Her Father's Cider Bar and 3 Windswept Orchard Ciders: Ida Red, Crimson Crisp and Golden Russet

I spent Memorial Day weekend in Toronto celebrating a birthday; This meant three amazing days, eating, walking, gawping at fish in the aquarium, and generally exploring this cool new city. No exploration is complete without checking out a new cider scene, and I was stoked to see what Toronto has to offer cider-wise. 

After a shockingly intense thunderstorm, we headed off to Her Father’s Cider Bar for dinner and cider. I’d heard about this particular spot for more than a year. When we arrived, I was instantly charmed by seeing how the world-class cider selection is stored and displayed. Looking at the menu only increased my excitement. The cider menu didn’t fit in a paragraph, or a column, or even a page. It was a book and a chalkboard. I knew we’d come to the best place in all of Toronto, and that was before we tried the chickpea fries!

You can see some lovely photos and check out the extensive menus online: https://www.herfathers.ca

I love how the ciders are divided into styles in the menu of bottled and canned ciders. That gives the drinker enough information to really hone in on a style they like and still try something unfamiliar. Plus the flags make identifying cidery location very simple too. Check out this cider by the glass page. It's positively swoon-worthy.

My cider co-pilot Woody had an adventurous flight of ciders with different additives and fermentation technique experiments, and I tried the Single Varietal Flight from Windswept Orchards. I love apple blends, but I am always curious to try a single varietal from an apple I've not tasted singly before and this flight had two: Ida Red and Crimson Crisp. And the one apple I did know from other single varietals is the Golden Russet which has contributed some fantastic ciders.

Windswept Orchard Ciders is a relatively young Ontario cidery: started in 2016. From what I read on the website; Windswept uses foraged fruits from abandoned orchards and has invested in the future with a young orchard on the farm.

Visit the cidery website to learn more and to peek at all the gorgeous labels: https://windsweptcider.com/

Ida Red

Here’s Windswept Orchard Cider’s official description:

Ida Red apples are known for their sweet aromas and zippy tart finish. Light, crisp and delicate, great on it's own as an aperitif. Crafted with 100% Ida Red apples from a single orchard overlooking the shores of Georgian Bay near Thornbury, Ontario. Bottle conditioned, contains lees. 7.4% 500ml 101 cases produced.

I found the Ida Red a bubbly dry, delicate cider. I loved it’s pear-apple aromas and clean fermentation. It brough an airy  light body and lots of bubbles to the experience. This is definitely one I’d like to seek out again. 

Next up was the Crimson Crisp: a GLINTCAP Silver Medalist

Here’s the official description for Crimson Crisp: 

A modern varietal with heirloom appeal, Crimson Crisp apples are rich, tart and full of flavour. Lush, vinous and textural. Crafted with 100% Crimson Crisp apples sourced from a single orchard and grown on the slope of the Niagara escarpment on Georgian Bay. Bottle conditioned, contains lees. 7.4% ABV 500ml 101 cases produced.

For me the Crimson Crisp smelled just like homemade apple sauce; it reminded me of ciders with a lot of Northern Spy. I like the super vivid apple aromas that make me think of the texture of ripe apples as much as the taste. When drinking, I found this cider a bit more yeasty and fermented. Something about it connoted cold though it’s serving temperature was the same as its compatriots.

I want to finish up with the Golden Russet, starting with its official description:

Rich, lively honey apple finish. Coveted amongst cidermakers, Golden Russet apples are known for their perfect balance of sweetness, acidity and tannin. Crafted from 100% Golden Russet apples grown in a single orchard overlooking the shores of Georgian Bay near Meaford, Ontario. Bottle conditioned, contains lees. 7.4% ABV 500ml 155 cases produced

Oh boy! This cider smells mature and farmy! The Golden Russet is the funky one of the flight! It was smart to put it last on the list, as it’s a build up to this wild and barny cider. The aromas remind me not only of barn wood but also a dry sherry. The tastes are very different from the cider’s smells. The Golden Russet tastes like pear and like a soft overripe apple. I love this one.

The food was absolutely as good as the cider, and I wouldn't trade the whole experience for anything. Toronto was a great place to visit and a fun place for cider. 

