Very Perry May Pt 5: E. Z. Orchards, Original Sin, and Blake's

Good morning, cider, (or should I say perry?) fans! Are you getting tired of my pear based explorations yet? I'm certainly not. I think that each week I've been covering flavors and styles that I've never tasted before, and this week is no exception. Welcome to the last week of Very Perry May.

E.Z. Orchards Poire

My only previous review of something by E. Z. Orchards is their 2011 Willamette Valley Cidre: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/10/cider-review-e-z-orchards-williamette.html

You can visit the website http://www.ezorchards.com/

Official Description: "EZ Orchards Poire is a blend of Forelle, Comice, and Bosc pears grown in our orchard. The complex structure of this winter pear blend is enhanced by a slow, cold ferment. Semi-dry with a natural effervescent finish. Serve chilled in a stemmed glass, tall cordial, or pilsner glass." 5.9% ABV

Appearance: hazy, candied lemon peel color, lots and lots of bubbles

You can hear it ambiently sizzling in effervescence.

Aroma: cooked fruit, lemon, farmy

The Poire reminds me immediately of French ciders and perries in its farmy yet fruity aromas. The keeving fermentation process can create soe reductive notes in the aromas like fallen leaves, warm wet wood, and farmy scents. This is rather like that whole style.

Sweetness/dryness: semi-dry

Sweet and distinctly like fermented fruit sweetness, nothing artificial, nor like table fruit.

Flavors and drinking experience: leather, cooked fruit, bubbles

The first impression I get from drinking the Poire comes from the fun bubbles that pop, practically bursting into your nose

This perry is very cold and clean tasting, which wasn't necessarily what I was expecting. The flavor has a round bubble-ness; plenty fruity with a little sweetness that quickly gives way and winds up a bit dryer than most perries. I get some tannins and medium low acid the Poire. There's lots of leather and cooked fruit in the taste, and maybe a little oxidation. The flavors themselves owe a lot to the fermentation—you can really taste the process here. Definitely light and low-alcohol. Works nicely in big sips. This perry is the real deal and I absolutely love it, even though usually I'd not go for something sweet.

Original Sin Pear

There's plenty of information on the Original Sine website: http://origsin.com
Here's a list of my preview reviews of Original Sin ciders.

I reviewed their flagship cider in one of Ithaca's most missed bars, the Chapterhouse Pub: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2014/02/cider-review-original-sin-hard-ciders.html

In the first year of the blog, I got to try a bottle of the Elderberry: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/09/cider-review-original-sin-elderberry.html

And my favorite, the Original Sin Extra Dry: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/02/cider-review-original-sin-extra-dry-in.html

And undoubtedly their most interesting, the Newtown Pippin: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/02/cider-review-newtown-pippin.html

Official description: "Original Sin Pear Cider was developed in line with the company’s mission to produce traditional cider leaving out artificial flavors and additives. Original Sin Pear is light and refreshing with a clean, dry finish."


This ABV at 4.8% is a bit on the low side. Something to note is that this is a cider backsweetened with pear juice rather than a true perry. The Process and Taste section of the page says,"Two parts pear, one part magic. A Dry cider fermented with champagne yeast"

Appearance: transparent, straw, bubbly

I'd call the Original Sin Pear transparent rather than brilliant. Its easy to see a fair number of bubbles in the glass. The color strikes me as medium straw. If anything this yellow is a bit more emphatic and cool in tone than many.

Aromas: pear, stone, candy

This pear cider smells like rock candy: the sort I could only buy at state park lodges or other special unusual places. It also smells very much like fresh pear, but somehow more intense. Lastly, I do get some dusty stony notes that definitely happen more often with cider than perry.

Sweetness/dryness: semi-sweet to sweet

I'd call this cider sweet, but I think some folks would consider it more a semi-sweet. The quality of the sweetness is very crystalline and straightforward.

Flavors and drinking experience: tropical fruit, pear, pineapple

I found this a nice level of bubble, but one of my co-tasters wanted yet more. Usually that's my refrain, but not this time. The acidity is medium-high but not too sharp or tart.

What really makes the impression for this pear cider is tropical fruit. I can taste pineapple, mango, banana, a very tiki-esque medley of tropical notes. There's also some bright pink bubblegum flavors floating around. 

This pear cider has no tannins, no edge of bitterness, just lots of fun approachable fruit. Its a bit sweet for me, personally, but when I shared with a couple of co-tasters the response was tremendously positive. The pear plus apple combo and the bright tropical flavors elicited many oohs and ahhs! We had the Original Sin Pear with pizza and brainstorming, two of my favorite things.

