Personal Shopper

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is credited by some with health-giving properties, writes Katy McGuinness, with devotees claiming that it can help with everything from digestive issues to joint inflammation.

Natural Umber Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, 500ml, 10/10 Lotts & Co, www. naturalumber.com, €9.49

Natural Umber’s organic apple cider vinegar from Northern Ireland is unfiltered, unpasteurised and contains no artificial ingredients. It comes with ‘the mother’ to promote good gut bacteria, and the fermentation method produces a vinegar that’s thick and sweet, with a pronounced flavour of apples. You can drink it mixed with water, use it in dressings or in cooking – it would be wonderful in a gravy for pork – or just take it straight from the spoon. We hear that some fans like to drizzle it over ice-cream.

Ballyhoura Irish Apple Cider Vinegar, 500ml, 7/10 Aldi and independent retailers, €3.89

This raw apple cider vinegar is widely available and comes ‘with the mother’, meaning that it contains strands of proteins, enzymes and friendly bacteria created during secondary fermentation that are considered to be good for gut health. The vinegar is made without additives or preservatives from apple cider produced on the Ballyhoura Apple Farm in Co Limerick and has a tart, appley taste that is great for dressings or for adding a touch of acid to dishes that need a little extra oomph.

Don Carlos Spanish Cider Vinegar, 500ml, 4/10 Widely available, €1.99

We picked up this Spanish cider vinegar in our local branch of Tesco. Unlike the other vinegars that we tested, it does not come with ‘the mother’ and the benefits that that brings in terms of gut health. It does contain sulphur dioxide as a preservative. The flavour is sharp though pleasant enough, but given the relatively small difference in price between this and the Ballyhoura vinegar, and the fact that a bottle will last a long time, we would prefer to buy a raw vinegar with the mother. Perfectly fine for dressings.