Cider Review: Eastman's Forgotten Ciders' The Mad Russian

These are the weeks when lots of folks travel or move. Yes, its hot, but I love the quiet of staying in town through upstate's high summer. Things slow down; I walk on nearly desert college campuses in evenings. I watch the backyard wildlife from my porch, usually with a cider. Today's cider is a red cider from Michigan, another hard to find cider I obtained by trading with Darlene Hayes of Cider Cocktails: Another Bite of the Apple. Thanks again, Darlene!

This is The Mad Russian by Eastman's Forgotten Ciders. This small cidery comes from Wheeler, Michigan; it grew out of a specialty orchard, Eastman's Antique Apples. The company cares tremendously about heritage apples and the history of hard cider. This is part of how they introduce themselves:

We aim to produce cider reminiscent of our forefathers and founders - when cider was safer than water and the preferred drink of presidents and farm workers alike. We are enjoying a return to drinking cider across the nation and country, and look forward to providing this unique beverage with a great history and taste.

Find out more about them on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EastmansForgottenCiders/

This will be my first review of anything by Eastman's Forgotten Ciders. The Mad Russian's official descriptions vary on the bottle and on various beverage rating websites, but the bottle's promotional copy was too entertaining not to share.

Driven into a fit of rage from running out of this blood-red hard cider, The Mad Russian has lived up to his nickname. The crisp red cider is concocted from a combination of Russian red-fleshed, crab and heirloom apple varieties- leading to its red state. This semidry, tart cider will kick you in the teeth with its taste and drive you into a madness for wanting more. Go ahead and try a glass; just make sure you have enough to keep your sanity.

Now, let's find out how this Mad Russian tastes. 

Appearance: Brilliant, ruby, ringed with bubbles

There's no mistaking this color for anything other than deep ruby red. Though the color shines red, the cider is brilliant. My picture shows the ring of bubbles.

Aromas: grapes, tart cherries, apples, peaches and plums

Just bringing my face near the glass shows off how much this cider smells like plums, grapes, tart cherries, along with apples and peach. It offers tons of fruit. It doesn't smell exactly like unfermented through there, there's that hint of extra tart acid and some zing that tell me this will be real cider and not juice.

Sweetness/dryness: dry

Ooh! This cider isn't sweet. It has almost everything going for it without any sweetness.

Flavors and drinking experience: high acid, med-high tannin, fruity

The Mad Russian tastes excitingly bitter, dry, and astringent. This is a serious cider! It's tart but not in the pointed or sharp way of many Finger Lakes dry ciders. Its dry while being fruity and tannic! These tannins take a moment to unfold, but they are here.The overall effect is massively stimulating and fun. This cider hits with acid right away but then backs off. 

I love finding ciders like this that remain fruity and dry.  I find this refreshing and rare. To speak more specifically about the fruit flavors; they shine as bright slightly under-ripe fruit- maybe a little nutty. This cider has a light body and medium high bubble.

You could pair this cider with anything rich and full bodied. I recommend a pairing of pasta with cream sauce and Game of Thrones for this equality surprising and rewarding cider. High drama television deserves a show stopping cider, and this one can deliver.

Cider Review: Wyndfall Artisan Cyder Root River American Session Style Cider

I've been saving some really fun stuff for the summer, and not just canned ciders or hopped ciders. Those are fantastic, and you'll see more of them from me regularly, but summer brings out my inner fruit monster. I really enjoy my fruit blended ciders most with lighter summer foods or relaxing on my porch.

Today I'm trying my first Wyndfall Artisan Cyder. These folks are apple growers and cider makers in Minnesota. Today I'm reviewing their  Root River American Session Style Cider: something I got to take home from CiderCon. I've been waiting a while, but now just as raspberries are ripe here, I wanted to taste a raspberry cider.

Here's what I read about the cidery and orchard from the bottle itself. I think it gets at their identity very clearly, "Our cyders are produced with sustainably grown fruit on the family orchard in the blufflands of southeast Minnesota. Heritage variety apples add complexity and flavor you won't find in other ciders. Growing apples naturally can be challenging, but what you get in the bottle is simple: the purest cyder, the terroir of the Upper Mississippi River Valley"

Find out some more on the website: http://www.wyndfallcyder.com/

or on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wyndfallcyder/

"As for this particular cider, this is how the folks at Wyndfall describe it, Refreshingly tart, a forward fruitiness is balanced with a light sweetness to be everything a sweet Cyder should be, and nothing more." 6% ABV

Appearance: many warm hues, brilliant, few visible  bubbles

The cider is brilliant and its colors myriad: pink, orange, salmon copper, and rose gold.