Blake's Hard Cider Grizzly Pear

I'm finishing up with my review with something a little outside of the box, Blake's Hard Cider's Grizzly Pear; this Michigan pear cider is pear, prickly pear cactus, and elderflower.

You can find out all about the company and their beverages on the website: http://www.blakeshardcider.com

This is my third review of a cider by Blake's, please find my previous pleasant encounters below.

Their El Chavo with pepper and mango: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/11/cider-review-blakes-hard-cider-companys.html

And The Tonic which features cucumber and ginger: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/03/cider-review-blakes-hard-cider-companys.html

The official description reads, "Our first pear hard cider, Grizzly melds soft notes of pear & prickly pear cactus balanced with a sharp apple finish with a hint of elderflower. No bears were harmed in the making of this product." The ABV is listed online as 5%.

Appearance: hazy, corn kernel yellow, lots of bubbles

Apologies that I don't have a more glamorous photo of this pear cider, but this is how I tasted it. I was lucky enough to be travelling to Louisville and I found out that a Liquor Barn had it on draft, so I stopped by to taste it. The appearance was hazy, corn kernel yellow, lots of visible bubbles.

Aroma: tropical fruit

There wasn't a very strong aroma, but everything I could smell was all about tropical fruits. 

Sweetness/dryness: semi sweet

This is a semi-sweet pear cider and all of the sweetness is very fruity and easy going.

Flavors and drinking experience: Extremely tropical, juicy, medium acid

This pear cider has a lot of unusual tropical fruit flavor; it reminds me of mango, pineapple and banana. The Grizzly bear also reminded me of of beverages with  prickly pear cactus. The other flavor elements I noticed were a strong floral element with a backbone that tasted like peach to me.

Definitely different and fun.

Cider Review: Angry Orchard's Spiced Apple

Last posting day, March was roaring into town and since then we've been warmed by the sun, drenched, snow covered, and blow dried. I think of Spring as a season of worry and  hard work tempered by the excitement of change and glimpses of gentleness. I feel like we've already covered that in a week.

There's a nice upside to crazy weather like this if you're a cider lover: beyond even just a good reason to spend evenings indoors with a glass of something delicious. Cider can be a strongly seasonal beverage I've talked about this before on the blog. But getting all the seasons in a week means having very different ciders in closer proximity than usually makes sense. 

It snowed twice unexpectedly in the past week, so I went back to my store of spiced ciders. Tonight I'm sharing the the most recent spiced cider a company has shared with me: Angry Orchard's Spiced Apple. This is one that can found in their Winter Orchard Sampler Variety 12-Pack, but folks were kind enough to send me one in the mail. Thanks! 

Angry Orchard has been developing in multiple directions as the cider market is maturing and changing. They've not grown in 2016 the way they did in previous years, but this is still a company that's making and selling cider on a truly massive scale. Today's review is part of push for more seasonal variety in their 12 ounce bottles. The other direction of change is higher end ciders coming out of their research and development facility in Walden, New York. 

As always, you can find out tons more at Angry Orchard's website: http://www.angryorchard.com/

I have lots of previous reviews of Angry Orchard ciders. I'm only going to share a few of my favorites because there are too many to link back to all of them.

The Stone Dry is a nice reliable cider that's notably drier than most of their offerings: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/10/cider-review-angry-orchard-stone-dry.html

Walden Hollow from the Research and Development facility: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/09/cider-review-angry-orchards-walden.html

Knotty Pear which is a blended perry and cider: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/06/cider-review-angry-orchards-knotty-pear.html

Back in 2014, I shared a roundup review of a few of their ciders Strawman, The Muse, and Traditional Dry: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2014/05/roundup-of-angry-orchard-reviews.html

These new releases are designed for winter: Tapped Maple and Spiced Apple. You can find these ciders in the Winter Orchard Sampler Variety 12-Pack which is being sold only through April 2017. Today, I'm sharing my thoughts on the spiced apple; you'll see the Tapped Maple in the coming weeks. 

Angry Orchard's official description says this about it.

Angry Orchard Spiced Apple was Inspired by the spices in this classic dessert and connection to the American cider making tradition. This hard cider achieves its balanced profile by combining bright and festive warming spices and a blend of culinary and bittersweet apples. This new limited release style is perfect for evenings with friends and family during the last months of winter.

