Members of the New Zealand Tree Crops Association are about to descend on Ōtaki for their annual conference, something that has been postponed a few times thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among the guest speakers for this conference is a local cidermaker: Elemental Cider owner Carmen Gray, a chemical engineer by trade, and her husband planted 250 cider apple trees in 2007 in Ōtaki and began making cider commercially in 2019.
Carmen Gray started her cider orchard in 2007.
“They fruit every second year unless you force them to do so every year using sprays, which we do not do.”
“It takes five to seven years for trees to bear enough fruit and cider apples are very hard to grow,” Carmen said.
Living in Central Wellington in 2003 she ‘happened’ upon the block in Ōtaki, which already had a house on it but consisted of just paddocks. They have put a lot of work into the property since. “We have always been country people at heart. I grew up on a dairy farm in Te Awamutu.
“We started as a small farm hobby and ended up partnering with other small block owners as the demand for our product grew.
“We wanted to live self-sufficiently and thought that should extend into our drinking habits. As our land is too wet for grapes we opted for apples.” She said the process for making cider is the same as that for making wine.
Fermenting cider apple pulp into cider.
She did a postgraduate degree in wine science at EIT in Hawke’s Bay and travelled the world for five years making wine. “In between trips, I’d be at home tending to our own trees. I describe the cider-making venture as my midlife crisis.”
By 2019 she was able to commercialise her own brand.
They acquired heritage cider apple trees from Edible Garden in Ashhurst and used the scion to graft onto other rootstock.
Elemental Cider is as sustainable and environmentally friendly as they can be. Much of the fruit they use is not accepted in stores for sale and tends to end up as fruit juice. “The spent pulp and any rotten apples go to my sister’s farm, so we have no leftover waste.”
Checking the ageing cider straight from the oak barrel.
She said the name of the company is inspired by their vision for living with the elements.
Demand for her cider took off quickly, so they needed to find other growers. “Lucky for us there was someone in Ōhau who had 1500 three-year-old trees. A pear grower in Kuku followed. “They have what they call tier 3 pears, which are waste pears that would otherwise be trashed, but are perfect for cider making.”
Elemental Cider is headquartered in Ōtaki but is also supplied by growers from Ōhau, and Kuku while the cider itself is made at a secret location in Manukau.
Elemental Cider makes four kinds of cider: Dry As, which contains juice from 20 different apple varieties; Totally Oaked, with Slack Ma Girdle and Kingston Black apples, which was a Gold and Trophy award winner in 2021; Orchard Fall, containing apple, pear, quince and a bit of feijoa, and Pear Drop, which is just pears.
All bottles are 500ml and last year the company produced 6000 litres of cider. “We expect that will double this year.”
Elemetal Cider produces four different kinds of cider.
All their ciders are sugar–free, meaning no sugar is added after the fermentation process. Of course, any sugar from the fruit is needed to turn it into alcohol.
You can get Elemental Cider at Quarter Acre Cafe, Taper Cafe and Salt and Pepper, The Gorge Cafe, and Winemaker’s Daughter. Shops that stock Elemental Cider include New World Ōtaki, Waikanae, and Palmerston North (Melody’s), and Four Square Waitarere Beach. They are also available at fairs, and markets.
At the Tree Crop Conference Carmen will lead an educational session on Friday afternoon about cider apples, followed by a tasting. “It will be an interactive workshop and there will be a chance to buy our cider too.”
