Cider Review: Wild State's Triple Berry

I always greet November with both sighs and smiles. No upcoming holiday can hold a candle to Halloween and all the spooky fun it entails, plus this is frequently the month when the weather around here goes from being cute and quaint to rather more glum. To the contrary, November is my birthday month. This year is a big one. And pairing ciders for the Thanksgiving holiday feast is always a treat, but it’s still a bit early to get excited for that. 

Today’s cider is my second sip from Wild State cider. I chose it to go with my last Halloween hurrah: a double-feature of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and "Snoop and Martha's Very Tasty Halloween." We stayed in, hoping for trick-or-treaters, but alas we got none. Still, we enjoyed some candy, and I wanted a fruity cider as accompaniment. Voila!

I started with the Semi-dry recently. You’ll find more background info on the company there: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2021/10/cider-review-wild-state-ciders-semi-dry.html

You can also visit Wild State online and learn lots more there: https://www.wildstatecider.com/ciders

Here’s what Wild State says about the Triple Berry.

“This blend of fresh locally sourced berries is the ultimate in refreshing, sunny drinks. A perfectly balanced fruit forward semi-dry to sip all summer and beyond

Triple Berry was crafted with fresh blueberries and raspberries from Blue Vista Farm in Bayfield, WI and strawberries from Uffda Organics in Wrenshall, MN.”

The cider is listed at 6.3% ABV and does not describe what apples go into this blend. 

Appearance: brilliant, watermelon pink, few visible bubbles 

This is such a fun color. I love how the Triple berry looks fresh, ripe and fun.the color reminds me of watermelon. I wish I was taking the pictures with natural light, but drinking cider at 7pm these days is just dark! The cider is brilliant with very few visible bubbles. 

Aromas: ripe apple, raspberry, and strawberry

The Triple Berry smells like ripe apple, raspberry and strawberry. I appreciate how strong the berry notes are. What I’m getting makes me think of the fresh soft texture of berries.

Sweetness/dryness: Semi-dry

While the Triple Berry is semi dry rather than semi-sweet, it is on the sweeter and fruitier side of semi-dry. The sweetness that’s here comes across as very jammy berry sweetness. 

Flavors and drinking experience: high acid, blueberry, lots of fruit, low bubble, tannic

The Triple Berry cider brings high acid as a first taste impression. I also notice how the cider’s crisp and tannic qualities are pleasantly contrasted by just a bit of jammy sweetness. The whole package is fun! In terms of texture the cider sparkles at a medium low level and has medium mouthfeel. 

I tried it from my glass and from the can to see what would change. I can taste more blueberry notes from the can whereas raspberry and strawberry dominate from the glass. The cider makes a great pairing with milk chocolate candy like: Cookies and Cream Twix, Peanut Brownie Snickers, and Miniature Reese’s Cups. While these are not foods I pair with cider regularly, I appreciate having something light, tarty and fruity with the creamy mildness of milk chocolate. 

Cider Review: Once Upon a Tree Wild Flight and Portland Cider Co. Razzberry

While I miss so very much about times before the global pandemic, I’m finding it easier to appreciate my yard and my porch with these beautiful weeks of mild summer weather. This week, I chose two very different ciders because I wanted to see how these two flavor profiles work with sitting on a porch in the evening.

I encourage you to learn about the company through their own words. I quite like how they describe themselves on a distributor website.

Good orchard management, fantastic soils and perfect mesoclimate means the fruit is some of the best available anywhere in the UK. Cider maker Simon Day is an experienced professional winemaker who began making cider after walking through the local orchards and seeing the potential to use winemaking skills to capture the true characters of the apples in the juice and ciders.  Great care is taken to select the best fruit with the least intervention possible to maximise the flavour imparted into their ciders and perrys.

Once Upon A Tree has a great info page on the website, 

https://shop.haygrove-evolution.com/collections/once-upon-a-tree-cider

The Wild Flight Single Origin Dabinett’s official description is short and to the point.  I’m surprised it doesn’t talk up the single origin element more!