The coolest part of the description is a list of apples used in this cider: "Braeburn, Fuji, Granny Smith, and Gala French." All dessert apples and relatively familiar varieties that often make for aromatic, mildly high acid ciders without much tannic presence. Though the description hints at cider apples. The ABV is listed at 5%.

Alrighty, on to the cider!

Appearance: brilliant, dark red-orange

There's no denying that this is a pretty cider with a lot of color. Its brilliant and a deep reddish orange. I don't see much bubble.

Aromas: spicy, sweet, apple 

The Spiced Apple smells very much as the name would suggest of spices and apples. The spices are the classic baking or mulling spices with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and clove. It smells sweet.

Sweetness/dryness: sweet.

This is a sweet cider. This makes some sense for a cider that uses dessert spices. There's plenty more going on than just sweetness, but it is there. Don't look here for dry.

Flavors and drinking experience: mellow, baked goods, lactic acid, balanced

Initial taste is sweet followed by one half-hint of bitter and a half-hint of sour. It reminds me of lactic acid. The more sips I take, the more a mellow cinnamon dough impression creeps forward. I keep thinking of a number of pleasant autumnal desserts, cinnamon rolls, apple muffins, etc.

Everything spicy happens in the middle of each drink of this cider. Now that I'm thinking more precisely, it reminds me of Apple Stack Cake, which for me is a special family recipe handed down more than three generations. Definitely notes of brown sugar But there's also some tannin, I can taste that they are now using some cider apples- maybe what I was interpreting as Gala french is Gala apples and a blend of french cider apples. It's not clear. 

The spice isn't hot. it reminds me of apple pie ice cream actually. There's enough acidity to keep things in check but acidity isn't the star of the show. I'd say the star is the long sweet  finish that just keeps rolling across the palate again and again.

 So, March, what's next? Will it be time for the Tapped Maple this week or will I get some time for springy ciders before we visit winter again?

Cider Review: St. Ives Cider Clodgy

Though we are have rather gloriously unseasonable weather, this is only the very beginning of March. I'm longing for spring, sunshine, and flowers, so I decided to open up a cider from my vacation last may to Cornwall. Glorious and sunny England doesn't sound like the stereotype, but we had days of it walking the South West Coast Path.

So, I decided to open up my sole bottle of St. Ives Cider from Cornwall. I chose their Clodgy because its unfiltered and I don't get access to very many unfiltered ciders in my region.

St. Ives is the cider project of David and Kate Berwick, taking his wine background and, according to the website, traditional cider-making techniques. St. Ives makes three ciders and a perry. This is my first review and first taste of anything by St. Ives Cider.

You can visit their website at: http://stivescider.co.uk/

Clodgy – A traditional, dry, still Farmhouse style cider. 6.5% abv / 500ml 

The only difference is we use a small amount of dessert apple juice in the blend to lower the acidity and make a slightly smoother flavour. 

You will find some sediment will drop to the bottom of the bottle if stored. This is completely natural and can be poured off gently or shaken before serving to give a yeastier taste. 

Clodgy Bag in Box – Clodgy is also available in 20 Litre Bag in box. It is exactly the same cider as the bottled version but put into bags rather than bottles. It has been pasteurized to ensure no fermentation will occur in the bag. 6.5% abv / 20l

Appearance: hazy, medium apricot color

I kept turning the name of the cider into what I expected it to look like in the glass all the while it waited in my cellar. But it doesn't look Clodgy, it simply looks hazy in a way that my phone doesn't fully capture. I could tell that this cider is absolutely still just by looking at it. The color is a bit warmer than many cider  colors but on the lighter more golden/apricot side for a UK cider.

Aromas: lemon, cotton fluff, funky pears

The Clodgy smells far more outside of the ordinary than it looks!  The first and most prominent note is lemon, followed by cotton fluff. Secondarily I smell some acedification (which to me smells like a fruit vinegar) and some overripe pears, followed faintly by olive, and something that reminds me of a fruity shampoo. Such an interesting carnival of aromas! I have a feeling that is is going to bring the funk! 

Sweetness/dryness: off dry 

The bottle and website both refer to using back sweeting with fresh juice to bring this cider into medium territory in terms of sweetness. In the US we use semi-dry and and semi-sweet to describe that medium range, but the Clodgy tastes just  barely off dry. This is the rare cider that tastes more dry than the promotional language led me to expect.

