Cider Reviews: Citizen Cider Currant Affair and Starcut Cider’s Pomace Cult

Summer has finally arrived, Cider Lovers. And we had our first whole weekend of warm bright summery weather. After such a rainy spring, this feels especially welcome! I spent part of my weekend touring around my region in search of food and beverage excitement, and the other part of my weekend was spent preparing my screened in porch for semi-outdoor relaxing. There’s nowhere quite like a screened in porch for a summer cider.

This week, let’s start with a limited release Citizen Cider that I picked up from them quite some time ago: Currant Affair. Citizen Cider makes Burlington, Vermont it’s home base. The company now sells it’s ciders in several states, but it certainly maintains its strong ties to Vermont. 

I’ve reviewed quite a few Citizen Ciders before. Here’s the rundown in no particular order. 

Sur Lies: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/02/cider-review-citizen-cellars-sur-lies.html

Barrel Aged: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/02/cider-review-citizen-ciders-barrel-aged.html

The Wood: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/07/cider-review-citizen-ciders-wood-and.htm

Companion Sour Cherry: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/06/pickcider-review-citizen-ciders.html

Tulsi: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/03/cider-review-fable-farms-greensboro-and.html

Wit’s Up, a Belgian beer inspired cider: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/04/cider-review-citizen-ciders-wits-up.html

Citizen Cider bRosé: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2014/02/cider-review-citizen-cider-brose.html

I visited Citizen Cider's production facility and tap room in Burlington: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-great-vermont-cider-tour-day-2.html

You can visit Citizen Cider online to learn more about the company including recent releases, special events, and more: https://www.citizencider.com/

Now on to Citizen Cider’s Currant Affair. Here’s the official description: 

Currently, Citizen Cider is having an affair with currants and cider. Currants like the cold, so do apples, and as it happens they pair well through fermentation. This rose cider is big, bright, fruity and exciting. Please have your own little affair and enjoy this cider. 100% locally sourced apple cider, black currants, sugar. Contains sulfites. Naturally gluten-free. 6.9% ABV

Appearance: tawny, brilliant, bubbly

What fun color. It’s almost hard to characterize because it has shades of red, brown, and orange but somehow seems more carnelian and gem like with a tawny hue.

Aromas: Raspberries, red fruits, powdered sugar, green wood

The Currant Affair smells like raspberries and red fruits. I get hints of aroma that remind me of sweetness particularly powdered sugar. There’s something else though; I can detect a flexible backbone of green wood.

Sweetness/dryness: Semi Dry

This cider is semi-dry, but that’s far from the most exciting thing about it. 

Flavors and drinking experience: super tart, tannic, bubbly, red fruit

The Currant Affair is tart and tannic! I get a strong salivary reaction the second I taste it.
Not all tannins are the same; these notably taste fruity and astringent. They come from the currants rather than from wood aging or apples. 

One of the other features of this cider I noticed first was how bubbly it is.  This high acid cider brings tons of red fruit and fun to every sip. I get some apple notes but it reminds me more of black currants, red raspberries, and super tart cherries. I enjoyed it very much, and I recommend pairing this cider with relaxing with your favorite animal companions and just quietly watching the world go by. Food wise, it goes well with a light and creamy pasta salad or some goat cheese and grapes.

Now, I want to rewind one last time to my trip to Grand Rapids this spring. While in Michigan, I judged for GLINTCAP, took my CCP Level 2 exam and volunteered for the Grand Rapids Cider Festival! It was a whirlwind trip. And one of the ciders I got taste at the Grand Rapids Cider Festival was Starcut Cider’s Pomace Cult. 

The name alone was intriguing, but once I saw that list of apples I had to try it. 

Starcut Ciders is  based in Bellaire, Michigan and was founded in 2014. 

I first reviewed Starcut Cider when I tried the Immortal Jelly: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/01/cider-review-starcut-immortal-jelly.html

More recently, I tasted Pulsar: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/04/cider-review-slyboro-cider-houses.html

You can learn more about Starcut Ciders at: http://starcutciders.com/

Here’s Starcut Cider’s Pomace Cult’s official description: 

Pomace Cult is a dry cider made with a blend of heritage apples. Made with Golden Russet, Brown Snout, Jonagold, Spitzenburg, Dabinett, Reine des Pommes, Yarlington Mill, Goldrush, Kingston Black, Reinette Zabergau, Calville Blanc, Roxbury Russet, Bramley’s Seedling, Harry Masters Jersey, Puget Spice, and Macoun apple varieties, this golden colored cider has an inviting aroma of tart fresh apples. Crisp and clean, this cider finishes dry with apple tartness. 7.7% ABV

Appearance: deep butternut color, hazy, bubbly

This cider brings such vibrant color to my glass. I’ll call the hue butternut squash. I couldn’t quite tell the clarity working with the cups we had at the festival, but I think it was just a bit hazy and bubbly.

Aromas: melon, apples, mild

Though the aromas aren’t strong, the Pomace Cult smells like freshly cut melon and apples.
Sweetness/dryness: Dry

This is a dry cider! I have no doubts about this. 

Flavors and drinking experience: astringent, high acid, bubbly

I had this cider after volunteering for a few fun and sunny hours, so I was ready for something with acidity and plenty of flavor. The Pomace Cult did not dissapoint. I wanted a cider that could wake up my mouth, and the super tart astringent cider did exactly that. I think my initial notes just said, “acid, like whoa!”

I would pair this cider with a hot soft pretzel and honey mustard or with an episode of Good Omens. 

Cider Review Slyboro Cider House's Hidden Star and Starcut's Pulsar

I am a broken record these days. When will it be spring? I want to see the sun. I apologize for my repetitions of this theme, but it’s as true as I can be to this year and the context of my cider tastings of late. I don’t think it’s entirely unreasonable to desire hints of green and warm in mid-April. Besides, complaining about the weather unites people. Feel free to add your own grousing in the comments.

As satisfying as it might be to fuss about the lack of spring, that’s not why I write. I write to share my thoughts about new ciders each week. I had a lot of fun choosing my ciders for today’s reviews. I picked two companies, Starcut Ciders and Slyboro Cider House that focus on local apples from two different prominent apple regions of the United States: northern Michigan and New York just on the other side of the Vermont border. Then I realized that both ciders have the word star in their names, so I’ll drink these two ciders and look to the heavens. Or something.

Slyboro Cider House’s Hidden Star

Of the two companies, I am more familiar with Slyboro Cider House. It operates out of a many generation orchard with many varieties of heritage and cider apples. You can visit their orchard and tasting room seasonally, as well as join in on pizza or paint and sip nights.

You can find some additional information and see some gorgeous photographs on the website: http://www.slyboro.com

Here’s a little list of my previous reviews of Slyboro Ciders.

Last year, I loved the Kingston Black: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/10/cider-review-slyboro-hard-ciders.html

I also used their Ice Cider in my Thanksgiving lineup last year: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/11/happy-to-pickcider-for-thanksgiving.html

In 2016, I had the pleasure of visiting the orchard and tasting room: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-great-vermont-cider-tour-day-3.html

Of course, I had to taste their Black Currant: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/07/cider-review-slyboros-black-currant.html

And when this blog was new, I first reviewed Slyboro’s Old Sin: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/06/cider-review-slyboro-ciders-old-sin.html

Here’s the official description for Hidden Star.

Hidden Star Semi - Dry Cider 

Discover the secret in the apple! Cider from historic, hearty Northern Spy apples blended with ecologically grown Liberty apples, brings a deeply rooted American tradition to the modern table for your enjoyment.

Made from apples grown at Hicks Orchard, a family farm in the Adirondack foothills and New York?s oldest U-Pick orchard. Clean, crisp, aromatic and refreshingly smooth, like a ripe apple just picked from a tree. Hidden Star pairs well with Summer barbeques,Autumn picnics,Winter festivities, and Spring frolics. Serve chilled. 8% alc/vol 2.5% residual sugar. 750ml

Appearance: brilliant, bubbly, straw

This cider has tantalizingly visible bubbles in a warm straw color. As the picture shows, it's brilliant with nary a hint of haze.

Aromas: tropical fruit, applesauce, peaches

Nice and fruity, Hidden star smells like tropical fruits including pineapple, homemade applesauce, and ripe peaches.

Sweetness/dryness: Semi-dry

This semi-dry cider has a little sweetness that reminds me most specifically of powdered sugar.

Flavors and drinking experience: citrus, spice, balanced

Though the smell was all fruit, the taste of Hidden Star shows even more complexity. I do get lots of citrus; if pressed, I’d describe it as crystallized citrus peel. There are some baking spice notes, like a gentle hint of cinnamon. The tropic fruit from the aroma isn’t entirely gone though as I still get suggestions of pineapple in the cider.

In terms of specific qualities, I’d call this medium acidity cider that exhibits great balance. The body of the cider is moderately full but very zesty. The Hidden Star offers up some subtle wildness, but it’s not funky. One of the things I notice most about the cider is how great the finish tastes.

I tend to love those Northern Spy heavy ciders, and this is no exception. Brilliant. I had it with homemade veggie and pineapple pizza and it was simply delicious.

Starcut Pulsar

This is my second review of a cider by Starcut. They are a relatively young company out of Northern Michigan, founded in 2014. The company is the cider arm of Short’s Brewing Company. They focus on using local Michigan apples and combining them with fruits and using inventive fermentation techniques.

My first Starcut Cider review was of the Immortal Jelly: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/01/cider-review-starcut-immortal-jelly.html

Read all about the ciders at http://starcutciders.com/

The Pulsar’s official description reads,

Pulsar is a semi-dry Modern Cider fermented with Michigan apples and Pinot Noir yeast. Golden in color, Pulsar has soft fruit and white wine-like aromas. Mildly acidic, this cider has a bright and tangy sweetness that dries the palate before a clean and crisp finish. 6.4% ABV

This is one of Starcut’s Flagship ciders. I need to take a second for this phrase, “has a bright and tangy sweetness that dries the palate.” I’m not sure I understand what Starcut is claiming, but dry is more often used as an opposite idea to sweet such that I’m not sure how sweetness can be drying. That said, I’m curious about this cider.

Appearance: brilliant, some visible bubbles, tea

The color reminds me of tea; it's brilliant. I see some visible bubbles in a ring at the top of the liquid and at the bottom of the glass.

Aromas: Pixy Stix, berries, dust, and apples

This is such an interesting set of aromas! The cider smells distinctly sweet and fruity, and when I break down those smells, the Pulsar’s aromas remind me most of apples, berries, and Pixy Stix!

Sweetness/dryness: Semi-dry

I thought it would be sweeter based on the aroma, but the cider is an approachable semi-dry.

Flavors and drinking experience: bright, tart, beery

I know that the Pulsar’s official description calls out wine yeast and vinous flavors, but I found a lot of beer characteristics in this cider. This semi-dry cider is medium acid, which translates to pleasantly tart and bright. It’s very bright in flavor. The fruitiest note when drinking the cider comes across as fresh green grapes.

Something about the cider tastes a little bit darker and yeastier than many ciders I know. It almost reminds me of a  briney English cider in a way, but its easy drinking and friendly. It has a light body with plenty of zip and moderate rather than intense carbonation.

I had this cider with a homemade black bean and corn burrito. Anchoring this light cider with a hearty meal smothered in chipotle sauce was a grand choice. The cider brightened the food and the burrito balanced this cider as well.

Cider Review: Starcut Immortal Jelly

January is here, but I'm thinking about fruits, berries, and sunshine, even though I know for the most part these things are months away. So, I am returning to a cider I tasted back in June while visiting dear friends. We walked outside with bare arms. Hence the un-cropped silly picture; it captures the casual pleasant moments of reviewing this cider.               

Based in Michigan, Starcut Ciders just celebrated their second birthday! This cidery is an enterprise that comes out of Short's Brewing Company. The folks wanted to take advantage of Michigan's bountiful apple crops, so started a cidery. This marks my first review for them.

You can find out plenty of additional information on Starcut's website: http://starcutciders.com/

Here's the company's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/starcutcidersmi/?fref=ts

I'm including Starcut Cider's description of their Immortal Jelly:

Immortal Jelly is a semi-dry hard cider inspired by Short’s Brewing Company’s Soft Parade. Immortal Jelly is fermented with Michigan apples and a blend of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. This cider is rose in color and has scents of tart fruit. Immortal Jelly’s complex blend of berry fruit flavors provides a big tart acidity up front before a semi-dry finish.

They list the ABV as a relatively low 5.1%.

Appearance: beyond cloudy, ruby, no visible bubbles

This cider's Color is opaque ruby, and as the picture shows its almost entirely opaque. Both of these facets separate the appearance of this cider from most. Its lovely and very different.

Aromas: Beer yeast, cranberries, lots of aroma, fresh apple.

What I notice most when smelling this cider is the beer like notes. Secondarily, I get aromas of tart berries like cranberries and blackberries.

Dryness/sweetness: semi-dry

One aspect of the Immortal Jelly that's particularly neat is that it's very fruity but not too sugary. I'd have no trouble calling it a semi-dry.

Flavors and drinking experience: beery, sour, raspberry

This cider has a SUPER beery first taste, after which the bubbles go crazy, and quickly it creates a wall of sour, raspberry flavor. This is a nice quick three-part experience. Beer, then the carbonation crests, then I taste berries. Lastly, I get a pleasant bready finish that reminds me of fresh sourdough.

This cider offers up high acids and low to middling range (but present) tannins. The flavors come across as bright but not aggressive in either sourness, beeriness, or fruitiness. The mouthfeel is decently full tasting. I can detect one very little note of funk, but nothing overly challenging. Rather, it reminds me of a lambic or a sour beer. A solid combination of very accessible while still being decidedly interesting enough to talk about. What a neat cider. I look forward to trying more things by Starcut Ciders as I see them.

And just for a last picture. This company has really neat labels and fabulous label art. Feast your eyes.

I didn't pair this with much aside from relaxing and friends. I think we had some tasty fruit and cheese on the table, but our focus was on conversation and being in the moment. Were I to pair the cider again, knowing its flavors, I think it would be ridculously fun as brunchy cider with a tofu scramble or some big wheaty waffles and butter. You could also be a bit more restrained and have the Immortal Jelly with a salmon under a creamy custardy sauce. Treat it like a dry raspberry lambic, and you will go in the right direction. But I really wouldn't change a thing about activities for the cider; enjoy it with people you care about. Relax into this interesting cider.