Cider Reviews: Woodchuck Ciders' Bubbly Rose & Awestruck Cider's Hometown Homicider + NYC Cider Week

October starts getting dark and darker and darker still. But with Halloween, we balance out all things dark and scary with plenty that’s sweet and fun. So, in honor of the sweet side of the season, I want to review two fun semi-sweet or sweet seasonal pics! Hopefully that’s not too scary for the cider purists out there! ; ) I promise I’ll be back next month with some love for ya!

I’m excited to finish up the month with one last Halloween pick for the year, Awestruck Cider’s Hometown Homicider! When we get there, don’t forget to check out the minimal yet totally evocative label! But to begin with a semi-sweet  look back to summer with Woodchuck Ciders’ Bubbly Rosé. This cider is all dressed up in pink and ready for a party!

I’ve reviewed a number of Woodchuck’s ciders over the year’s of the this blog. Here are just a smattering of the more recent reviews. 

I still miss Woodchuck’s June and Juice: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/10/cider-review-woodchucks-june-and-juice.html

There are a couple different versions of the Local Nectar: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/07/cider-review-woodchucks-local-nectar.html

I reviewed the Pear Ginger as part of Very Perry May this year: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/05/very-perry-may-review-of-woodchucks.html

And I also liked their pepper-blended Hot Cha Cha Cha: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/03/cider-review-woodchucks-hot-cha-cha-cha.html

You can read all about Woodchuck’s ciders and events online: http://www.woodchuck.com

Woodchuck Bubbly Rosé

The official description is relatively short, “A bubbly, fruit-forward blush cider made with a blend of red apples delivering a crisp mouth feel” so i want to include a few quotes from the press release that I think give some helpful background. 

I really enjoyed how this quote contextualizes both of the new can releases, “with our newest offering, we are inspired by wine. Woodchuck is excited to introduce Bubbly Rosé and Bubbly Pearsecco ciders.” Woodchuck is framing these ciders in reference to popular wine styles. And here’s just a little more about the cider itself, “Taking a bite out of the Rosé wine category, which is experiencing meteoric growth, Woodchuck’s Bubbly Rosé is crafted using a blend of red apples and back sweetened with fresh juice to deliver a balanced cider with a pink hue and elevated carbonation for a sparkling crisp fruit forward taste.” The ABV for the Rosé is 6.1%

For full transparency, this is a sample that was shared with me for review. 

Appearance: deep pink, brilliant, some bubbles

This is one pretty cider! The clarity is just so brilliant. It shines. It’s a deep rich pink with a few visible buttles. They use purple carrots to enhance the color. 

Aromas: hibiscus, minerals, berries, dust

The Rosé smells very much like hibiscus. For those unfamiliar, all of the red tart notes in any of the classic zinger herbal teas. I also get notes of minerals in that dusty stony way. I can also smell blackberry notes.

Sweetness/dryness: semi-sweet to sweet

This will taste either like a semi-sweet or sweet cider depending on who tastes it. If you notice initial flavors more it will come across as semi-sweet, but if you are particular sensitive to how ciders finish, this will taste sweet as the finish is sweet.  

Flavors and drinking experience: bubbly, high acid, fruity

As promised and to my delight, the Rosé is very bubbly. That light and springy feeling is underscored by how high the acid levels are in this cider. Yowza! THought it’s mildly tart it isn’t at all sour. I enjoy the bubbly and tart qualities about it plenty. The cider tastes fruity like blackberries and strawberries. There’s also an almost a classic old-school bubblegum note, but that could just be my brain’s susceptibility. 


I find the Bubbly Rosé pleasant! I enjoyed mine with the first episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Though I enjoyed it and the show plenty, the cider is not of a style I usually prefer.  I like how the tastes attack, and I appreciate those bubbles. The finish is a touch on the sweet side for my personal preferences. Still if you like strawberries, blackberries, or crave one last hint of summer, this is a fine Rosé choice!


Awestruck Ciders' Hometown Homicider

Now for my last Halloween cider of the year and perhaps the most seasonally apt of them all. 
The Hometown Homicider is a cider with Pumpkin aged in a bourbon barrel Not only is this cider sweet and pumpkin-y it’s also just a bit scary with the name and label. Awestruck is based out of Sidney, New York. The company has been around since 2014. 

I have previously reviewed the Hibiscus Ginger: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/10/cider-review-awestruck-premium-hard.html This one even made my top ten in 2015!

