Cider Review: Far From the Tree's Sprig

Today is the day after all the fireworks and cookouts. Its a day lots of folks are heading back into work after a day off or even a long weekend. For me, from July 4^th through when my husband starts teaching every fall is the high plateau of Summer. We'll get more thunderstorms, more watermelon, and soon real local tomatoes, corn, and peppers. America's summer holiday may be over, but the best summer food pairings for cider are just now coming into season.

So, I chose a supper summery cider from Far From the Tree out of Salem, Massachusetts.

Learn about the company on their website: http://www.farfromthetreecider.com

Previously, I reviewed their Nova cider which is another hopped cider offering: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/03/cider-review-far-from-trees-nova-hopped.html

Sprig is their cider that I want to explore today. The sub heading on the bottle reads Dry Hopped Mint Cider.

This is nearly my first mint cider, but far from my first hopped, so let's see what Far From the Tree has to say about it.

Official description:

Today is a great day for a hike. The sight of fresh green growth and the smell of sprouting leaves in the air are two of our favorite things about summer in New England. For Sprig, we've married fresh mint, cascade hops and apples grown in Massachusetts. We age Sprig in oak barrels, dry hop for two sweeks and add fresh mint just a day before bottling.

For us, this cider is what an afternoon hike in the woods would taste like if it came in a bottle. If we happen to cross paths one day, be it on a trail or while sharing a cider, we hope you'll agree that today really is a good day for a hike! 6.9% ABV.

Appearance: cool moonglow, transparent, lots of pretty bubbles

This cider looks almost frosty while still being glowy and transparent. I'd not call it brilliant, but I could see all of the lovely bubbles very clearly.

Aromas: mint, apple, hops, lychee

These smells all add up to a super cool minty picture, but in the mix, I found hops, lychee, apple, with an emphasis on everything being chilly and bright. This smells perfect for the hot weather. Imagistically, it reminds me of a freshly opened jar of applesauce taken from the fridge.

Sweetness/dryness: Semi-dry

This is a semi-dry cider. The acid probably makes it tastes drier than it would look were I to see the actual measurement of sugar. Its a nice level that won't alienate most drinkers of dry, semi-dry, or eve semi-sweet cider.

Flavors and drinking experience: Mostly mint, hops, balanced with apple

When I drink this cider of course I taste lots of mint and apple. I also get some hoppiness, but more mint. The cooling effect continues. Far From the Tree's melding of apple and mint works, but it's a tenuous balance. This cider offers up high acid, no tannins, and medium bubble.

I noticed how very consistent this cider tastes from tip to tail; the mint is dominant. I'm also struck by how much this cider depends on its clean fermentation in order to work. Seems tricky but successful.

I paired my Sprig cider with a very summery meal: sauteed summer squash with herbed chevre, sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob, whole-wheat toast, and baked beans. It was delicious and delicious all together. 

Cider Review: Rootstock Ciderworks Hopped Hard Cider

Things are pretty rough at Along Came A Cider HQ because we have a very sick kitty. I can blog with a cat on my lap; she's sure not getting up, so I can share a review that has me pretty excited.

 I was at Cornell Orchards for a recent FLX Ciderweek event, and I was offered a taste of a hopped cider that won gold in its GLINTCAP category. The fine folks at Rootstock offered me a taste and later a can of their Hopped Hard Cider. Here are my thoughts, but first a little background on Rootstock.

Like my last review, this cidery was born after a family had been working a fruit orchard for multiple generations. Rootstock Ciderworks is the project of fourth generation DeFisher Fruit Farms in Williamson, NY near Lake Ontario. The cidery was founded in 2012 by David DeFisher and the cidermaker is Alex Robb. From reading the website I can glean a few priorities that seem to stand out for Rootstock. They care about using their own New York apples, but their commitment to local production extends beyond their fruit to equipment and as much local economic integeration as possible and running an extremely low waste cidery. There are a lot of different ways to commit to sustainability and environmental support, and this is a crucial one.

Read more at the site, http://rootstockciderworks.com/.