Aromas: Raspberry, cherry, tart fruits, apple

This cider smells  very directly of raspberry,  with other bright tart fruit aromas like pie cherries and green apples.

Sweetness/dryness: Semi-sweet

This cider is described as sweet on the label, and I'm used to sweetness being undersold. This was the opposite. There's a ton of acid, so the sweetness is definitely kept in check and works well at this level.

Flavors and drinking experience: very sparkly, semi-sweet, high acid, fruity

Ooh neat, I love how the Root River tastes cold and just sweet enough. ( I am completely for real when I say this tastes semi-sweet, tops.) That's certainly due to the high acid which give it a bright and zesty character that's not painfully zingy.

The Root River entertains with a good level of sparkle. The cider finishes up with one nice warm note at the end: perhaps cinnamon? I get lots and lot of raspberry. But that's not the only fruit presence, apple and grapefruit show up too. Flavors also include a little hint of wood. 

I find the Root River exceedingly drinkable, while not lacking depth or interest. There's an herbaceous aura here—something almost resembling salad greens. What a fun, tasty, and interesting take on the raspberry cider.

I paired mine with creamy carrot soup, perfect for summer. I like a very fruity cider with a chilled or creamy vegetable soup. Usually, I add lots of curry spices to my carrot soups, but this was mostly carrots, caramelized onion, and coconut milk. This treat and this pairing were worth the wait.

Double Cider Review: Sietsema Lemongrass Hard Cider and Slightly Sweet Hard Cider

Today I'm reviewing two canned ciders that were part of a trade I made with the amazing Darlene Hayes of Turn Them All Into Cider and author of Cider Cocktails Another Bite of the Apple (a book I highly recommend). She managed a visit there on her way to GLINTCAP where we both judged this past spring. Thanks, Darlene!

Sietsema is not just a hard cider company but also an orchard business now being operated by the fourth generation of one family. The orchard was originally just outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan in an area known for both apples and cider and now is only 1o miles away in Ada, Michigan. 

You can find out more about the orchard and the cider company on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sietsemacider/?fref=ts

I looked for more cider-centric information on Sietsema Orchard's website, but I didn't find much about their current cider offerings. You're welcome to see plenty about their orchard there though: http://www.sietsemaorchards.com/hard-cider. 

Slightly Sweet which is the same as their red label, according to the internet.

Official Description: "For those who like their cider sweet. We stop fermentation just in time to retain the apples’ residual sugars; and you get a complex blend of citrusy sweetness with an underlying dryness with notes of pineapple and banana."

To me, the most interesting part of this description is the mention of stopped fermentation. This is a fairly advanced cidermaking technique that avoids fermenting to dryness and backsweetening for some sweetness to the beverage but instead using one of a few strategies to halt the fermentation while the juice has some of its own natural sugars intact. This is tricky because it goes against how yeast wants to work.  Yeast survives by eating sugar and creating alcohol, so you have to get rid of the yeast to keep that cider from starting to ferment again. Actual cidermakers are more welcome to add to this explanation in the comments. I just wanted to give the heads up that this isn't the easiest way to make a slightly sweet cider; its relatively ambitious but can give strong results. 

On to the cider!

Appearance: Hazy, deep coppery color, some visible bubbles

This cider looks more like fresh juice than many United States ciders. Its hazy and a dark coppery brown red. This could come from the arrested fermentation or some apples just produce a darker juice. It looks more like many English ciders to me. I can see some bubbles, but not a ton.

Aromas: sweet dusty lemon

Not to get ahead of myself, but the Slightly Sweet smells much sweeter than it tastes, but there's a specific cast to the sweetness. It remindes me of old-fashioned rock candy in the sweetness of its smell and also candied lemon peel. A very appealing aroma. 

Sweetness/dryness: semi-sweet

They are right to call this slightly sweet. It isn't very sweet. The initial taste is one of apple sweetness, but that isn't the only note of the beverage. See below.

Flavors and drinking experience: lemongrass, grapefruit, medium tannin

As I said earlier this cider tasest sweet almost only at first followed by interesting bitterness. Medium tannins. The fruit notes are more citrusy than anything else and there are some grassy herbal elements as well.  The cider's acidity tastes like a blend of different acids and not just malic.

