It is a finishing vinegar rather than a cooking one. Use it the way you would reach for an aged balsamic: a small amount, added at the end, over something already cooked.

Size

250 ml, which is 8.45 fl oz. One size only.

Storage

Room temperature, out of direct sun. No refrigeration needed.

What is in the box

• Bittersweet. Made from bittersweet cider apples. Dark, concentrated, with structure and grip. The foundation.
• Barrel Aged. A blend of Oregon dessert and cider apples, rested in oak until it turns deep and savoury. A finishing vinegar.
• Marionberry. Whole Oregon marionberries macerated in apple cider vinegar, with no added sweetness.

Choose three 8 ounce bottles or three 16 ounce bottles. The three are always the same size within a collection.

Tasting them side by side

Put a teaspoon of each in water, in the same proportion, and work from lightest to darkest. Start with the Bittersweet, then the Marionberry, then the Barrel Aged. Taste the Bittersweet first and everything after it makes more sense.

Ingredients

Bittersweet and Barrel Aged: raw apple cider vinegar with the mother. Marionberry: raw apple cider vinegar with the mother, marionberries. All three are minimum 5 percent acidity.

Storage. Room temperature, out of direct sun. Shake before use to redistribute the mother.

Raw and unpasteurised, containing live cultures. Sediment and haze are natural. If you are pregnant, immunocompromised or managing a medical condition, talk to your healthcare provider before adding any vinegar to your routine.

It is darker than what you are used to, and more complex. The tannin structure of cider apples carries through fermentation, and it shows in both the colour and the depth of the finished vinegar.

What makes it different

• Source fruit. Bittersweet and bittersharp cider apples, not dessert apples grown for the grocery shelf.
• Fermentation. The slow Orleans method, a traditional surface fermentation rather than forced industrial aeration.
• Dilution. None. What comes out of the vessel goes into the bottle.
• The mother. Retained. Raw and unfiltered.
• Acidity. Minimum 5 percent.

We had this vinegar tested against a supermarket apple cider vinegar by an independent laboratory. The results, and what they do and do not mean, are on our Tannins and Testing page.

Ingredients

Raw apple cider vinegar with the mother. That is the complete ingredient list.

How to use it

Drinking. One tablespoon in 8 to 12 ounces of water. Always dilute. Never drink it straight, as undiluted vinegar of any brand is hard on tooth enamel and on the throat.

Cooking. Vinaigrettes, marinades, braises. Start with half what you would normally use, because this is stronger and more structured than most apple cider vinegar.

Storage. Room temperature, out of direct sun. No refrigeration needed. Shake before use to redistribute the mother.

Raw and unpasteurised, containing live cultures. Sediment and haze are natural. If you are pregnant, immunocompromised or managing a medical condition, talk to your healthcare provider before adding any vinegar to your routine.

The result is darker, rounder and more evolved than the Bittersweet. The oak adds structure. The apple is still underneath it all, but softened and deepened. Where the Bittersweet is sharp and immediate, this one is savoury and slow.

Fermentation and aging are not the same thing

We use the word aged only where it literally applies. This vinegar ferments fully first, which is the conversion of cider to vinegar, and only then goes into oak for its additional time. The Bittersweet and Marionberry expressions are fermented and bottled. They do not spend time in barrel, and we do not call them aged.

We do not put a number of years on it. The reserves are still growing, and we would rather let the vinegar say how long it has had than fix a figure on the label that we then have to work around.

How to use it

This is a finishing vinegar. It does its best work added at the end, a small amount over a finished dish, in the way you would reach for an aged balsamic rather than a cooking vinegar.

• Over roasted root vegetables, just before serving.
• A few drops to finish grilled fish.
• On a cheese board, particularly with the sharp and funky end of it.
• Stirred into beans or lentils at the last moment.
• A few drops over vanilla ice cream. The oak and apple work with cream far better than it sounds.

For drinking, dilute as with the other expressions, but start with half a tablespoon in 8 to 12 ounces of water rather than a full one. It is more concentrated than the fresh vinegars. Always dilute, and never drink it straight.

Ingredients

Raw apple cider vinegar with the mother. Aged in oak. Acidity minimum 5 percent.

Storage. Room temperature, out of direct sun. Shake before use to redistribute the mother.

Raw and unpasteurised, containing live cultures. Sediment and haze are natural. If you are pregnant, immunocompromised or managing a medical condition, talk to your healthcare provider before adding any vinegar to your routine.

This expression takes whole Oregon marionberries and macerates them in POME apple cider vinegar. The fruit steeps in the finished vinegar and gives up its colour and character to it. Nothing is sweetened, and no flavouring is added.

The character

It is noticeably different from the Bittersweet. It is darker, with a deep reddish purple cast that comes from the berries themselves rather than from anything added. The berry character is present but restrained. This is not a fruity vinegar in the usual sense. It is a vinegar carrying the fruit it was steeped with.

Because there is no added sweetness, it stays a vinegar rather than drifting toward a cordial. People who find the Bittersweet too sharp on its own often prefer this one for daily drinking.

Ingredients

Raw apple cider vinegar with the mother, marionberries. No added sugar, no juice concentrate, no flavouring. Acidity minimum 5 percent.

Suggested uses

• Vinaigrettes for bitter greens such as frisée, arugula and radicchio. The berry bridges the bitterness.
• Marinades for duck, lamb or pork.
• As a shrub base, for cocktails and for drinks without alcohol. Use equal parts vinegar, sugar and sparkling water.
• As a daily drinking vinegar. One tablespoon in 8 to 12 ounces of water. Always dilute.

Storage. Room temperature, out of direct sun. Shake before use to redistribute the mother.

Raw and unpasteurised, containing live cultures. Sediment and haze are natural. If you are pregnant, immunocompromised or managing a medical condition, talk to your healthcare provider before adding any vinegar to your routine.