“A bottle-conditioned natural sparkling dry cider made with wild yeast. Aged for over 3 years, the taste is rich with bittersweet fruit. 7% ABV”

Appearance: copper, hazy, few bubbly

The Wild Flight looks coppery and hazy when poured. I could see a fair number of bubbles rising up through the cider. 

Aromas: funky, hay, dusty, leather

I see why Once Upon a Tree included the word wild in the name of his cider; it’s really funky!

The cider smells like leather, barn wood, and oranges. I also get notes that remind me of dust and warm hay.

Sweetness/dryness: dry

This is a dry cider with some fruit and mineral notes, but no actual sweetness. The flavors all come from other elements.

Flavors and drinking experience: mega tannic, chalky, petrol, citrus

The first sip is a slap! This cider tastes hardcore tannic, mildly chalky, with some citrus and apple notes and medium acidity. It’s tannic enough that you might say it’s evocative of drinking a stick of aged barn wood or very strongly steeped black tea.  It’s certainly zingy, perhaps even a little harsh. The mineral notes shade into reminding me of petrol-heavy white wines. But the Wild Flight also offers up soft fruit and citrus notes.

I enjoy ciders like this. It’s very distinctly UK style. This cider has a lovely long appley finish. 
It’s quite bubbly and full bodied. We had it after dinner because I wanted all of the Dabinett character to shine through with the distractions of food. We did end up finding pretzels and crackers just for a bit of crunch and contrast, but this cider would pair well with simple bold flavors. I’d pair it with strong cheddar, homemade pretzels, and mustard.

My next cider was a sample shared with me by Portland Cider Co. The Razzberry! Portland Cider Co. Tends to create lots of blended ciders that use Northwest apples but also other fruits and ingredients. They are often semi-dry to sweet and more fun and innovative rather than traditional.

I’ve reviewed a few of their ciders before. Here’s the list.

Peach Berry: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2020/04/cider-review-portland-cider-companys.html

Kinda Dry: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/05/cider-review-portland-cider-company.html

Pineapple: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/02/cider-review-portland-cider-company.html

Cranberry: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/03/cider-review-seed-stone-cidery-heritage.html

Pumpkin Spice: 
http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/10/cider-review-portland-cider-co-pumpkin.html

Pineapple Rose: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/07/cider-reviews-portland-cider-cos.html

A cool thing I just heard about is their PDX cider club! You can read about it here: https://www.portlandcider.com/pdxciderclub. 

Here’s how Portland Cider Co. introduces this one, “Loads of bright raspberries combine with Northwest grown apples, a touch of lemon zest, and Hood River Valley pears for a refreshing cider that everyone will love. Easy-drinking, thirst-quenching and refreshingly tart, RazzBerry is ideal for barbecues and outdoor adventures. 5.8% ABV”

Appearance: brilliant, bubbly, strawberry red

I’d not call this cider a rose, as it's far more red than pink. The color reminds me of perfectly ripe strawberries. It’s also brilliant and bubbly.

Aromas: sweet apple, raspberry

As soon as I cracked the can on the Razzberry I could smell oodles of sweet apple and raspberry smells. This is a juicy set of smells that make me anticipate a sweet cider!

Sweetness/dryness: sweet!

While some folks might call this cider semi-sweet, I think it’s sweet! The sweetness is concentrated fruity and thick like jam.

Flavors and drinking experience: Chambord, raspberry, apple butter, pear and lemon

Pear and lemon do show up in the Razzberry’s flavors along with raspberry and apple. Lots of what I taste isn’t simple though.  A bit of concentration and booziness mean that instead of just tasting raspberries, I taste Chambord and raspberry jam. It’s all so very juicy!

I appreciate the good strong bubble and plentiful citrus acidity to this cider. It has a full body that comes more from sweetness rather than alcohol. This could be a cider to turn into a float with lemon sorbet! As it is, it was downright dessert-y and decadent. 