Flavors and drinking experience: aggressively low acid, medium tannins, very green flavors

The Clodgy cider tastes so actively basic and not acidic that its almost shocking to my palate. Wow, this is really different. Though the cider is almost 100% still, I do get a tiny burst of effervescence when it hits my tongue. The tannins do not make as big as an impression as I rather expected; they remain in medium levels.  

In terms of flavor notes, this cider offers up a huge range of them raw green apple, salty, hints of underripe banana and blueberries. The overall impression gives a sprawling sensation; this is a big cider rather than an intense one. There are also background notes of metal and soap. That underripe banana is puckering and reminds me how much this cider is not American.  All of these differences are almost certainly a result of totally different apples, rather than a substantially different fermentation process, especially as the website describes back-sweetened with unfermented apple juice. That's fairly common here. 

On a whim, seeing that it was still, my husband and I heated a glass of the Clodgy up. Lo and behold, this totally worked! The medium-ness of dry notes really comes out in a pleasant stony way.

I had mine with an Oscar nominated film and some really fabulous chocolate cookies (thanks to my Sister-in-Law) but that's not necessarily how I would recommend the cider now that I've tasted it a bit. Perhaps have this with a savory bread pudding and some cheese.

Cider Review: New Day Craft's Johnny Chapman (Hard Apple Cider Sweetened with Sorghum)

It feels a little strange to be writing for the future like this, though I know that nearly all bloggers do it. So, when this goes live, I'll be in England with my fantastic husband Alex soon to meet up with his wonderful mom Ginny. The plan is to explore a bit of cider tourism followed by many days of hiking in Cornwall. But, I don't want my faithful readers to forget about cider while I'm gone, so I've left a few posts to take care of the blog in my absence. Now all I have to do is cross my fingers to avoid technical difficulties!

New Day Craft is a small company that makes cider and mead and operates a taproom in Indianapolis. Here's a link to their website: http://newdaycraft.com

 Here's how the company describes itself on the about page of its site: "New Day Craft specializes in craft mead and hard cider. Light, refreshing and full of flavor, our products are easily enjoyed. New Day Craft is the brainchild of Founders Brett Canaday and Tia Agnew. Starting in 2006, they have grown their business to provide the exciting, and tasty, line of beverages available on tap and in bottle today."

A dear friend of mine passed through this area and shared with me a bottle of Johnny Chapman Sorgum Cider by New Day Craft a few months ago. Many thanks to Kristen for the cider and for giving me access to a cider maker I've still never seen on store shelves.

 
Just as an aside, I want to make sure everybody reading know Johnny Chapman is also known as Johnny Appleseed. He is a hero to America's cider making and orcharding communities, but he was a lot weirder and more complicated than the cartoon image most of learned about as children. I like this article on him and his legacy: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/real-johnny-appleseed-brought-applesand-booze-american-frontier-180953263/?no-ist

That said, I like the idea of playing into the rural historical roots of Johnny Chapman by using sorghum as a backsweetener. I have no idea how that will taste, but I am ever so curious. This is all of the information I was able to find on New Day's website about this particular cider,"Johnny Chapman: Fill $12/Glass $5/Bottle $6.99, 4.5% Sugar, 6% ABV:  Rich hard apple cider sweetened with sorghum; caramel and malt notes with a sweet cider finish."

 Appearance: Intensely pumpkin orange, brilliant, so many visible bubbles

This deep coppery pumpkin color is an immediate signal that there is something unusual going on in this cider. I can see enough bubbles and even a lacey mousse such that I anticipate a whole lot of sparkle in the Johnny Chapman.

Aromas: malt, rich, sweet, dusty

The Johnny Chapman smells malty. Somehow that aroma also comes across as both dusty and rich and gives me a few hints to expect some sweetness in the beverage.


Sweetness/dryness: sweet

This has a fabulous balanced maple, caramel, sorghum sweetness that is anything but overpowering. Instead it is drinkable without being boring.

Flavors and drinking experience: malty, tangerine, strong carbonation, long finish

Wow! I love how Mapley and malty this cider tastes. It seems straightforward but not simple, in fact some of the richness almost crosses over into being both sweet and savory. In terms of fruit, I actually
get notes of tangerine or the sweeter sides of citrus. The low ABV is reflected in how not boozy this tastes. All of the flavors appear very integrated. It comes across as a well balanced sweet cider with a long narrow finish with lingering aromas of caramel.

The sorghum does give the cider a certain molasses old timey vibe that is consistent between presentation and taste. It is no secret that I'm more than a little bit fond of ciders that are strongly carbonated. This cider makes no exception.  So enjoyable.