I'll lead with the official description: 

Hopped Hard Cider is a semi-dry cider made from estate grown Crispin apples and locally grown Cascade hops. This heavily aromatic cider exhibits a bouquet of fresh lemon and pine paired perfectly with the taste of fresh picked apples. With its balanced sweetness and acidity this unique cider is sure to please beer and cider drinkers alike.

And on the front page there's more information leading to the announcement that this cider will soon be available at several Wegmans' stores. Hey, anything for more cider info.

Hopped Hard Cider is a unique handcrafted semi-dry cider made from estate grown Crispin apples and locally grown Cascade hops. This heavily aromatic cider exhibits a bouquet of fresh lemon and pine paired perfectly with the taste of fresh picked apples. With its balanced sweetness and acidity this small batch cider is sure to please beer and cider drinkers alike. Available at bars, restaurants, and stores throughout the Upstate and Western New York regions.

Appearance: brilliant, bubbly, nearly green

Looking at this cider, I notice that it's brilliant with a color like pale summer hay—nearly green! pours with a head that quickly dissolves

Aromas: pear, pine, fresh

I love how fresh and herbal this hopped cider smells. I also get lime citrus. The overall impression is enticing, friendly but not simple, pears, tons of pine but its really not soapy. Alex and I agree that this is one of the best smelling hopped ciders: deliciously inviting.

Sweetness/dryness: Semi dry

This cider has some perceivable sweetness, but it isn't out of balance with any other element. If I had to characterize the sweetness I'd call it both fruity and honey like, but somehow fresh.

Flavors and drinking experience: balanced, medium bubble, very clean

Lucky for us, this cider tastes like just exactly it smells. There's a tremendously fun interplay of flavors that somehow feel  pyramid shaped: a strong base that tapers toward the acid. The Hopped Hard Cider offers up pleasurable mouthfeel and tremendous balance. Flavors include Tropicals fruit, pear, pine, and basil. This has a super clean fermentation. I find the acid medium high (but not ultra-high) and in tune with other flavors. It's just a little sweet but theirs some not quite bitter playing in there too. Hops are front and center, with just a bit of their characteristically grapefruit note. 

Its lightly sparkling, but the bubbles fade fast. Big sips sweeten and darken the flavor with notes of honey—maybe the tiniest boozey note, but no real funk. Unlike some west-coast hopped ciders, this doesn't use a beer yeast. I find this cider both refreshing and compelling. I can taste why it won gold.

Cider Review: Rev Nat's Hallelujah Hopricot (Pt 2 of the Hops+Apricot Cider Showdown)

Alrighty, now that we Americans have celebrated our independence and many fireworks have dazzled and barbeques sizzled, we return to the Hops + Apricot Cider Showdown with Pt 2:  Rev Nat's Hallelujah Hopricot! In Pt 1, I reviewed Cider Creek Hard Cider's Cascade Hopricot and found it delightfully different. Can the irreverent Rev. Nat's Hard Cider wow me as well? East coast and west coast ciders with their very different apples tackle the same flavor combinations with both hops and apricot.

This encounter with Rev Nat's Hallelujah Hopricot is my first review of any of their ciders. Rev Nat's Hard Cider is based out of Portland Oregon, where they produce cider and have a very active tap room. Though I've met the cidermaker himself and followed his progress online, I want to see how he presents the company on the website (http://reverendnatshardcider.com).

Strong writing and a passionate voice characterize the brand identity on Rev. Nat's Hard Cider's website. It is a bombastic yet personable tone filled with giant claims and major statments. I find it engaging and persuasive. This one comment though seems to sum up so much of Rev. Nat's story: 

Permeating all these experiments was a desire to make ciders that no one else will make. I would cook a dish, eat at a restaurant, drink a beer or a cocktail, or peruse the farmer’s market, and be unable to contain my excitement for flavors. After making cider for nearly a decade, I concluded that, while apple-only ciders define cider for most of my fellow countrymen, my passion was in creative flavor combinations making cider in the spirit of craft beer geeks.

Let's tease out a few key things to note here. The company plans on focusing on flavor and additive experimentation. Different is the goal. Craft beer is a major inspiration. Good to know. I won't expect traditional or even necessarily apple focused. It sounds like Rev. Nat uses apples as a base and a medium, but doesn't view them in the same way as most cider makers.