You can visit Awestruck Ciders online: https://www.awestruckciders.com/

Check the FAQ, it’s hilarious: https://www.awestruckciders.com/faq.html

The Hometown Homicider’s Official description reads, “Lightly spiced, vanilla bean, ripe pumpkin, in a warming Bourbon Barrel finish” ABV of 6.8%.

Appearance: hazy, bubbly, caramel color

This just looks like when I make caramel. It’s the right color, hazy and bubbly. And if you’ve not made homemade caramel, I highly recommend trying it for popcorn or to pour over a spice cake. 

Aromas: brown sugar, cheesecake, caramel, melon and flowers

Holy autumnal dessert aromas! The Hometown Homicider smells strongly of brown sugar, caramel, and cheesecake. These are the aromas I expected but the cider also includes notes of melon and flowers. Neat!

Sweetness/dryness: Sweet!

This is a sweet cider. Do not expect anything different than rich desserty sweetness!

Flavors and drinking experience: rich, sweet, roasted fruit, caramel, medium acid

THe strongest impression I get when I drink this cider is how rich and very flavorful it is.

The Homicider has Medium acidity, but all of the acids taste rounded out. I get the roasted pumpkin but more than that the pumpkin is melded with roasted apple, caramel, and brown sugar. It has a nice full body, probably because of that sweetness.

I enjoyed this cider with a simple meal, all the better to let the complexity and intensity of this cider shine through. It paired with cajun-spiced tilapia, steamed cauliflower, carrots, broccoli and brown rice. I thought the moderate spiciness of the fish was brought into excellent harmony by the sweetness of this cider.

Though it’s not a cider review, I cannot forget to talk about Cider WeekNew York City! It's coming up soon from November 2nd through 11th.

Read about it here: https://ciderweeknyc.com/nyc/

One of the most tempting events is the Lower East Cider Fest. There are a ton of fantastic cideries sharing samples and pairings in a beautiful historic market setting. Read all about it and buy tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lower-east-cider-fest-tickets-50910466576

Cider Review Winter Storm Stella Edition: Vermont Cider Co.'s Wassail

I thought spring was tiptoeing in last week, but Winter Storm Stella has certainly shifted my expectations! As I write, the storm is continuing to blow all around my house and all around the northeast region, and I am starting to hear comparisons to the Blizzard of '93. So, I thought it the perfect time to continue last week's trend and pick out another spiced cider to try. 

And in the name of transparency, I did receive this bottle of Vermont Cider Co.'s Wassail. for free. It arrived in November, so I'm glad to be getting to enjoy it on a perfect night for a warming spiced cider. My opinions are un-swayed by samples, but I do appreciate them. This one didn't even get to jump to the front of the review line, but I'm feeling all the more ready for it.

This is my second review of something by Vermont Cider Co. My first is their Addison, which I tried back in November. You can find that review here: 

http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/11/cider-review-vermont-cider-cos-addison.html

For now, since http://vermontciderco.com/ is a landing page that's still in development, you can see tons of lovely photos and get information from Vermont Cider Co.'s Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/VermontCiderCo/

I do have a description of the Wassail from the press release that came with my ciders, 

Wassail is inspired by the age-old tradition of celebrating with the orchards to ensure a good crop. Wassail begins with small batch hard cider infused with traditional mulling spices, including vanilla bean, ginger and cinnamon. The cider is then aged in rum barrels to produce a unique, rich cider that is ideal for the holidays. Like Addison, Wassail is made only from 100 percent fresh pressed Vermont and Northeastern apples. 6.9%ABV.

If any readers are unfamiliar with the term wassail, it is both the name of a beverage and an activity. The drink is a warm spiced cider and the activity is the ceremonial spilling and pouring of said beverage onto the roots of orchard trees in winter amidst caroling and asking for blessings on the trees. Its a wonderfully archaic and pagan way to to carouse on a winter's night. Just not on a blizzard night like tonight.

Appearance: bronze orange, brilliant, lots of visible bubbles

This cider looks amazingly dark and rich in my glass. The color is a harvest-y orange with tones of red and bronze. The photo shows how many bubbles observable once its been poured.

Aromas: bourbon vanilla, apple, cinammon, ginger

The cider smells boozy and desserty at once: a bit like real bourbon vanilla plus cinnamon. There's also plenty of apple notes going on, but they are like roasted apples dusted with powdered ginger. This is a complex set of aromas.

Sweetness/dryness: Sweet, but only just

Yes, I'll call this cider sweet, but its closer to a semi sweet than many other mulled ciders or many others sold in this format. The 12oz bottle tends to have more sweet offerings than some other sizes.

