Tag: Flavored cider

Vandy Session Cider

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Maker: Vander Mill, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.

Style: Fermented cider with unfermented juice added.

ABV: 4.3%

Purchased for: I don’t remember (internet says ~$11 for a six pack).

Appearance: Medium gold with persistent but light bubbles.

Nose: Cut golden apples, Anjou pears.

Palate: Medium bodied and semi-sweet. Medium tart, fresh applesauce.

Finish: Clean but with a little tannic grip.

Parting words: I confess that I’ve had this can in my refrigerator for years, waiting to get reviewed. I also have to confess that tasting it was an anti-climax. It accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish: it’s an easy-drinking, low ABV cider. It’s also very much “not for me”. It’s something that will probably appeal more to a casual cider drinker, not a snotty, tannin and funk guy like me.

Given that it’s part apple juice, but about the same price as the real thing (Vander Mill’s Hard Apple) from the same producer, Vandy only merits a mild recommendation.

Sunday Sour Sunday

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Maker: Odd Brothers, Homer, Michigan, USA

Style: Apple cider with Concord grape juice.

ABV: 6.5%

Purchased for: I don’t remember at the Royal Oak Farmer’s Market.

Appearance: Dark burgundy with light carbonation.

Nose: Concord grape juice.

Palate: Medium-bodied. Tangy and grapey.

Finish: Foxy, sour.

Parting words: One Saturday morning a few months ago there was a booth at the Royal Oak Farmer’s market sellin Odd Brothers cider. I had never heard of the place before, so I walked up to the young man there and asked him to tell me about the ciders he was selling. He told me to look at the sign and that would tell me what they all were. I then asked him where the cidery was located. He gave me a vague description of where it was. So I found one on the wall, bought a four pack and left.

What Odd Brothers lacks in sales patter, they make up for in creativity. They don’t really have a classic dry or semi-dry cider, what they do have is a wide variety of (naturally) flavored ciders. They use everything from the more traditional fruit juices and cinnamon to marshmallow fluff, green tea, and spruce.

Sunday, Sour, Sunday is one of their least odd combos, but it’s tasty and proof that they can play it more or less straight when they want to. This cider lives up to its name delivering a lot of mouth-puckering tartness on par with a sour ale. While it isn’t exactly sessionable, it’s a nice change of pace from the dry or funky ciders I usually seek out. I don’t remember what I paid for it but I don’t recall thinking “it better be life-changing at this price,” so it couldn’t be too bad. Sunday, Sour Sunday is recommended.

Michigan Honey

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Maker: Virtue, Fennville, Michigan, USA.20190825_201936.jpg

Apples: Variety of Michigan-grown apples.

Style: Partially barrel-finished apple cider with Michigan honey added (Not a cyser or mead).

ABV: 5%

Price: $13/12 12 oz can variety pack (Binny’s)

Appearance: Pale gold, like a lager.

Nose: Honey, sliced golden apples.

Palate: Lightly fizzy, medium bodied. Semi-dry. More balanced than the nose. Honeyed golden apple slices, lemon meringue pie.

Finish: Honey, dry apple slices, tannin.

Parting words: This is another Virtue cider out of the variety pack I bought for my June party. It’s my least favorite of the four included in the pack, but it’s still good. The honey is too strong in the nose but it and the barrel notes add depth and grip to what would otherwise be a pretty mild cider on the palate and in the finish. Good price for a quality cider. Virtue’s Michigan Honey is recommended.

 

Santa Rosa Hard Cider

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Maker: Blake’s Hard Cider, Armada, Michigan, USA20181121_114225.jpg

Apples: “Late season varieties”

Style: Sparkling apple cider fermented with plum skins.

ABV: 5%

Purchased for $10/500 ml (Holiday Market)

Appearance: Little head, but persistent bubbles.

Nose: Apple juice, citrus blossom.

Palate: Effervescent and semi-sweet. Semi-tart table apples, pinch of tannin, pinch of yeast.

Finish: More acid and tannin with lingering sweetness.

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The exact location of the plums at Blake’s!