Here's the official description of the Hallelujah Hopricot:

This is my flagship cider, the cider I love to love. The making of Hallelujah Hopricot starts with classic American apples as a Belgian wit-style cider steeped with coriander, bitter orange peel and paradise grains, fermented with a Belgian saison ale yeast. On top of that rich base, I add pure apricot juice and finish with Oregon-grown Cascade and (whenever I can get them) Amarillo hops. A fresh and fruity concoction not dulled by sweeteness, THIS OFF-DRY CIDER IS MY BEST-SELLER, AND FOR GOOD REASON.

Wow, there's a lot going into this cider. The mention of paradise grains confused me at first because of cider's usual gluten free fame, but I looked up the ingredient and learned some cool stuff. It appears that paradise grains are actually part of the ginger family and not grains at all. Celiacs can rejoice! (You can read more about paradise grains here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aframomum_melegueta). But yes, stuff to look for includes, ginger, spice, orange, interesting yeasts, plus the apricot and hops.

Appearance: hazy, deep color, foam at first but dissipates.

Aromas: Hops, pine, grapefruit, lemon, spices

Oh my goodness, this cider smells like hops. Super hoppy smells and not much apple or apricot. Instead, I get notes of soap, pine, grapefruit, lemon, and rosemary. Those are completely distinct. There's a secondary spice that really wakes up the nostrils. No apple smell at all, but perhaps I shouldn't expect one.

Dryess: Dry

I imagine that this is off dry  by the numbers, based on the official description, but when you combine bitterness and acid with off dry, it perceives as completely dry. That's how it comes across to me.

Flavors and drinking experience: super tart, bitter, HOPS, little bit of fruit

The first impression I get is one of tartness. Secondarily I get citrus bitterness. No apple at all and almost no apricot. The hops dominate to an extreme degree. The pine flavor is the mid-palate experience and it resolves into pleasantly bitter grapefruit/hops. Really this cider is hops from start to finish. I like it, but, wow, this is hopped cider taken to its perhaps illogical conclusion. No sweetness. No tannin. Lots of acid. It is extremely lively, which is not a surprise given its acid and the high level of carbonation. In some ways this is like an extremely dry lemon herbal sparkling water. But much more exciting than that sounds.

Whoa whoa whoa, I finally tasted the apricot! It shows up late to party, once I'm well into the finish, barely there at all. But what's there is nice. Better fashionably late than absent!

 
 This absolutely achieves what it sets out to do. It is boldly experimental. It uses cider as a starting place more than a finishing point. I quite enjoyed it, accompanying a light summer soup with tomatoes, zucchini and corn. It is aggressively adventurous and good, but less cidery than many other ciders, even other hopped or fruited ciders.

Cider Review: Cider Creek Hard Cider's Cascade Hopricot (Pt 1 of the Hops+Apricot Cider Showdown)

After writing for a while about my faraway travels, I feel like I need to return to my cider home of New York state. We've got the most cideries of any state in the United States of America! Recent I visited a newer cidery called Cider Creek Hard Cider in Canisteo. 

Read about them on their website: http://www.cidercreekhardcider.com  Several weeks ago, they invited me to go out and visit their production facilities and the site of their future tasting room. Though it is just a couple hours away, it was a perfect late spring thrill to attempt to befuddle my phone's GPS and go out into the country to see where this cider is made.  
 

When I made it out there, I got to meet everyone Melanie and Kevin Collins (Necessary aside, I feel so proud to see my own last name representing in the cider world!). The assistant cidermaker Marty Kelleher, and yes, I did get to meet Rocky the adorable cider dog.

Kevin and Melanie were so welcoming! They shared so much of their time and story, and I got to see their facilities from top to bottom. Homemade kegs washers, beautiful rum barrels, gleaming tanks filled with cider, hops, pineapple juice. Wait a moment...pineapple juice? Yes, part of what makes Cider Creek different is their drive to try new and exciting ways to make cider. They are the opposite of traditionalists; Kevin and his cider making crew want to change preconceived notions about cider by making new and different ciders.

And for more up to date news, you can always visit with Cider Creek on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/cidercreekhardcider?fref=ts

Today, I'm reviewing their Cascade Hopricot, a special release for spring 2015. Here's what Cider Creek Hard Cider has to say about this one.

6.5% ABV, 500ml bottle, Gluten free.

Our unfiltered Cascade Hopricot Hard Cider is a blend of our sweet cider made from 100% New York State apples and all natural apricot puree. It's fermented with a West Coast Ale Yeast and finished by dry hopping with New York State Cascade Hops. This yeast strain allows the tangy citrus hop flavors to really punch through. Enjoy the complex fruit profile and semi-dry, crisp, finish. Available in limited quantities in New York and Massachusetts.

 Appearance: cloudy, peachy, with suspended dots of color

Wow! The Cascade Hopricot looks very cloudy and opaque. The color is peachy pastel orange, with dots of darker orange made visible when I hold my glass up to the light. Because it is unfiltererd, I expected a significant amount of sediment, and I wasn't surprised. The Cascade Hopricot shows as much as any cider I've had. 

Aromas: Belgian beer yeast, orange, herbaceous

Smelling this cider is like experiencing one hundred tiny breezes: some from citrus groves, others from herb gardens, and some from Belgian breweries. The overwhelming impression is one of cooling fruitiness. My favorite part is the frisson of herbal notes which is likely the hops. At first I smell fruit, but then herbal and yeasty notes overtakes the citrus. 

Dryness/sweetness: quite dry

This dryness struck me as a big surprise given how fruity the aromas are. 

Flavors and drinking experience: fruity yet dry, high acidity, complex

Very fruity—very strong apricot notes but not much apple. This cider is decidedly tangy and cleanly sour with crisp finish. It has low to no tannins. I tastes loads of citrus, melon rind, a little bitterness and wet coolness but it remains fruity. I can compare it eating watermelon rind soaked in apricot juice and mint leaves. There's also one tiny hint of rubber tire as the glass approaches and the cider hits, but not too much to be anything other than interesting.  I get a little yeast in the flavors but the cider tastes much less boozy than its 6.5 ABV. I love how cooling and pleasantly hoppy it tastes. The cider offers medium high carbonation, which is always a plus in my world. Overall it is fruity, cooling and complex: really neat and different. This probably won't be a favorite for traditionalists, but that just leaves more for the rest of us.

I had the Cascade Hopricot with the best corn on the cob of the summer and veggie chicken nuggets (don't judge me!).  Coming soon will be my encounter with the only other cider made with hops and apricot (Rev. Nat's Hallelujah Hopricot) and we'll see how the two compare.

Cider Review: Millstone Cellars Hopvine

Today makes Millstone Cellars' third appearance in this blog. I'm lucky to have friends in the Maryland DC area and a phenomenal local cider seller (https://www.thecellardor.com of course!) who hosted the cidermaker from Millstone (bringing in the current line of ciders for tasting and sale) because normally these ciders are only available in the Maryland and Washington DC areas. Ask me another day about the extremely difficult hurdles of distribution for small craft cider producers. I'll talk your ear off. Anyhow...

Here are my two previous reviews of Millstone Cellars ciders.

http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2014/02/cider-review-millstone-cellars-cider.html

http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/07/cider-review-millstone-cellars-gingeroot.html

Millstone Cellars makes really interesting ciders. You can read about them on their website here: http://www.millstonecellars.com/artisanal-cider/ They aren't afraid to try interesting additives, unique apple varieties, and the most nuanced use of honey as a backsweetener that I know. Combine my good feeling for Millstone Cellars' style with the fact that I love hopped ciders. They are the absolute best for hot summer afternoons. The world can consider me very excited to try Millstone's Hopvine.

Obviously the Hopvine is an apple cider with hops, but we can do better than that for some useful information. Here's what Millstone says, "Cask cider aged with Maryland dry hops and blended with a touch of raw honey. Wrap your taste buds around a cascade of lemony and spicy hop flavors." Further reading or even just admiring of the beautiful label shows that this cider uses York Imperial apples, wildflower honey, and Cascade hops. This cider has an ABV of 8%. It is also listed as being bottle conditioned and dry.