I paired this with a light vegetable soup: one with more tomatoes, carrots, and celery, in a thin italian-esque tomato basil broth and slices of Colby and homemade wheat bread. The full-bodiedness of this cider made it perfect for a lighter spring soup while the sweetness brought out the sweetness in my homemade bread. I could also see having this with fried catfish and beans and rice to use the sorghum sweetness to balance out some spice. You could do a lot of different things with this cider; New Day Craft did something very right with their Johnny Chapman.

Cider Review: Angry Orchard's Hop'n Mad Apple

The past several cider reviews on my blog have all been from relatively small independent cideries, most of which have a real local focus on both their fruit sourcing and their sales. That's fine, but that doesn't cover the entirety of the cider scene. So, today I'm returning to one of the biggies. In fact, I'm reviewing the newest cider by the best-selling cider company in America, Angry Orchard.

I don't cover Angry Orchard very often. When I saw that Angry Orchard did two really interesting things in February, I wanted to cover both.

And just for those who haven't seen my previous reviews of Angry Orchard ciders, here they are:

http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2014/05/roundup-of-angry-orchard-reviews.html

http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/06/cider-review-angry-orchards-elderflower.html
First, they are perhaps the second cider to be offered for sale by an airline**. (I think. If I'm wrong, please let me know.) That's fabulous news as far as I am concerned. Being able to choose a cider at any place one can buy alcohol is really important for cider fans like me who really don't want a beer, cocktail, or wine. (That's not to say that I dislike all beer, all cocktails, and all wines. I don't. Some of each are a great, but mostly I'll drink cider or simply not drink.) You can read about this new development here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/angry-orchard-takes-flight-jetblue-brings-americas-number-one-hard-cider-on-board-300039261.html

The second is this; they made a hopped cider. I love hopped ciders. LOVE them. Angry Orchard calls theirs Hop'n Mad Apple. Here's what the bottle and label look like.

This is a link the Angry Orchard website has descriptions of all of their ciders, cider cocktails, food recipes involving their ciders, all sorts of goodies. http://angryorchard.com

If you want to check out what Angry Orchard says about their own Hop'n Mad Apple, "Our new hopped cider's bright apple sweetness is complemented by floral notes from the Strisselspalt hops and tropical notes from the Galaxy hops. All the hop goodness and none of the hop bitterness. Hop’N Mad Apple is available on draft in select cities and in 6-packs nationwide."

Because I don't know very much about hops, I looked up both of these varieties. Strisselspalt hops are from France and primarily used for aromas. Galaxy hops, on the other hand, come from Australia and can serve either for adding bitterness too a beverage or aroma. They are associated with notes of passionfruit, which sounds like the connection Angry Orchard is making in their mention of tropical notes. Real hop heads who wish to add to this information are encouraged to tell me more in the comments section. Seriously, share your knowledge.

Appearance:bubbly, brilliant, marigold

This color just looks like summery marigolds to me, but at this point I could be having winter hallucinations. Brilliant. The level of visible bubbles strikes me as decidedly above average.

Aromas: candy, cherries, apples

I don't smell a lot of the citrus and pine that I associate with hopped ciders. But this also doesn't smell like a typical Angry Orchard cider either, it doesn't have a bit of something bitter in the smell along with the fruitiness. We'll see how it tastes.

Sweetness/dryness: Sweet!

Whoa! I guess I should not be surprised. Every Angry Orchard cider I've tasted has been sweet. This is no exception.

Flavors and drinking experience: candy, caramel, fruit, interesting mouthfeel

This tastes first like apple and grape Skittles, or if we're being honest, green and purple Skittles. I can taste a cornucopia of drugstore candy. Additionally, I get the tiniest whiff of bitterness, but not discretely hops; it's a bit chemically. The first wave of flavor hits and recedes speedily. The Hop'n Mad is highly acidic, enough to activate the salivary glands with pleasant twinges. The finish is flat, sweet, and long. My favorite part is the hint of textured astringence, with a nice velvet mouthfeel.  This cider offers a medium high level of carbonation. As I taste it again, it has a caramel note reminiscent of Dr. Pepper.  In a fast wave, one gets lots and lots of kinds of sweetness; to be fair, this is not a simple flavor—there's a lot going on—but it's all variations on sweet—plenty of cherry in particular.  The smell is 100% like the taste.  If you like Sprees or sour candy, you'll love this cider.

