To speak of "style" when referencing anything as fluid as a food product such as cider or, for that matter, any other creative human endeavor such as dance, music, art, etc. is to realize that those who might have been the progenitors of the style cannot be relied upon to continue observing it. It is the outsider who categorizes that which is new to them as it is only through the prism of having experienced something ostensibly unique that one can hold in contrast that which they presume to know.
Excuse the fluffery.
I suppose that is a longhand for saying that it is the audience who determines the category, not the creator. This becomes a problem when we hew too closely to stylistic lines. In the case of cider, American brewing organizations (BJCP) classify nine different styles of cider and perry (a close cousin made from pears). If we used this as our only characterization, limitations would soon present themselves. To chose two; English ciders is a single category with no room for regional styles and no category exists for Spanish ciders (a vast and vibrant family).
The challenge then is in trying to marry the product with the audience who has been primed to think of ciders within a narrow range of strengths, flavors and even colors. If we hew too tightly to the idea that Cider Style "A" tastes like THIS and Cider Style "B" tastes like THAT, we shoot ourselves in our collectively creative feet. However, without some semblance of categorization, no expectation can be made by the consumer. When discussing cider styles in the following posts, I will work to avoid too many presumptions about style. Where similarities are found to exist or generalizations to be made, I will make them but with an eye for the exception.
To get back to the original point of categorizing creativity, we can always look backwards to try to draw connections between like things but we must not use those borders to hem us in to a predetermined outcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment