Cider Review: City Roots Cider's Evergreen Farmhouse Cider

Happy Spring, cider friends! I’m filled with hope today, not only because the sun shines outside on all the early spring shoots emerging from the ground, but because I was able to get my first dose of the Moderna vaccine last week! I hope your weeks are similarly filled with happiness and anticipation.

This week I’m reviewing a cider I found at my local grocery store. It's not often that they have something new, but I was happy to see City Roots Evergreen Farmhouse Cider a couple of weeks ago. When I read that the cider is infused with Juniper, I had to try it. I hope you enjoy!

We’ll start with the origins of City Roots Cider. This line of cider is made by the folks who make Harpoon Beer and who used to make Harpoon cider. That means the company is based in Boston. When reading about City Roots, I learned, “1% of revenue from all City Roots sales- whether draft or package- will be donated to nonprofit organizations that focus directly on creating greener, healthier, and more sustainable cities.” Which is a pretty cool ongoing commitment. 

I do want to link back to the one review I have of a Harpoon cider just because I remember it so fondly. 

Harpoon’s Pumpkin Cider: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/09/cider-review-harpoon-brewerys-pumpkin.htm

You can visit City Roots Cider online to learn more: https://www.cityrootscider.com/

As I mentioned, what made me pick up the Evergreen Farmhouse Cider, is that the label read “conditioned on juniper.” Here’s the full description.

Fermented completely dry using a Nordic farmhouse yeast strain and conditioned on juniper needles, Evergreen is crisp and peppery with notes of citrus zest, winter herbs, and cold forest air. Filtered bright, it has a pleasant warmth and bubbly effervescence while remaining remarkably light and drinkable. 6.0% ABV.

DRY

Ingredients Fermented apple juice (Late Season Blend), Juniper Needles

Appearance: cool straw, brilliant, few bubbles

This is a lovely cider to see. I appreciate the brilliance and cool straw hue. I see a few bubbles, but not many. We’ll have to see how sparkly it is or isn’t.

Aromas: Lychee, pear, basil, juniper and other herbs

The cider effuses with notable and pleasing lychee notes. I also smell pear, basil, white grape, apple, and minerals. Alongside this range juniper, peach, and pineapple appear. The whole impression is both  fruity and herbal.

Dryness/sweetness: Semi-dry

As with most ciders available in smaller bottles and cans, I need to adjust my expectation of the sweetness from what I see on the packaging. It’s called dry, but to me it's semi-dry. 

Flavors and drinking experience: high acid, pineapple, juniper, tropical 

The Evergreen Farmhouse Cider brings medium intensity sparkle and ear curling acidity! Wow! I love how this semi-dry cider tastes piney, green and  underripe fruit. Notes of pineapple, spruce, apple, and mango all play nicely together. The cider reminds of herb and pine in a sappy, sticky way, but the stickiness isn’t from sugar. This cider tastes very good! The juniper notes bring subtle complexity, but speak a bit more with a larger sip.

I paired this with probably one of the last winter harvesty meals we’re going to have this season. We made a Quorn roast, air-fryer brussels sprouts and baked potatoes with cheddar. It was all quite simple, but the Evergreen Farmhouse Cider was a great complement to the experience!

Next time, I want to see how this cider will play alongside salmon burgers and grilled asparagus!

Cider Review: Harpoon Brewery's Pumpkin Cider

Pumpkin has become a divisive topic. I can only blame its popularity for the pumpkin backlash. Anything beloved enough to be a craze is going to make some haters. And for cider purists, the idea of a pumpkin cider is blasphemy. But I refuse to participate. I like pumpkin and I love cider, so I try new pumpkin ciders every year. Some formulas work beautifully. Others don't.

Today, I'm sharing my thoughts on Harpoon Pumpkin Cider. This is my first review of a cider by Boston-based Harpoon Brewery. They've made cider since 2007 and beer since opening 1986. They are primarily a brewery, but I can see five different ciders on the website, though I've only seen two available for sale in my travels. (Full disclosure, I did receive this review sample from Harpoon.)

Read about their ciders and beers at the website: https://www.harpoonbrewery.com

Or, take a peek at this compilation of cat pictures that feature Harpoon Beers (and one of this cider!)

https://www.harpoonbrewery.com/blog/16-cats-who-are-loving-beer-and-loving-life-341

Official Description:

• Appearance: Straw/light golden
• Aroma: Freshly pressed Northeastern Apples, traditional pumpkin pie spices and a hint of pumpkin.
• Mouth feel: Light, crisp, tart, cleansing. Sprightly.
• Taste: Apple forward with all the traditional Autumn flavors of pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg, and a touch of sweetness for balance.
• Finish: Dry, light, refreshing.

Reading elsewhere on the website, I learned that some selective mixing of their Winter Warmer beer and their signature cider inspired making this spiced cider. It has a very low alcohol content with an ABV of 4.8%. That's really not typical.

Appearance: barely hazy, saffron, a few clinging bubbles

There's no mistaking this cider for beer as its poured! It doesn't form a head and instead just shows off a few clinging bubbles in a gentle barely hazy sea of saffron liquid.

Aromas: beer yeast, apples, spice

The smells of this cider aren't super potent, but what's there is yeasty, spicy, clean, and appley. All of these relatively low intensity aromas are pleasing and subtle. Reading about their ciders, My perception of a beer yeast is borne out. They use a proprietary ale yeast in all of the ciders.

Sweetness/dryness: Semi-dry

This is a straightforward semi-dry, but if folks are not used to to flavors brought by a less fruit beer yeast, this might taste a bit less sweet (even if not exactly drier).

Flavors and drinking experience: Nutmeg, balance, yeast character

The spice blend makes up a significant part of the cider's flavor; it favors nutmeg, but includes enough cinnamon, ginger, and clove to really bring out that mulled cider, pumpkin pie, autumn feeling that any pumpkin item promises. Here's what I love about it though. This cider is really pleasantly balanced. That doesn't sound like a giant high point, but trust me it is. The beer yeast is the absolute perfect way to counter the sharpness of baking spices. We get all the notes, apple, spice, bread, and pumpkin.

This is an exceptional cider both for the format and for style. Its light bodied with medium acid and no tannins. This cider is the classic autumnal flavor experience that so many things promise.

I enjoyed mine with fresh homemade salsa, black bean and corn salad, tortilla chips and the two-part finale of Twin Peaks The Return. The show may not have offered answers(to do so would have betrayed the show entirely), but the cider and snacks certainly did.