The body is lively but a bit on the thin side. There's a very different shape to the whole flavor experience. An interesting cider to be sure. I paired this with a vegetarian chili with chickpeas and delicious faux-pork crumbles. Very tasty.

And now for Sietsema's Lemongrass Hard Cider

Sietsema's Lemongrass Hard Cider's official description reads: "For those with a taste for brightness. A bold blend of refreshing local Lemon Grass combined with our the crisp apple zest taste of our cider creates a unique taste of citrusy, zesty, sweet fruitiness"

Appearance: hazy, lots of visible bubbles, cheerful sunny gold

This cider is lovely to look at; its almost a shame to see it in a can. I like the rustic haze and sunny golden color. I also get a real sense of anticipation when I see that many visible bubbles.

Aromas: lemon and lemongrass, herbs, applesauce

This cider smells like lemon, lemongrass, sun-warmed apples, green zesty herbs, and homemade applesauce. This is a great set of aromas. They meld well together and yet I can identify all five notes distinctly.

Sweetness/dryness: tart and semi-dry

This cider is an easy to identify as semi-dry.

Flavors and drinking experience: clean, tart, good balance of lemongrass and apple

Wow! This cider tastes so clean and tart that it makes the insides of my ears feel like they are curling. I'm getting a strong salivary response as well. The lemongrass characteristics reminds me of a hopped cider. I had this with a mexican-inspired tomato and rice dish and the pairing worked well.

Cider Review: 1911's Founders Reserve Hopped Hard Cider and FLX Cider Week!

We're only a few day away from  Finger Lakes Cider Week! Yes, fall begins at the Equinox, but this is just about the most joyful celebration of fall and harvest that I do every year. So, while I'm counting down the days, I want to share my review of a cider from our region: 1911. 

My friend Yann made this cider for 1911 where he is now the head cider maker. He delivered this to my house some months ago to show me what he's been up to there. Yann's move to 1911 was part of the company's significant re-investment, renovation, and development of the cider side of the business. Beak and Skiff had been running as a large orchard successfully for quite some time (hence the name) and had branched out into spirits and cider using their own orchard fruit.

1911 has sometimes mistakenly been called Beak and Skiff because that's the name of the orchard from whence the apples come, and I admit I've made that mistake myself. Just for the record, the cider is 1911.

Before the new facility and long before I knew the cider maker, I reviewed a previous release of theirs:  http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2014/06/cider-review-beak-and-skiffs-1911.html

But, as I said, things have changed a lot for 1911, so consider this review my first under present conditions. You can learn more about 1911 cider on the website: 

http://1911established.com/cider/

But I encourage you to look not just at the ciders, but also at the apple spirits. 

This specific cider: http://1911established.com/products/1911-hopped-hard-cider/

Official Description

Founders’ Reserve Hopped Hard Cider is a sparkling cider made with a combination of classic American bittering and aromatic hops. Fruit-forward with a floral nose.  A subtle sweetness balances the light bitterness to give a smooth, slightly resinous finish. Semi-Dry, 6.9% ABV. 22 IBUs.

Inspired by some of our favorite American craft breweries, this cider continues the innovative streak pushing cider into the 21st century. Our unique hopping process maximizes the aroma and flavor of our specially selected hop blend.

1911

Appearance: brilliant, very few visible bubbles, squash yellow

This cider doesn't give too much away about how it will taste based on appearance. It shows a nice yellow that reminds me of a Delicata squash. Its brilliant and doesn't have a lot of apparent bubble action.

Aromas: strawberry, cherry, cucumber, so fruity

Okay, I am getting so much from the smells in this cider. I can distinctly smell strawberry, sour cherries, grapefruit, but also lots of cucumbers and even a hint of ripe zesty tomatillos. All in all this cider stands out for smelling super green. and fresh. I don't get as much distinct hoppy flavors so much as fresh, green, and tons of fruit.

Dryness/sweetness: semi-dry

This cider tastes semi-dry with tons of acid. There's a lot going on here besides sweetness and dryness though.

Flavors and drinking experience: tart, hoppy, clean

The first thing I notice in the taste of this cider is its very high acidity with a grapefruity hoppy zest. The cider is astringent but sweet enough enough to be highly and immediately drinkable. In terms of mouthfeel, I get a medium bubble. The 1911 Founders Reserve Hopped Hard Cider is noticeable for its very clean fermentation. 

