This week I’m sharing my notes on Eden Specialty Ciders’ Sorcière. Today is tremendously hot and it's a perfect day to get a little creative to see what food can be enjoyed without heating up the kitchen for too long. It’s a wonderful excuse to have my first pesto pasta salad of the summer with my very own Sungold tomatoes. We’ll see how this new cider from my Eden Cider Club goes with this heat-evasion tactic meal.
I’ve reviewed many Eden ciders. I recommend reading a few of these older reviews to learn more about the cidery and find out about Eden’s style more generally. Here’s the full list.
Oliver’s Twist Foxwhelp Cider: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2021/11/cider-review-eden-ciders-olivers-twist.html
Brut Rose: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2021/07/cider-review-eden-ciders-brut-rose.html
Benjamin: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2021/06/cider-review-eden-ciders-benjamin-and.html
Deep Cut: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2020/08/cider-review-eden-specialty-ciders-deep.html
Peak Bloom: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2020/09/cider-review-eden-ciders-peak-bloom-and.html
Ezekiel: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/01/cider-review-eden-specialty-ciders.html
Extra Sec: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/03/cider-review-angry-orchard-super.html
Eden Heritage Cider: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/06/cider-cans-crush-it-eden-heritage-and.html
Siren Song: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/12/cider-review-eden-ciders-siren-song-and.html
Brut Nature: https://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/02/cider-con-2018-pt-1-eden-specialty.html
Imperial 11 Degree Rose: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-january-2017-cidrbox-and-edens.html
Sparkling Dry: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/06/cider-review-eden-sparkling-dry-cider.html
The Sparkling Dry supported my Thanksgiving & Birthday celebrations in 2016:
http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/11/pick-cider-for-thanksgiving-and-my.html
http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/11/happy-to-pickcider-for-thanksgiving.html
Eden Cidery’s website showcases the harvest ciders, aperitifs, and ice ciders available: https://www.edenciders.com/
Here’s the info Eden Cidery shared with club members about the Sorcière:
This aged cider combines tannin, residual sweetness and carbonation for a deeply flavored and textured cider that makes a great partner for food with some spice.
Apple varieties: Somerset Redstreak, Stoke Red, Tremlett’s Bitter, Esopus Spitzenburg, Kerr Crab, Lawfam, Northern Spy, Franklin. Grown at Poverty Lane Orchards, Verger Heath, Yates Family Farm, and Sandy Bay Orchard.
Wild fermented, then bottle conditioned with wildflower honey. Aged 20 months in bottle, not disgorged.
ABV 7.5%
Notes of pineapple-upside-down cake, nectarine, and leather. Drink 2022.
I love that we get a recommendation of when to enjoy this cider. This isn’t a feature I see often from the cider maker directly on how long I might be able to let a cider age a few months or years before enjoying it as it is meant to be tasted.
Appearance: Bubbly! Transparent, cool-toned daffodil yellow
I can’t remember when I last saw this many bubbles. It took repeated pours to get a serving of this cider into the glass because the mousse foamed up so impressively. The color reminds me of cool spring daffodils, and it's transparent even without disgorgement.
Aromas: rich, autumnal, peaches and tomatoes
The Sorcière smells tannic and rich. My mouth is watering already. There’s some harvesty and almost autumnal in these scents. I get tomato, thyme, and peach notes along with ripe sun-warmed apples.
Sweetness/dryness: Semi-dry
Exactly as described, this is a super bubbly and expressive semi-dry cider. There's enough sweetness to help the flavors speak, but the substance of the message isn’t sugar or even just fruit.
Flavors and drinking experience: bubbly, tannic, high acid, savory, mild funk
Eden ciders wow me frequently and the Sorcière makes good on the high hopes I have for anything by Eden Ciders. The cider is almost savory with lots of notes of leather, citrus, and herbs.
This semi-dry cider is very bubbly, which I certainly expected after pouring it. So exciting! I love a wildly exuberant level of sparkle! In terms of flavor the Sorcière introduces itself with a bit of mild leathery funk. This cider is both high acid and high tannins. There’s no way to ignore this cider or allow it to fall into the background of a meal. I love the citrus sweetness that somehow manages to just creep in around the edges.
The Sorcière is a treat. I adore it. This cider enhanced my pesto-driven meal tremendously. The Sorcière certainly managed to put me under its spell. Cheers!
