At a Calvados competition

The last time I was asked to explain Calvados, it was to a well known food editor and critic. My answer was not what it should have been because the next day I was shown a tweet by a co-worker, 'Calvados is an apple brandy aged in oak casks.' As simple as that.

Coming back to the Barclay and the Calvados competition, I attended a Calvados event in which ten bartenders: 5 students from the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) and 5 professional  bartenders were competing.  The two winners, one from each category, would be flown to France to compete in the international competition in Normandy this April.  

Simply put, Calvados is a spirit distilled from apple cider (sometimes pears can be included) and comes from the French region of lower Normandy. This apple cider can come from over 200 different varieties of apples that are grown specifically for cider by Calvados producers. Calvados can be single- or double-distilled. The double-distilled variety is regulated by the French AOC of Pays d'Auge and is more labor intensive and hence more expensive. This doesn't necessarily mean that it is in any way superior to the single-distilled Calvados which at times is just as delicious and complex.

With a dizzying variety of over 70 types of Calvados, The Barclay Bar at the InterContinental New York Barclay, was awarded the title of Exemplaire, or “Calvados Ambassador” on April 2, 2012, in Caen, France. The Bar was further honored as the “First Calvados Bar” in the United States by France’s Association for Cider Appellations, the IDAC, or Interprofession des Appellations Cidricoles.