Gourmet Guide by Jo Blennerhassett of The Good Food Trading Co.

Gusto is a locally owned business which has a range of apple syrups available in three variations – sweet, tart and organic.

The syrups start with orchard-fresh, premium grade fruit brought in from the harvest for processing. Braeburn, Cox Orange, Granny Smith, Gala and other varieties roll up from the farms and are sampled and sorted according to each variety's acid content. The sweet apple varieties go into making Gusto's Sweet Pure Apple Syrup, and the crisper ones make Tart Pure Apple Syrup.

Organic apples come from certified organic orchards and are processed separately. All the organic varieties go in together to make a single blend of apple syrup, which generally has a crispness (acid level) between the Sweet Pure Apple Syrup and the Tart Pure Apple Syrup. The apples are washed, milled, and pressed to capture the fresh pure apple juice.

The resultant clear juice is gently heated in large closed vats and the aroma-rich steam captured to save the volatile oils which would otherwise be lost. The process continues until the desired brix (sugar) level is reached, about 70 per cent.
The captured aroma is added once the golden dark red syrup is cool, and then bottled ready for delivery.

Gill from Gusto will be in store on Saturday July 28 tasting her famous apple syrups.