The cider's main features are nice even acidity and well balanced hop and apple. In terms of the fruit, rather than tasting the same fruits as I smelled, there's more a lychee note.  I really enjoy the pleasantly warm quick-fading bitterness. The bigger the drink, the sweeter it seems, while staying in the semi-dry range.

I loved having this cider with grilled sundried tomato pizza. Though I had mine while summer's heat was lingering, I can easily see this cider's appeal stretching into fall.

The Great Vermont Cider Tour, Day 2!

After a long sleep on a curiously forbidding bed in Stowe, we rose amid the beautiful grey morning rain and grabbed a few pastries and coffees at Edelweiss.  We also nabbed a Boyden Valley Honey Hopper cider and picked up some cheese and sweets at the Cabot Annex and Champlain Chocolates.  (In my next life I'm coming back as a cheese reviewer!)

Then we were off to the Farmhouse restaurant in Burlington, where we had cheddar ale soup, fries, and a beet salad.  We also tried Urban Farm Fermentory's Hopped Cidah, from Portland, Maine.  This was an unfiltered, canned cider with a smell heavy on pears and lychee (as is common with hops), but with a gentle funk—pleasantly green and sweaty.  The taste was very tart and surprisingly dry, with lots of grapefruit flavor.  It plays the edge of tasting outright bitter, but with a scintillating fruity bouquet of unripe apple.  Check it out next time you're able!

Our first cider tour of the day was at Citizen Cider, Burlington's hometown favorite.  If you've not spent time in Vermont, you might not yet know that Citizen is a major player in the cider world.  Last year's nationwide sales charts put them as the 10th biggest seller in America.  This is especially impressive given both how regional their reach is and how young a company they are!  

Citizen Cider was begun in 2010 by three friends (Justin, Chris, and Brian), who wondered why cider hadn't reemerged in America to the same popularity that it had enjoyed before prohibition.  They produced 5000 gallons their first year, and this year they're at 600,000 gallons.  For real.

Citizen makes a wide variety of ciders, with a stable of core products, seasonal releases, and limited-edition one-offs.  I tried about eight of their ciders today, and while there's a fair bit of range, the house style that unifies them is cleanness: nearly all of them were clear in their taste, brilliant in clarity, highly drinkable, and tidy in their finish.

Jordan showed us their testing areas and told us about both their exciting R&D program and their forays into crowdsourcing their apples: their Olmstead Apple Project allowed Vermonters to contribute their own backyard fruit to a community-oriented beverage. 

(And yes, that's a carboy of...could it be beet juice[?] at the bottom left of this next picture.  Get ready for the future.)

Endeavors like the Olmstead Project are indicative of the idea behind the Citizen name—community, approachability, and mutuality.

After some vintage store action in Burlington, we were off to Champlain Orchards.  Before we even get to the review, let's plug their Cider Fest, which is coming up on August 27th!  If you're in Western Vermont, stop by for some music and cider.

Champlain Orchards have been under their current ownership for 18 years, and in that time have expanded from 45 acres of active orchard to 240.  

A lot of their apples actually wind up in grocery stores, and some of them are sold to other cideries (I don't sip and tell).  But Champlain is very proud of their own cider, which has already made good growth (and won some handsome awards) in the four years it's been around.  Some of their early collaborations and much of their tutelage is courtesy of Eleanor Leger of Eden Specialty Ciders.  (I promise to visit Eden next time!)

Jane, their tasting room manager and head of sales, gave us five ciders to try.  Notable were their heirloom cider (which uses 31 varieties, with a plummy bourbon note), and their sparkling iced cider (one of the most strikingly deep tastes of any I've had, and a rare carbonated entry in the usually-still ice cider category).  

My favorites, though, were probably the Pruner's Pride, which was the first cider they ever made, and the Ginger and Spice, which really hits my "Yowza!" nerve.  I bought both of these, so stay tuned for a review of at least one of them in the coming while.

A charming dinner at the Shoreham Inn followed (that bruschetta!), and then we got cozied up at the bed and breakfast of Sunrise Orchards, with some bonus affection from Josie the dog and Fe the cat.  

Sunrise Orchard has the among the biggest, loveliest orchards I've ever seen! It was planted in 1974 by Barney Hodges, who says, "It was a dairy farm, but I thought it would make a good orchard.  And I was right."  He planted 50,000 trees (and says he was the first orchardist to use machine planting in New England).  