Flavors and drinking experience: ginger, vanilla, petillant, medium acidity, balanced

I am surprised that the Wassail is only mildly sparkling, perhaps to better connote the mulled-cider experience. This cider sings with ginger and cinnamon notes as well as vanilla velvety-ness. Its not bitter but also not fake tasting; all of the flavors offer great balance with only medium acidity.

Something about this cider reminds me of a cider version of a dark and stormy, perhaps the mild sparkle, rum caramel notes, plus the forefront of gingery notes. In any case, I'm into it. The Wassail is a very very pleasant cider. I'd rather have it than most Dark and Stormys or most  available mulled ciders, so two genuine compliments. I could be predisposed to like because I like many of the notes it offers in general. I'm a fiend for both ginger and vanilla, so it doesn't surprise me that I like them in the Wassail.

How to pair this cider? With warm blankets, good company, and Jeopardy. Its perfect. The blizzard is optional.

Cider Review: Vermont Cider Co.'s Addison

I got an exciting package in the mail recently from Vermont Cider Company; they are a new cider brand releasing two ciders only in the northeastern United States (at least for the moment). This is a new brand put out by the owners of Woodchuck and Wyders, but it appears to be aiming for a different style and segment.

Vermont Cider Co. appears to be more active on social media than on a self-owned website. This is certainly the direction of much of the internet these days, so feel free to check these folks out on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/VermontCiderCo/), Twitter(https://twitter.com/VermontCiderCo), and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/vermontciderco/?hl=en).

This is how Vermont Cider Co. introduces themselves on Facebook:

Crafted here in the Napa Valley of cider, we are pleased to introduce Vermont Cider Co., a cider brand that stands for everything we love about our home state – beautiful mountains, clean lakes, friendly people, and what we believe to be the best apples in the world. Enjoy our traditional ciders, crafted using only fresh pressed juice from Vermont and other Northern apple growing states.

Today I'm reviewing their first flagship cider, Addison. I found a few snippets of information about it, plenty to help set my own expectations for the beverage. Here's an introduction of sorts from the press release,"Named for Addison County, where it is produced, Addison is crafted from 100 percent fresh pressed juice sourced only from Vermont and Northeastern orchards."

Other facts from material about Addison include that it is a semi-dry cider, fermented slowly at relatively low temperatures, and it does not contain added sugar.

I asked for more information about the apple varieties that go into the Addison, and this is what I found out, "The juice is a combination of standard VT apple varieties including McIntosh, Cortland, Liberty, Paula Red, and Empire." These are United States dessert varietals many of which were grown at Sunrise Orchards, one of the places I stayed on my recent Cider Tour of Vermont.

Back in August, I documented all of that day's adventures in this post: https://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-great-vermont-cider-tour-day-2.html 

But now, for the cider itself.

Appearance: Bright gold, brilliant a few visible tiny bubbles

I can see some intense color, especially for cider from dessert fruit. There are plenty of tiny visible bubbles. It goes almost without saying that the cider is brilliant. It just shines.

Aromas: cooked fruit, pastry, stone, and dust, 

In addition to the cooked apples, dusty and pastry, I also smell some light notes of tropical fruit. These notes make the cider immediately appealing. Behind these more obvious smells, I can detect some more subtle notes of lemonade and shaved metal. Interesting!

Flavors and drinking experience: clean, caramel, tart, some tannins, and echoes of funk 

The first notes are a tiny bit astringent with a ghost of funk that quickly disappears. There are some good tannins, but I notice more zippy acidity. This cider offers up a clean finish with nice caramel and brown sugar as the last note s(and good ones to end on). Little sips bring out acidity more. I found the cider to have a subtle warming effect. The fruit notes I get are pineapple, lemon, and orange.

Generally, I'd say this cider exhibits a ripeness that so much cider can lack. Relatedly, the acidity doesn't taste green. The Addison is tremendously balanced and it tastes somehow golden. This mouthfeel reflects light carbonation; it's enough to have the feel linger as long as the taste. It isn't light and disappearing; there's body here.

Let's pair this cider. I had it with: curried butternut soup followed by homemade applesauce bread and cheddar cheese when I reviewed it. That was lovely. It went well the the gentle curry spice, the creaminess of coconut milk, and all the savoury and sweet notes that butternut brings to everything. I also paired this cider with feeding dear friends and talking about how we can work to make the world a kinder place. Most ciders go with that.

And don't forget #pickcider for Thanksgiving! Read about my picks here: https://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/11/pick-cider-for-thanksgiving-and-my.html

And if you're in the Ithaca area, we're doing #ciderMonday on 11/28! https://www.facebook.com/events/251802365234260/