Calvados, Normandy’s Apple Brandy, and Calvados Cocktail Recipes

Normandy is famed for many gastronomic delights, from its cheese and dairy products, to its meat and mussels. It is not known as a serious wine-producing region, but when it comes to beverages, the apple reigns supreme! The Basse-Normandie region has been rife with apple orchards since the time of Charlemagne, and the making of Calvados apple brandy and cider has been going on for many centuries.

Calvados is not made from a single apple variety. Indeed, producers will purposefully cultivate and select many—as many as 200!—different varieties to intensify the complexity of the brandy. So sweet, bitter, tart, even inedible varieties are chosen. The apples are pressed into a juice that is then fermented into a dry cider and distilled in either a single or double distillation. The result is a strong, clear spirit, which becomes amber as it is aged in oak casks: by Calvados AOC regulation, for at least 2 years, although often it is aged longer. Its designation will be an indication of its age.

Types of Calvados

• Fine, trois éoiles, Trois pommes – at least 2 years old
• Vieux, Réserve – at least 3 years old
• VO, Vieille Réerve, VSOP – at least 4 years old
• Extra, XO, Napoléon, Hors d’Age, Age Inconnu – at least 6 years old, but often much older

How is Calvados consumed? In Normandy, it is the key player in le trou Normand, or “the Norman hole,” in which a small sip of calvados is taken between the courses of a very long, multi-course meal. It is sometimes accompanied by sorbet, and is said to revive the appetite. It can also be used as an aperitif, digestif, in cocktails, or in coffee.