His son (also Barney) runs the operations today, providing apples for more than one cider that you know and like.  They mostly specialize in Macintosh, Paula Red, Empire, Red Delicious, Macoun, and a growing number of heritage and cider varieties.  An astonishing place! 

And then I was off to bed.  Stay tuned for day three of our Vermont Cider Tour tomorrow!

In case you missed it, here's Day 1: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-great-vermont-cider-tour-day-1.html

Cider Review: Blake's Hard Cider Company's El Chavo

Wow! Mother Nature gave us a great post Halloween gift of nearly a week of unseasonably nice weather. This is November disguised as September, and I'll take it! What this means for Along Came A Cider, is one more chance for a warm weather friendly cider before things turn a bit more autumnal or even wintry around here.

And I have just the cider for it! Tonight I'm reviewing Blake's Hard Cider Company's El Chavo. I cannot forget to say that they sent me a six pack of this intriguing cider and a bottle of something that I look forward to tasting once the snow is on the ground.

Before I introduce El Chavo, we should learn a little bit more about Blake's Hard Cider Company. This is an orchard based cider company and everything happens on the farm in
Armada, Michigan. You can visit their ciderhouse which has food and wine in addition to hard cider.
 
You can find lots of interesting fact tidbits on their website: 45,600 apple trees in their orchard, 19 kinds of hard cider! Cute videos with history, verve, and vintage flair. Even a jokingly patriotic bit. I enjoy their fresh and immediate aesthetics that verge on hipster irony without ever losing a sense good taste. I love the beards, guys. Don't lose them. We'll need you when we make the Awesome Beards of Hard Cider Calendar someday! (Although the amount of destruction in the 2015 State of Cider Address gave my cider loving heart palpitations!)

Find the videos and learn about many of their ciders here:
http://www.blakeshardcider.com

You can also find out more up to the moment news and info on the the Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/blakeshardciderco

To start with, in Spanish, El Chavo means the kid. I wonder what that means for this cider?

Here's how Blake's introduces it, "We like spicing things up. That’s why we put dimmers on the lights in our Cider House. And it’s why we created this sweet, heated blend of habanero pepper, mango and out famous Blake’s apples, Experience a hard cider that’s really, honestly, truly like no other. Experience El Chavo." 6.5% ABV.

Appearance: brilliant, lots of bubble activity, lemon color

When I poured from the can into a jar, this cider formed a quick mousse that did not stay. The El Chavo's color looks like the flesh of a perfect Meyer lemon. I could read thought it easily.

Aromas: stone, peach, mango

The stone and fruit notes approach subtly. Once I took a big sniff it made my nose all tingly; I think this hints at spice to come. Lot of interesting details here, but the smells don't leap out. Drinking straight the can, I think they'd be harder to find.

Dryness/sweetness: semi-sweet

The El Chavo strikes me as far too complex and multifaceted to easily reduce to this measure. Nonetheless when pressed, i'd describe it as semi-sweet. The sweetness is tropical and fruity but never appears without spice.

Flavors and drinking experience: peach, pineapple, spicy, warm, complex

The first edge is bittersweet. There's a lot of fruit in here while the cider is on the tongue: peach, pineapple, and mango. I actually taste fruity veggie pepper flavor as well as the spice of the Habanero. It really tastes in stages. The funny thing is most of the complexity arrives in the finish. After I swallow, three distinct tastes parade across my perceptions. First a spicy kick that swifly changes into a round fruity note and on the exhale warmth. A bit smoky as well. This means taht a big gulp and small sip are wildly different experiences.It actually reminded both my husband and myself of mango salsa. Yum!

The description reinforces the identity of this cider as unique and I'd totally agree. But what's more important to me, and I think to many cider drinkers, is that it is good and enjoyable as well as interesting and unique. There are a million ways to make previously unheard of ciders, the key has to remain in making them delicious.
 
Back to thinking about the El Chavo; the spiciness is very round and full rather than burning and spiky. That's key to enjoyability for me.

I enjoyed one of these with pineapple pizza and my new TV indulgence: Jane the Virgin. A week ago, I had one with homemade burritos on my screen porch. It worked tremendously both times. If you have even one day of nice weather left, give this a try with something hearty and cheesy to eat.