Cider Review: Blake’s Fido and Cidersmiths Harry Masters Jersey

I’ve been inundated with enough Thanksgiving messages to last me until 2025, so I suggest we take a break together and enjoy two very different and casual canned ciders before the madness of the holiday weekend begins in earnest.  

Let’s start with Blake’s Hard Cider Company’s Fido. This sample was shared with me for review from the Kinder Ciders line. This line is limited-edition ciders that each raise money for a different nonprofit. The Fido raises money for Pets for Patriots; that’s a charity that helps shelter pets and veterans find one another. (Big swoon for animal rescue charities!)  But first, here’s a little more info about Blake’s Hard Cider.

Blake’s Hard Cider is based on Armada, Michigan. The company is a third-generation family farm business. Now, the company has grown and makes many different ciders in several different lines. I’ve reviewed several Blake’s ciders before; check out earlier reviews for more background about Blake’s. 

Santa Rosa: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/02/cider-review-blakes-hard-ciders-santa.html

Beard Bender: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/11/thanksgiving-ciders-eves-ciderys.html

Apple Lantern: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/10/cider-reviews-blakes-hard-ciders-apple.html

Black Philip: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/04/cider-review-blakes-hard-cider-black.html

The Tonic: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/03/cider-review-blakes-hard-cider-companys.html

El Chavo: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/11/cider-review-blakes-hard-cider-companys.html

Wakefire:
http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/09/cider-review-blakes-hard-cider-companys.html

Snapdragon: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/11/cider-review-blakes-hard-ciders.html

Visit Blake’s online to learn about all of the ciders: https://www.blakeshardcider.com/

FIDO (Latin for faithfulness) is the second release in our #KinderCider series. Enjoy this hopped raspberry and grapefruit hard cider made in support of non-profits that pairs veterans and shelter animals.
6.8% ALC. BY VOL.

Appearance: brilliant, foamy, coral color

The color is almost warm enough to be in rose territory but instead it reminds me more of apricot or coral. It foams mightily when poured, but the head does whisk itself away. 

Aromas: Raspberry, ripe apple, hops, dusty

The Fido smells like fresh raspberry and ripe apples. Secondarily I get notes of hops, herbs and dust. I don't get much of the grapefruit as distinct from hops. 

Dryness/sweetness: Sweet

This is not necessarily sweeter than lots of other cider’s I’ve had and called semi sweet but the uplift of acidity I kept expecting in the finish just didn’t show up. Instead, this cider owns its sweetness and has a unique raspberry-centric finish.

Flavors and drinking experience: medium acid, no tannins, lots of fruit, nice sparkle

Fido fetches low to medium acidity. It would likely taste more like medium acidity depending on what cider you usually drink. Like many american ciders, I couldn’t taste much in the way of tannins, but that’s not really what this cider is going for. Let’s talk about that, because I do think this is a very successful cider at it’s own goals. 

Fido wants to please us with fresh fruit flavors, and it does. This cider is very fruity without ever tasting artificial, syrupy or sticky! Hooray!  I find it oh-so- very pleasantly bubbly. Something about the yeast characteristics feels just a little bit beer influenced, but I could be mis-attributing aroma associations with hops. That’s hard to say because the hops feel subtle and integrated into the overall experience. I'd love more voice for the grapefruit element as it does blend with the hops.  

It’s a gentle, sessionable cider that’s lots of fun. I had mine with extra toasty Cheeze-its, because I’m not always fancy. That was delightful.

Now for Cidersmiths’ Harry Masters Jersey I reached back into my vault of notes for a cider I enjoyed a while ago. 

Cidersmiths is based on Herefordshire (a major world center for cider) and was founded by Will Austin and Phillip Warren. Cidersmiths’ website makes the company’s identity very clear. They even use a numbered list to delineate their priorities. I’ll share them exactly how they appear online. 

At Cidersmiths we believe in three principles, it’s what makes great cider… 

1. Good cider is never made from concentrate, only from juice because it tastes way better. Fact.2. Knowing where our apples come from, what varieties are they, how are they grown?3. Cider should be made in a sustainable way that leaves our beautiful countryside just as we found it.

