Right now, my brain is awake and thinking about colors, scents, and textures. I feel like some parts of me have been asleep all winter, and only just now want to rouse and seek out excitement. It’s not always a comfortable thing, certainly not when compared with the gentle hibernation of winter. At the same time, I’m ready for all parts of Spring, even if that means skunk smells, muddy walks, and the delicate hope that late frosts will not kill vulnerable plants and buds. I’m happy to have a super optimistic cider for it too; today I’m reviewing Schilling Cider House's Excelsior Spaceport Imperial Pineapple.
Here’s just a short excerpt from Schilling’s website introducing the cidery, “All our beverages are handcrafted in the Pacific Northwest. We use 100% fresh-pressed apples, locally sourced ingredients, and hand-selected yeast strains to create a cider experience that’s truly unique.”
This is only my 2nd-ever Schilling cider review! I reviewed the Schilling Spiced Cider back in 2015, so it’s been a while. You can find more background on this Seattle cidery and tap room in my first review.
Spice Cider: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/02/reviewing-ciders-for-winter-schilling.html
Visit Schilling Hard Cider online to learn about the full lineup of ciders: https://schillingcider.com/cider-houses/seattle/
Here’s how Schilling describes the Excelsior Spaceport Imperial Pineapple
Pining for the perfect pairing, Excelsior Pineapple combines our passion-for-fruit with a tantalizing cosmic creation that makes its landing at 8.4% ABV.
Start your journey with its vibrant pineapple aroma and let it lead you to your first sip of this celestial cider! The combination of fresh-pressed Pacific Northwest apples, tart passion fruit, and juicy pineapple bursts with the tropical flavor of the getaway you’ve been daydreaming about.
And yes, you did read that right: 8.4% ABV in a can! I'm splitting mine, and there's no shame in that.
Appearance: deep saffron gold, high intensity, visible bubbles, slight haze
Deep saffron gold and visible bubbles decorate this ever-so-slightly hazy cider.
Aromas: Pineapple, tropical fruit, passionfruit
This smells very much like I expected from the combination of passionfruit and pineapple. The Spaceport’s aromas leap out of the glass with wonderful intensity!
Sweetness/Dryness: Sweet!
The Spaceport is an emphatically sweet cider. There’s no denying it! This is a tasty fruity sweetness that surely comes from pineapple and passionfruit as well as apple.
Flavors and drinking experience: high acid, bubbly, fruity, pineapple
The pineapple dominates the drinking experience for Schilling’s Spaceport, which suits me fine as I love pineapple. It’s a powerfully fruity cider with loads of sweetness and plenty of acid as well.
The cider has lots of body, but the bubbles help keep it zesty and refreshing. This was a fun one to have with springy salads and dreams of sunny days to come.