I had my Hop'n Mad Apple with a piece of raspberry pie and an episode of Call the Midwife. All while covered in quilts and cats. Pure winter indulgence, I admit it. But Ithaca just had its coldest February on record and one evening of that month was improved by good British TV, reasonably good pie, great cats, and trying a very different take on a hopped cider. This is an easy start with low low levels of bitterness if you've never tried a hopped cider before and want to steer clear of anything bitter.

**I originally thought they were the first until Darlene Hayes of Turn Them All Into Cider (http://allintocider.com/) shared with me the fact that Ace Ciders started being served on some Alaska Air flights in 2014. Thanks for the new info!

Roundup of Angry Orchard Reviews: Strawman, The Muse, and Traditional Dry

I realize that I am not always an organized person. This leads to me having scattered bits of cider notes in my phone, in my husband's phone, and on every computer I ever approach. It is a problem, perhaps. Eh. Besides not being able to find what I want at the moment I want it, there is an upside. Sometimes I find sets of cider notes that I thought had been lost forever. That's the story of this post.

Dear friends of mine host dinner at their home most Thursday evenings. I frequently bring ciders and write up my notes there. Last Thursday I brought Angry Orchard's new Ciderhouse offering, The Muse. This was a very nice coincidence because someone else brought a six pack of the brand's Traditional Dry. I thought doing a double-header Angry Orchard post might be a good way to actually see what's going on with both of those ciders. So we did notes and pictures and several folks gave me their impressions. Then we all ate way too much delicious food: two vegetable based no pasta lasagnas, two meat lasagnas, and a vegan pesto with sun-dried tomatoes and walnuts. Then milkshakes made with local ice cream. And we do stuff like this every week and most weekends. It is a good thing.

Once I recovered from my food coma, I realized that I've really not covered Angry Orchard's offering very much in this blog. I don't drink them often, so they don't show up. This is a real oversight on my part because so many other folks drink Angry Orchard a lot. Depending on who you ask, Angry Orchard might sell the most cider in the United States these days. 

So this post aims to fix that. Here are three Angry Orchard reviews appearing together. I'll go in the order what I liked most to least.

#1. Angry Orchard Straw Man

This is the only Ciderhouse selection that I've liked enough to purchase more than once. Definitely my favorite. I'll let Angry Orchard explain what they were going for with this particular cider.

For centuries Farmhouse Cider making has been a tradition celebrated by farmers in the English and French countryside. Strawman combines a distinct blend of juices from traditional culinary and bittersweet apples, which is then aged on oak. The result is a full-flavored, complex, and balanced cider with wine-like characteristics, rounded out by apple and citrus notes. Its lingering, earthy finish is an homage to the origins of this unique cider. 10% ABV.

Appearance: coppery orange, foamy, hazy

In the glass, this cider looks deeply colorful like a brand new penny. It does create an unusual amount of foam when poured. Not brilliant but more hazy. It does look more like an english style cider, especially when compared with Angry Orchard's other ciders.

Aroma: boozy, surprisingly not fruity

The Strawman exudes a strongly alcoholic scent, but it is not fruit-forward. I get more dust and minerals than fruit. Maybe, I can smell a little pear and wine. There is definitely some straw and hay smells, but the cider does not smell farmy. Once the cider warms up a bit in my glass, fruit scents of overripe apple emerge, but that took some time.

Sweetness: Dry

Wow! Angry Orchard is capable of making a dry cider. I would never have guessed. What I find particularly fascinating is that the official product description does not place it on a dry to sweet scale. Pleasantly tart with some fruit that still remains dry.

Flavors and drinking experience: Medium tannic, high acidity, high carbonation, warm

My first impression is of the high  but not soda-like levels of carbonation. I like a lot of bubbles and this delivers almost more than enough. Strawman's very high alcohol content makes for a lingering warmth; it recalls a harder drink in its aftertaste. Though the cider is dry, it's mouthfeel is so coating and full as to be slightly cloying. I note an immediate aftertaste of wood which is where the medium level of tannins come out. There's a lot going on, but I like it.

#2. Angry Orchard Traditional Dry

One of Angry Orchard's "core ciders," the Traditional Dry is one of the most widely available ciders across the United States. I'm curious to see Angry Orchard's interpretation of both traditional and dry. I have my suspicions that I might disagree on one if not both. I found a few different descriptions on the Angry Orchard website, including: "This traditional English-style cider is bittersweet and slightly spicy with a bright apple aroma and a dryness that makes you pucker." 