Visit the company’s site to learn more about all the ciders: http://www.cidersmiths.com/ 

The website also has a great section on tasting cider and language often used to describe cider. I decidedly enjoyed this casual take on a topic near and dear to my heart. 

http://www.cidersmiths.com/tasting-notes

And here’s how the company describes the Harry Masters Jersey: 

Made from the vintage bittersweet cider apple raised originally by Somerset nurseryman Harry Masters in the late 1800s, this is a medium blend cider with a refreshing and distinctive taste. As right for a summer’s day as a night on the tiles. ABV 4.5%

Appearance: bubbly, pale cool straw, brilliant

I honestly expected more color from this cider because of the apples, but it looks like many American ciders with that cool pale straw color, visible bubbles and brilliance. 

Aromas: acetic acid, farmy, funky

As I hoped, this does bring some funk! I enjoy the barn yard aroma at this level of intensity. It’s not a dirty smell, but I’m expecting some character to this cider. I also just a little volatile acidity that leads me to expect some wild tartness.

Dryness/Sweetness: Semi-sweet

This is a semi-sweet to sweet cider. The sweetness does very natural and apple-driven.

Flavors and drinking experience: leather, tea, mushy apple, UK style

There’s no mistaking this cider for something American once you taste it! This has the combination of truly soft apple flavors, sweetness, and worn leather notes that are quintessentially UK cider. It does have more bubble than some, and I love that! Lots of the flavors are fruity with just a hint of farminess. There are berry, grassy, and tropical notes here. 

I might wish for slightly higher tannins and acidity, but what’s here is perfectly pleasing. I had mine a few months ago on the screened in porch while watching my backyard on a summer evening.

Good luck this week, Cider friends!  

Cider Review: Eden Cider's Siren Song and 2 Towns Easy Peasy

Happy December, Cider Lovers! We’re entering the last month of the calendar year, and I’m so excited about a cider event I have coming up!

I’ll be leading a talk and tasting at the Eden Boutique Taproom and Cheese Bar in Winooski, Vermont on December 19th! For those who don’t know, Winooski is just barely outside of Burlington. I know Vermont is filled with cider lovers, so I want to see you there, so we can taste great ciders from all parts of the United States and talk about different cider styles!

Read more about it and get tickets here: https://www.facebook.com/events/447866402411371/

Today, I’m starting with my notes on a cider by Eden Specialty Ciders Cellar Series Cider: #9 Siren Song, but I do want to share my previous Eden Ciders reviews first.

Let’s start with my number one cider of 2017: the Imperial 11 Degree Rose: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-january-2017-cidrbox-and-edens.html

This year, I reviewed the Heritage canned cider: 
https://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/06/cider-cans-crush-it-eden-heritage-and.html

Back in 2015, I reviewed the Sparkling Dry, and it also made it into my top ten that year: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/06/cider-review-eden-sparkling-dry-cider.html

I relished the 2016 Sparkling Dry for Thanksgiving and my birthday celebration in 2016.

Here’s the coverage: 

http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/11/pick-cider-for-thanksgiving-and-my.html

http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/11/happy-to-pickcider-for-thanksgiving.html

The Brut Nature got a mini-review in my Cider Con 2018 coverage: https://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/02/cider-con-2018-pt-1-eden-specialty.html

You can learn about all of Eden’s ciders on the website: https://www.edenciders.com/

And here’s the official description for the Siren Song. 

In Greek mythology the songs of the Sirens were enough to entice a Mariner to jump off his trireme, only to meet his end in the depths of the Adriatic Sea. This cider will beguile you with fruit, spice and smoke, cradled in an illusion of residual sweetness. As you follow it down to the depths of your glass, the tannins reveal themselves in astringency rather than bitterness. The complexity derives from a mix of over 20 apple varieties, harvest-pressed and fermented slow and cold as are all our heritage ciders. The curvaceous balance derives from skillful blending by our enraptured Cider team. Another glassful calls. 7.5% ABV.

