 19th century ruined so many vineyards that Calvados experienced a boom of popularity – it being unaffected by the pest.
Calvados is a very popular digestif, and in France, it is enjoyed as part of a “café-calva” – a hot coffee served with a glass of Calvados.
Calvados is distilled from a number of different apple varieties (over 200 are legally permitted), and it is not uncommon for there to be over 100 different varieties used to make a single Calvados. A combination of sweet, tart and inedible bitter apples are used to attain the right balance of flavour.
The apples are usually picked by hand and are pressed and fermented to make cider. This is then distilled; either twice in a traditional Alembic, or singly in a continuous column still. The former still produces complex, well-ageing Calvados and the latter accounts for fresh, tangy, approachable Calvados.
Calvados spirit is aged for a minimum of two years in oak casks, though it is not unusual for it to be aged for substantially longer – often decades.
Calvados is often enjoyed as part of “le trou Normand”, in which a small glass of Calvados is taken between courses in a meal, often with sorbet, as a palate cleanser.