This past weekend was a shining example of how gorgeous Fall can be. I hiked and gardened and didn’t forget to include cider and apples in my enjoyment either. Making apple macaroni and cheese from scratch with cider, and pairing it with cider has to be one of my favorite Autumnal treats.
To celebrate, I reached into my store of ciders from the NW Cide Club. I get the Discover shipment four times a year, and I love it. Getting to try ciders that would otherwise never become available to me is crucial to understanding the breadth of flavors happening in cider right now!
Check it out here: https://nwciderclub.com/
My curiosity was drawn to Woodinville Ciderworks’s Red Flesh Hard Apple Cider this week.
I couldn’t find out a lot about this company aside from the location: Woodinville, Washington. The ciderworks is just gearing up, so there’s not yet a full website, and this is an early release.
I found the most up-to-date information on Woodinville Ciderworks on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodinvilleciderworks
I don’t have a full description of Woodinville Ciderworks’ Red Flesh Hard Apple Cider, so I’ll be informed only by what I see, smell and taste.
Appearance: coral, brilliant, bubbly
The Red Flesh Cider pours with wonderful effervescence. Even after a few moments, a hint of mousse remains, as the picture shows. I’ll call the color pastel coral; it’s almost more a shade of peach rather than pink. The cider is totally brilliant as well.
Aromas: malic acid, woody, ripe apple, apple skin
This cider smells astonishingly like malic acid! I can definitely expect something tart here. The scent reminds me apple skins and seeds; it’s both fresh and woody. All of the apple notes do smell mouthwateringly ripe.
Dryness/sweetness: semi-dry, but difficult to determine
Puckeringly tart acid and strong bubbles
I found it hard to tell how sweet it is! You'll see why as you keep reading. My best guess would be a semi-dry.
Flavors and drinking experience: tart, tannic, fruity, crabapples
This cider tastes tannic like crabapples with that special juicy concentrated astringence that stay completely melded with it’s fruitiness. I find this to be a very different tannic profile than what I get from ciders made with European traditional cider varietals. This is tannic and sharp and fruity rather than austere and structured. I’m interpreting here, but that has been my experience.
One out of our three tasters found it too much in terms of acidity but two of us loved it. I loved the tart Blueberry notes. The cider has a quick clean finish. I found that the tannins build as you sip. The Red Flesh Hard Apple Cider goes beautifully with cheese like aged Manchego. I paired it with my apple mac and cheese and I even used a splash or two when creating my cheese sauce. It was wonderful as an ingredient and as a pairing. What a treat!