This won gold in its Heritage Dry category at GLINTCAP 2018. 

Appearance: copper, brilliant, bubbly

This has the deep coppery color that tells me to expect richness and tannins. I can see the generous smattering of bubbles that whet my appetite. The cider is also completely brilliant: no haze here.

Aromas: warm applesauce, white grape, ginger

I love the warm applesauce scent that dominates this cider. There are lots of other fruity and spicy notes like white grape, ginger, and pineapple. They are lovely, but it’s the richer warmer apple notes that I find most enticing.

Sweetness/dryness: right on the Semi-dry/Semi-sweet line

As promised by the cider’s description, the Siren Song has some sweetness, but there’s not too much. I’d call it a semi-sweet, but I have a feeling that for many drinkers this would be the perfect semi-dry.

Flavors and drinking experience: rich, medium tannins, fruity, firm acid

All of the fruity and tropical notes from the aromas definitely translate to the flavors of the cider. That means lovely presences of ginger, pineapple, white grape, and homemade apple sauce. These tastes are driven by very pleasant and not-biting acidity. 

But that’s not all of what’s going on in this cider. What’s more difficult to articulate is the sense of richness and decadent mouthfeel. It’s a creamy, caramelly, cider with medium-high tannins.

The bubbles add great crispness and really transmit the flavor well. This is a sophisticated and satisfying cider. I paired it with spicy buttered popcorn and episodes of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix, but I would also love to serve it with homemade gingerbread and lemon sauce or with blended mushroom bisque. I can’t wait to get my hands on more. 

2 Towns Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Cider

2 Towns Ciderhouse out of Oregon shared the Easy Peasy with me, and I was happy have something a little sunny and summery to try on a rainy cold night recently. 

For background, 2 Towns Ciderhouse is based in Corvallis, Oregon; the company has been operating since 2010. 2 Towns has grown to two production facilities and a taproom. It is Oregon’s largest craft cidery. The company makes many different groups of ciders, including flagship ciders, seasonal offerings, limited releases, and collaborations.

Here are a few of my previous 2 Towns Ciderhouse reviews.

I loved The Cidre Bouche, and it made my top 10 of 2017: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/11/cider-review-2-towns-ciderhouses-cidre.html

Earlier this year I tried the Pineapple: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/02/cider-review-portland-cider-company.html

The rhubarb and hops of The Hop and Stalk was delightful: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2014/12/cider-review-2-towns-ciderhouse-hop-and.html

Back in 2016 I tried the Bright Cider along with a travel roundup: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/07/cider-review-roundup-common-cider-co.html

And earlier this year, I tried the Pearadise as part of Very Perry May:
http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/05/very-perry-may-2-towns-ciderhouses.html

You can visit 2 towns online: https://2townsciderhouse.com/

The official description reads, “Citrusy and refreshing, Easy Peasy will have you leisurely drifting your way through summer. Crafted with fresh-pressed Northwest apples, Meyer lemon, raspberries and soured with lactobacillus, it's summertime and the livin's squeezy!” ABV 5%

Appearance: hazy, watermelon, bubbly

This bubbly cider has the color of beauitfully ripe watermelon flesh. It’s decidedly hazy and just looks juicy! 

Aromas:Raspberry, grapefruit, lemon, creamy

This cider smells fruity. I can smell raspberries immediately upon opening the bottle. Secondarily, there are ntoes of  grapefruit and lemon also. And there’s something about this cider that smells just so creamy.

Sweetness/dryness: sweet

This cider is sweet but also tart, like lemonade. 

Flavors and drinking experience: tart, bubbly, pink lemonade

Summer indeed! This is the opposite of Christmas in July because this tart fresh fruit bomb just breathes summer atmosphere and relaxation. This is a gently boozy pink lemonade with a little apple on the side.