Prepared with this details, let's pour and taste. Today is 88 degrees in Ithaca, perfect for hopped cider.

Appearance: Hazy, lemon curd color, not too many visible bubbles once the initial head disappears
 

The Hopvine pours with some belgian lace that quickly dissipates.

Aromas: Wow, alfalfa, citrus

The reason for the wow is that this cider is intensely aromatic. I love it when a cider gives me plenty of good smells! This one has alfalfa, hay, citrus, grapefruit pith, and a background of apples. But as it warms up a bit, the smells develop and give me additional notes like baseball glove or soft patent leather. Mmm! Wow indeed.

Dryness: Dry

Like many bottle-conditioned ciders, the Hopvine manages to exhibit loads of flavor while being bone dry. I really appreciate this in a cider. 

Flavors and drinking experience: zesty, astringent, sour, fruity

I must preface my description with the fact that this cider tastes milder than it smells. It is dry, phenolic, and astringent. I love the intensity that astringency brings to mouthfeel; it makes everything zesty. The cider finishes with notes like straw, leather, and sour yeast. The hops make it spicy yet vegetal or herbaceous. I love how totally insane the Hopvine is with leather and acidity. This does not strike me as a sipping cider. I was tasting with a few friends who faulted it for moments of bracing funk that approach sweatiness, but I really enjoyed those facets. What can I say? I like a little stink in my cider. I like it a lot.

What we can all agree on is that Millstone's Hopvine pairs with strongly flavored aromatic dishes. Bring out the Rosemary bread, olives, and feta. I flipping love Rosemary and never get to eat it often enough, but the salty rosemary bread and briny feta just complemented this cider perfectly. My love for hopped ciders continues! This is probably one for the lovers of sour beers, unusual ciders, and deliciously complex tastes. I'd not share this with just everyone, but then again I say that about most of my favorite discoveries.

Cider Review: Woodchuck Cellar Series Dry Hop

 Tonight, I get to reviewing a cider that came to me in the mail from Woodchuck, so this is not a cider I paid for. That's also how it happened to come in this really snazzy box. Woodchuck sure knows how to put together a nice package. I have reviewed a few of their ciders before, recently I checked out their Belgian White (http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/10/cider-review-woodchuck-belgian-white.html) and my very first review here was their Winter cider (http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/01/cider-review-woodchuck-winter.html), but this is the first I've received from Woodchuck for reviewing.

Woodchuck began their cellar series this fall, and I'm reviewing the first Cellar Series Cider, the Dry Hop. First a little info about the Cellar Series: they will be released nation wide periodically; the line seeks to highlight several different innovative cider styles. Dry hopping a cider is just such a technique; several different small cider producers make a dry hopped, but this may be the first one that is available in many places. So for some readers, this could be the first hopped cider on your local shelves.

Here's what Woodchuck says about this cider, "The dry hop technique, by which the fermented cider is strained through a tank of fresh Cascade hops, infuses the cider with crisp citrus and pine notes. The smooth apple character of Woodchuck’s signature hard cider balances perfectly against the bitterness of the hops. It’s another category bending cider from Woodchuck." This isn't tons of information, but it is good to know that they use Cascade hops.

Color and Appearance: corn kernel, lotsa bubbles, some foam

This has foamiest head of any cider I've ever seen. The Dry Hop offers rich intense color like that of an un-popped kernel of popcorn. It is a really neat color. Even after the cider's head dissapates, the number of visible bubbles in the glass is truly unusual.

Aromas: beer

Yes, I can smell the hops, but more I smell the finished product, beer. This cider doesn't show off clear hop distinctions like citrus or pine but just smells like a cold fresh mildly hoppy beer.

Sweetness: semi-sweet

If not a first for Woodchuck, the semi-sweetness of their Dry Hop a near first. Enchanting! What sweetness there is comes in at the finish. It is so nice to be surprised in this arena by a cider company that usually sticks to sweet.

Flavors and Drinking Experience: Grapefruit, sweet finish, piney hops.