These online tasting notes give a bit more information, "Our Traditional Dry cider is made in the style of English draft ciders. This cider is bittersweet and slightly spicy with a bright apple aroma. It is a leaner cider with a dry finish and without any juice added to impart extra sweetness." The cider has a more standard ABV of 5.5 and the color is listed as amber. I have my doubts about the color description considering almost any cider or beer coincides with one shade or another of amber, but I'm heartened to see some suggested food pairings; they are:

• Sweet and sour chicken or pork
• Grilled bluefish and scallops
• Seafood Alfredo
• Roast chicken with mushroom cream sauce

Now let's actually try the Traditional Dry.

Appearance: deep caramel color, brilliant, no visible bubbles

Like the Strawman, Angry Orchard's Traditional dry has a darker color than most ciders. this one looks a bit less warm and orange and more rich caramel brown. No haziness here, just brilliant clear cider with almost no visible bubbles.

Aromas: Not a lot of smell, a bit bready and dusty.

This cider does not offer much in the way of aroma. I poured half of the bottle into a wine glass in an attempt to open up the aromas and make them more perceivable, but I didn't get much more. When I try I can smell some yeasty bready notes and similar hints of dust and must like I get from the Strawman. Not much going on.

Dryness: Semi-dry

Though I could not smell much sweetness on the nose, this cider is not truly dry. I cannot say that I am surprised; many many many ciders sell themselves as dryer than they taste. This isn't completely sweet either though and the sweetness I get is a fresh fruit sweetness. More on that in the flavors section.

Flavors and drinking experience: distinct tastes not melding, grapes and fruit, lingering sweetness

To my tastebuds, The Traditional Dry divides into a thin fruity layer of taste and a much larger watery one. This cider falls right in the midle of what I am reviewing to day in terms of sweetness; it tastes drier that the Muse but still not dry. I taste plenty of grapes, either juicy white or concord depending on who you trust. Everyone tasting this cider got grape notes but we did not agree on the details. The finish is mostly clean but sweetness lingers. I can definitely tastes the added citric acid. Overall, it tastes cleaner and colder than either the Muse or the Strawman; I think the lower ABV of 5.5% versus Muse's 7.7% and Strawman's 10%.


#3. Angry Orchard's The Muse

This was the cider that I felt compelled to share with my friends at dinner, and yet this is the cider that comes in last in my group of three. I do love the bottle though. This is not a bad cider, it just goes for a number of goals that aren't my favorites. Here's what Angry Orchard has to say about this one.

Inspired by the festive nature of slightly sweet demi-sec champagnes and sparkling wines, The Muse is a bubbly, effervescent cider made from traditional culinary and bittersweet apples and aged on French oak. The cider is sweet upfront with a juicy apple aroma and bright acidity, and slightly drying on the finish with a lingering sweet apple note. The French oak adds a subtle wood impression, imparting notes of clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and hints of vanilla. 7.7% ABV

Appearance: brilliant, apricot, lot of active visible bubbles

This was the lightest of the three reviewed here, and still this is a more pronounced color than many ciders. I see this color as a rich apricot. You can see all of the motion of the bubbles in this shot; it looks a bit champagne like in that regard. This is also an extremely brilliant cider. I would have no trouble reading text right through it.

Aromas: oak, sweet, sour, fruit

Angry Orchard's Muse definitely has more going on in the aroma department than their other ciders. I cannot quite tell how these notes of sweetness, sourness, fruit and oak will translate into taste, but I do expect some depth of flavor and sweetness.

Dryness: Uncomplicatedl sweet

This is where the french cider influence is coming in. Many Normandy ciders have some real sweetness to them but also complexity, woodiness, and farminess. Angry Orchard imitated the level of carbonation and aroma but didn't really obtain the necessary complexity to give the cider enough identity.

Flavors and drinking experience: green apple candy, minerals, lychee

My biggest disappointment with this cider is that the flavor goes a little candyish at the midpalate. The Muse drinks pleasantly, a little French, very nice minerals, not outweighed by its caramel flavor. In terms of fruit, I mostly taste lychee rather than apple. The Muse has been carbonated brightly with tons of big bubbles making it a little soda-esque. The phrase on the bottle "Carbonated apple wine" should have led me to expect that, but I was so distracted by the mention of oak that I completely passed it up.