I appreciate that the Easy Peasy has a sharp acidic finish but an easy first hit of flavor. There’s lots of Citric and malic acid in this bubbly, zesty cider. It has a medium body especially for a cider with an ABV on the lower side. A night blast of sunshine and fruit.

Very Perry May: Aeppeltreow's Orchard Oriole Perry and Big Fish Cider Co.'s Church Hill Blush

Welcome back to Very Perry May! This week, I want to share my thoughts on a more traditional perry, but also sample something else springy to stretch out my perry stores to last the rest of the month. It’s a beautiful time of the year right now, and I am so thrilled to spend it on this avenue of the cider world. 

This week’s perry is from Aeppeltreow winery and distillery out of Wisconsin. This small producer is one of my favorites because each beverage truly is its own beast, made from committedly interesting fruit choices and fermented with care. I received this bottle as a review sample after the cider maker saw last year’s Very Perry May.

Visit the website at: http://aeppeltreow.com/

Here are my previous review of Aeppeltreow ciders:

Most relevant is last year’s review of the Sparkling Perry: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/05/very-perry-may-pt-1-aeppeltreow.html

Similarly sparkly, I do love the Appley Brut: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/09/cider-review-appeltreow-winerys-appley.html

My first review of anything by Aeppeltreow was the Barnswallow: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2014/03/cider-review-appeltreow-barnswallow.html

And my all time favorite of the bunch thus far, the Kinglet Bitter: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2014/09/cider-review-appletreow-kinglet-bitter.html

Official description of the Orchard Oriole Perry, “English traditional perry pears. Complex and tannic. Fermented to highlight cultivars and terroir. Subtle pear, different from Bartlett and not-so-subtle tannins, tart, slightly bubbly." 5.5% ABV

And some background,

Oriole Perry is our proud ‘estate’ perry.  It’s grown at Brightonwoods, within sight of the Winery.   It’s more subtle and complex than the Sparkling Perry- being fermented from 100% bitter perry pears.  We ferment it with a Sangiovese yeast that we think really brings out the tannin characters of the perry-specific cultivars.  These pears are exceedingly rare in the US, and not easy to grow.  When we get the question ‘Then why use them?’, we pour a glass of Oriole.  These are not mellow, easy-going French ‘butter pears’.  Perry pears think they are Cabernet – and have the tannins to back it up.

Appearance: deep topaz, brilliant, some bubbles

It took me much thinking and gesticulating to even approach this color with words. It’s a lovely tawny somber shade with some fire and clarity. Of course I think of semi-precious stones, and this one does remind me of my birthstone, topaz, in its dark yet brilliant form. I can see bubbles in the glass, and its there’s no hint of haze.

Aromas: Perry pears, tropical fruit, perfume

This perry smells distinctly like perry pears as opposed to dessert pears. Just like cider apples, perry pears are not enjoyable to eat  The aromas are intense and welcoming. I smell ripe tropical fruit, flowers, with a hint of concentrated sweetness. The overall impression is both perfume in its ethereal floral sense and also lush tropical immediacy.

Sweetness/dryness: semi-dry

It’s hard to describe this perry in terms of its sweetness, because it offers so much more. This does remind me of the unfermentable sugars in pear juice.

Flavors and drinking experience: high tannins

The Orchard Oriole Perry tastes immediately of high tannins from these special pears. The high tannins create strong drying action, but with a nice amount of sweetness still. The perry has very immediate pear flavor, but not not like Bartlett pears. The Orchard Oriole perry tastes fresh, with a pleasant high note of sourdough bread.

I’m grateful that the perry has a good amount of sparkle with small bubbles. That combination of mouthfeel features is a neat juxtaposition of cottony or astringent while also being scintillating and exciting. In terms of fruit flavors, there’s more than just pear going including a very round, lychee-ish taste. As I sip more, the tropical acidity lingers. The Orchard Oriole Perry is very beautifully  balanced and delicious to contemplate. Even if with all those tannins, it’s not thirst-quenching as such. 

I love that this perry is playful and enjoyable yet serious. It’s an unambiguous winner.