The hop characteristics come out more in the flavors of the Dry Hop than in its aromas. This cider really does taste so much more complex than it smells. I get strong notes of lychee, grapefruit and kiwi.  The Dry Hop opens with a soft floral fruit that is the Lychee but finishes with distinct ruby red grapefruit. With moderate minerals, the cider tastes pleasantly rocky. That aspect reminds me of the Belgian White, but I prefer this cider. Dry hopping continues to be a way for cider makers to win me over.

Overall, I have to declare this cider deliciously gulpable. If you see any on the shelves, get several and have them with the crazy amazing sandwiches we'll all be making with Thanksgiving leftovers on November 29th.

I'm curious about the rest of the Cellar Series releases. Hopefully I'll be trying their second one, the Smoked Apple before too long.

Cider Review: Bad Seed IPC (India Pale Cider) Reserve

Before leaving New York City, I stopped at the Union Square Greenmarket regularly. It is a great place to pick up some New York State ciders that are a bit off the beaten path. If you ever want to check out their times, vendors, etc. the website has all that info: http://www.grownyc.org/greenmarket-site/manhattan/union-square-greenmarket. On one of my last trips before moving, I picked up four ciders from a quite small new cidery, Bad Seed Ciders. Their offerings seemed adventurous and what I tasted at the stand pleased me. This is the first, but I'll be reviewing all four the ciders I bought.

Bad Seed Cider doesn't have a traditional website. Like more and more companies, they are spending their web time on their Facebook presence. Here's the link to their active Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/Badseedcider. It has tons of great pics and updates about their availability, but not much info about each of the ciders. I'm not a big fan of cideries not having a consistent place with tasting notes and detailed information about each of their offerings, but I understand that developing and maintaining both a website and a social media presence is tons of work that can feel redundant. Here's what I could find out on their FB page. They were founded in 2011 and are based out of Highland, New York as a development of Wilklow Orchards.

The Bad Seed's cheeky acronym IPC stands for India Pale Cider, not a phrase I've ever seen before. The official description says this about the beverage: "India Pale Cider- Fermented with and American Ale yeast and Dry Hopped with Cascade hops for a bright grapefruit flavor of a fresh IPA" The cider is a small batch reserve with with an ABV of 5.5%. I have shared here a few times how much I love dry hopped ciders, so my hopes are high.

Appearance: tremendously bubbly, hazy, creamy beeswax

When poured this forms a head briefly, but even after that dissipates lots and lots of bubbles both cling to the glass and to the surface of the liquid. I'm almost alarmed by how bubbly this looks. The color is a creamy beeswax with hints of yellow/green. I think the color looks a bit different than many ciders because of the number of bubbles and because it is hazy rather than brilliant.

Aromas: Not apple, lemon, bran and wheat, hint of herbs

The IPC smells cold in an unexpected way. I smell all kinds of fruits and foods, but not much apple. The citrus smells dominate the nose of this cider.

 Flavors: Big citrus bitterness, fresh hay

 Again, not very appley. The Cascade hops speak as grapefruit pith and there's a decided backdrop of hay and bitterness. I think by using both beer yeast and hops, this has traveled further into beer territory than most ciders influenced by beer. I love how full the mouthfeel tastes to me.

Drinking Experience: first though is cider for beer people.

Mind you, I second guess that, because the passionate beer afficianados in my life seem to divide binarily about cider. Either they grant its pleasures and validity, in which case they like a number of ciders, or they do not and they list the things they dislike about every cider they try. So I guess it is a cider for cider people who enjoy some beer characteristics. I fall decidedly into this category, so it certainly is a cider for me. It is citrusy, bittery, and extremely carbonated. There is a slightly soapy aftertaste which is odd and perhaps a sign of stressed yeast, but doesn't prevent me from enjoying the cider tremendously.

In terms of pairing, I'd suggest having it with a very flavorful meal. This isn't a light salad or dainty snacks kind of cider. Get a big pizza or make it a burrito night when drinking Bad Seed's IPC. The cider's bitterness would go well with rich foods, including everything cheesey. The flavors are so big and lovely that it really demands some big food as well. I think it could also be a great cider for the last grilling occasions of the summer. Take advantage of the good weather and this very summery cider before fall arrives.