There you have it folks, I've been trying a few Angry Orchard ciders here and there, but now I've organized my thoughts and put them together. If you want to go back to my Angry Orchard Elderflower review from last year, you can find it here: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/06/cider-review-angry-orchards-elderflower.html

What do you think? Should I track down their other flavors? Does the combination format work?

Cider Review: Bantam Cider's Wunderkind

To celebrate my return from lovely, warm, comfortable Florida, I'm reviewing my very first Bantam Cider. You can check out their website here: http://www.bantamcider.com. It has a beautifully simple design and lots of excellent information. The company operates out of Cambridge, Massachussetts where they share some equipment with a small winery: a good practice for a young company.This is how Bantam describes its own identity as a cider company:

Bantam Cider was born from a proud family tradition of
winemaking and a desire to be part of a creative process
rooted in the local community.

We were inspired to do something special, to create a truly unique and
modern line of products that would reshape the way people experience
cider. We source our apples from local orchards and create and trial
cider concepts at our small lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. By shar-
ing capacity with a regional winery, we are able to scale up production
to meet demand. This allows us to grow our business while maintain-
ing flexibility and a compact footprint.

We are a small enterprise in a world of big brands. While we don’t have
a big budget, we do have big ambitions and hope to challenge conven-
tional thinking about what cider should be.

We are committed to making creative and distinctive crafted cider using fresh pressed apples and high-quality,
all-natural ingredients. 

These are some pretty admirable (and lofty) goals. I'm curious about how their focus on innovation and experimentation will translate to taste. I like a good traditional cider in many different styles, so we'll see what breaking tradition tastes like.

Bantam makes a few different ciders. My wonderful brother-in-law picked the Wunderkind up for me during a family visit. He chose just the right one because this is their first cider, which is always a grand place to begin. The bottle didn't give me very much information, but when I looked up the Wunderkind online, I found much more. Here it is:

We are proud to introduce our first cider, Wunderkind.
Bantam's maiden voyage is named in honor of one of
the greatest modern adventurers, Amelia Earhart. She
was bold and courageous and never settled for any-
thing less than achieving the extraordinary. It is her
fearless spirit and sense of adventure that inspires
our own quest.

Wunderkind is bright and crisp and gently lingers on
the palate. It is made from a blend of local apples,
slowly fermented to capture subtle esters, and del-
icately balanced with a hint of flower-blossom honey.
It is the result of countless test batches on dozens of
apple varieties and yeast strains to arrive at just the
right combination of flavors, aroma and body.

Wunderkind isn't simply a new twist on a familiar
theme, it's a new story altogether.

Still curious about what they mean about a new story. Let's see.

Appearance: White, very pale, super clear

Bantam's Wunderkind just shines in this big gorgeous glass my family let me borrow. Obvious brilliant. The color looks nearly white, almost light green. The bubbles look like champagne bubbles in that they are so very active and fine. I wish I'd taken more time for photos, but getting photos and tasting notes while enjoying cider and family at the same time isn't actually as easy as I'd like it to be.

Aromas: Honey

I can smell just oodles of honey. Secondarily, the Wunderkind wafts off notes white wine, pear, and vanilla. It doesn't not smell very much like apple. Perhaps this is the innovation to talked up in Bantam's promotional copy. It smells back sweetened, which means that the cider was likely fermented to dryness and then sweetened after fermentation to taste. This is a very common technique for cidermakers producing on any scale. Smells lovely but different.

Sweetness: Sweet

The taste matches the smell in that I can definitely taste some significant back sweetening with honey on the finish. That really affects the character of the sweetness and the cider.

Flavors and Drinking Experience: sophisticated even while being sweet, creamy, and approachable

At first the Wunderkind tastes sweet, then it blooms into a creamy floral mid palate. Next, I get spices  and very easygoing, fleeting honey-vanilla on finish. What really sets the Wunderkind apart is that it isn't strongly fruit forward even while having plenty of flavor and sweetness. I experience this cider primarily as something light, sophisticated, and pleasant. It goes well with any number of desserts, and since I was visiting family I got to try it with several. I enjoyed it most with almond cookies. The  tiny bubbles seem to occur naturally and add wonderful texture and lightness.  The Wunderkind comes across as bright but not super acidic, very low in tannins, and very friendly.

I'd definitely bring this cider to party. It seems meant for light conversation and little desserts. I'm curious to try Bantam's other offerings. This one really worked for me despite not tasting very much like my usual favorites. Maybe they are achieving exactly what they were talking about in terms of breaking tradition?