This is my first review of anything by Big Fish Cider Co., starting with the Church Hill Blush. This bottle is a review sample from Cider Con.

This Virginia cidery won a 2018 Good Food Award, and they’ve cleaned up at GLINTCAP, yet they launched in only 2015. Big Fish Cider Co. is based in Monteray, Virginia, where they have a tasting room. 

Read more about the company here: http://www.bigfishcider.com

The official description gives some nice context. 

Sparkling clear rose colored Medium Sweet cider, featuring locally grown heirloom apples and fermented with locally grown raspberries.  

Other than apples, I know of no other fruit that tops raspberries in the cellars and the hearts of cidermakers.  Church Hill Blush is made with raspberries from a local Highland County farm, Church Hill Produce. The color and the aroma are completely natural. This is a bright, festive drink that is poured for celebrations, big and small. 

The Raspberry comes through on the nose and at the beginning of the palate, with the sprightly apple flavors coming through to the finish. The sparkling character, the brightness of flavor, the beauty of the color, and the amazing aroma of this cider makes it a favorite for celebrations, weddings, anniversaries, and life’s celebrations. 

This cider also can pair well with just about any poultry dish, particularly crispy skin recipes. Also this can pair nicely with fruit salads.

Appearance: rose gold, brilliant

Rose colored ciders are just so lovely. I am not normally a fan of pink shades, but this rosegold is undeniably pretty. As the photo shows, it’s brilliant as well. 

Aromas: fresh raspberry, raspberry leaves, apple

Oooh! Such summery smells! This cider’s aromas has a backbone of apple, but fresh raspberry up front. I also get an almost tea like note of raspberry leaf. Very neat!

Sweetness/dryness: Sweet

Though this cider is sweet and fruity, it is complex. 

Flavors and drinking experience: ripe raspberry, high acid, balanced

What’s most important to me in any fruit-blended cider, is the final balance between the added fruit and the cider flavors themselves, I never want to taste just berry or just spice. The Church Hill Blush does an excellent job in that it has a very good balance between apple and raspberry. 

The cider starts with a dark and almost bitter first note, but that quickly gives way to notably sweet mid palate. The flavor of ripe raspberry comes across clearly. I notice both medium sparkle and  medium high acidity, with just a bit of tannin. This cider’s sweetness lingers but doesn't cloy. I am so impressed by this presence of both raspberry and apple. It doesn’t hurt that these two fresh fruits happen to be two of my favorites.

Keep reading for more perries all month!

Cider Review: Angry Orchard Rosé and Stowe Cider’s Local Infusion Snow's Raspberry Hard Cider

This week’s theme is Think Pink! Extra points to anyone who gets my Funny Face reference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX6TaA6IRkk

The weather won’t turn springy. It solidly refuses, though today is the Vernal Equinox. What the weather won’t do, I’ll try to do for myself. I want spring, so I’m sipping Rosé cider. What is Rosé? That’s actually not a simply question because we are borrowing and heavily adapting a wine term for cider here.

In the wine world, Rosé is reserved for wines made from red grapes that have limited skin contact such that the finished wine is a shade of pink, hence using the French word for pink, Rosé. Rosé ciders are pink, but not because of skin contact. Red apple skins do not impart a pink color. That tempting shade could be due to red-fleshed apples, contact with red grape skins, additional red fruits, or other additives. Today I’ll review two pink ciders and think of spring.  

Angry Orchard Rosé

I can share several previous reviews of Angry Orchard ciders but not all because there are too many to link back to all of them. Please consider these my favorites:

Probably the most interesting thing I’ve reviewed from them in a long while is the Walden
Hollow from the Research and Development facility: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/09/cider-review-angry-orchards-walden.html

I appreciate that the Stone Dry is a consistent drier cider from their lineup: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/10/cider-review-angry-orchard-stone-dry.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

Also fun, Angry Orchard’s Knotty Pear is a blend pears and apples: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/06/cider-review-angry-orchards-knotty-pear.html

Most recently, I reviewed their Spiced Apple: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/03/cider-review-angry-orchards-spiced-apple.html

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

My first of two rosé reviews for today is  Angry Orchard Rosé. This cider has been taking the market by storm, so I was very happy to receive samples to taste. 

Angry Orchard's official description:

The red flesh apples in Angry Orchard Rosé are from France. Each apple is crisp, juicy and red to the core, adding an irresistible rosy blush and apple-forward taste with a refreshing, dry finish. Angry Orchard Rosé can be enjoyed outside with friends or at the dinner table.

FLAVOR PROFILEABV: 5.5% Apple Varieties: Gala, Fuji, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, and red-fleshed apples sourced in France

Appearance: brilliant, intense rose pink, few visible bubbles

Look at this amazing color. It's beautiful! The cider just shines in the glass with a deep rose color and perfect brilliance.

Aromas: berry, hibiscus, apple candy

It's a shame that this cider is so often served in a narrow neck bottle because the aroma are much more apparent after pouring the cider into a glass. The Rosé smells zesty, sweet and fruity like berry, hibiscus, apple candy, and bubblegum.

Sweetness/dryness: Sweet

This is a sweet cider. I've seen it described as semi-dry, but I find it sweet.

Flavors and drinking experience: medium acid, hibiscus, sweetness

There's a lot of ripe apple flavor but it doesn't taste fermented. The medium acidity never veers into sharpness or tartness, instead sweet flavors dominate the experience. Some specific flavor notes that came to my mind include: cane sugar, hibiscus, blueberries, watermelon, and bubble gum.

I think the Angry Orchard Rosé will encourage a ton of folks to try cider for the very first time, and that's fantastic. It has a lot of vibrant flavors and doesn't take simply like Martinelli's sparkling soft cider. This springy beverage will help folks to discover that there's more to cider than they knew.

Stowe Cider’s Local Infusion Snow's Raspberry Hard Cider

For a bit of background, Stowe cider was founded by a husband and wife team in 2013. Stefan Windler brought his background in chemistry, biology, and agriculture to the venture along with his wife Mary. They have a tasting room in the popular skiing town of Stowe, Vermont, and they participate actively in Cider Week Vermont. Since then, they've only grown and expanded their cider offerings. 

I visited Stowe cider on the first day of my Vermont Cider Tour in 2016:
http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-great-vermont-cider-tour-day-1.html

Find out about the cidery on the website: https://www.stowecider.com

This cider isn’t marketed as a rosé, it’s described with its ingredients: cider with raspberry, basil, and honey. The official description is very simple, “Infused with Stowe raspberries, Craftsbury basil and Northwood apiary honey.”

Appearance: Brilliant, salmon, 

One of the fun things about rosé is the range of pink hues that all full under that blessed umbrella. Salmon, coral, and the peachier shades of pink definitely describe this Raspberry cider. 

Aromas: Fresh apple, watermelon, honey

The Snow's Raspberry Cider smells like fresh apples and watermelon primarily. I can definitely detect a tendril of wild honey sweetness as well.

Dryness/sweetness: Semi-dry

This is a fun cider with enough sweetness to keep things approachable, but not enough to push it over into semi-sweet territory. What sweetness is there is fruity.

Flavors and drinking experience: bubbly, high acid, sessionable

I love how intensely bubbly this cider is. This Snow's Rasberry Cider also bring some serious fruity acid to the party. The most prominent flavor is berry, followed by apple, and then honey.

The Snow's Raspberry cider remains fun and sessionable through the bottle. The raspberry flavor is almost subdued by so many bubbles. That's a plus in my book because I like medium fruity but super bubbly, and I don't think I'm terribly unusual in this regard. Overall, I found this cider floral, tart, and enjoyable. I didn't get much of the basil that was promised on the label, but that seems like a very difficult ephemeral bit of delicacy to capture. Overall, this is one pink cider I'd be happy to drink again.

So until we get spring, at least we can dream in rosé.

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.