Parting words: Blake’s Foraged series includes ciders made with fruit “foraged” from Blake farms. There’s Nova, made with Nova raspberries, and then there’s this cider made with the skins of Santa Rosa plums also grown on the estate (see map). Santa Rosa is a 112 y/o variety created by Luther Burbank, inventor of the russet potato. Santa Rosa was very popular through most of the twentieth century but it doesn’t ship well so it’s not often found in grocery stores. It’s soft and sweet and has tart, slightly tannic skin.

The specific varieties that go into this cider are not disclosed on the label but we are told that they are late-season varieties. Whatever they are, they work perfectly with the plum skins, adding tartness and tannins to produce an elegant, balanced cider with a beautiful pinkish color. There is no plum flavor at all here, there’s just added depth and structure.

Santa Rosa pairs very well with food and I even served it at Thanksgiving this last year. $10 is a great price too. I love this cider. Blake’s Santa Rosa is highly recommended.

 

 

Grizzly Pear

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Maker: Blake’s Hard Cider, Armada, Michigan, USA20171112_165117.jpg

Style: Apple cider flavored with apple juice, prickly pear extract, pear juice concentrate and elderflower.

ABV: 5%

Price: $10/6 12 oz cans

Appearance: Light gold with tiny bubbles.

Nose: Barlett Pear, elderflower, nutmeg.

Palate: Medium dry. Effervescence, elderflower liquer, drop of canned pear syrup.

Finish: Clean & juicy. Slightly tart.

Parting words: As far as I can tell, this is the closest thing to a perry that Blake’s makes , which is a shame. Craft perry makers have an even harder time than craft cider-makers at finding heritage varieties traditionally used for their product. As a result, most perry is made from Bartlett or other table varieties. As a result of that, most American perries taste like watered down, slightly boozy versions of the syrup one finds canned pears swimming in. This leads creative producers like Blake’s to get, uh, creative. While technically apple cider, Grizzly Pear tastes like a quality perry. The elderflower infusion is a nice, floral counterpoint to the strong pear flavor and results in a more balanced product than standard, one dimensional perry. The prickly pear extract is undetectable, at least by me.Grizzly Pear pairs well with pork and spicy chicken dishes, but is best for casual weekend sipping. The price is reasonable.

My only complaint (a big one, actually) is that the packaging is deceptive, perhaps intentionally so. A pear is featured front and center and no mention of this product being flavored apple cider appears outside the ingredient list. The label describes it as “hard cider” but since perry is often lumped together with apple cider, a reasonable person could still assume that this is a perry after reading that description.

I have no problem with funky, Franken-ciders like this but Blake’s should be up front about what this is instead of “stealing valor” from the poor neglected pears of the world. I want to give this a recommendation, but I’m going to have to ding it for deceptive packaging. Grizzly Pear is mildly recommended. Fix this, Blake’s.

Wakefire

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Maker: Blake’s, Armada (ar-MAY-duh), Michigan, USA20170705_162046

Style: Dry apple cider with cherries & orange peel

ABV: 6.5%

Price: $10/six pack of cans (Binny’s)

Appearance: Orange light bubbles.

Nose: Apple juice with a squirt of black cherry.

Palate: Medium bodied. Crisp apple, hint of cherry juice and citrus.

Finish: Biggest cherry flavor is here. A little citrus identifiable as orange peel when I look at the can.

Parting words: I bought Wakefire to have a flavored cider option at my annual Michigan-themed party in June. It was the more popular cider, even over a high quality dry cider also in a can. I didn’t get a chance to taste it that day, but I did later and I understood why. It’s easy drinking, but with enough flavor to avoid being dull. The cherry and orange peel are barely there, but I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. If the can says it has certain flavors, I expect those flavors to be present, but I also don’t enjoy ciders with too much flavor. If I ever resolve that conundrum, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, Wakefire is recommened.

Atomic Apple Hard Cider

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Maker: Uncle John’s Fruit House, St. John’s, Michigan, USA20161003_171139.jpg

Style: Hard cider flavored with cinnamon candies.

ABV: 6.5%

Price: $11 (Binny’s)

Note: At the time of purchase, I received a complimentary bottle of premium cider and of Uncle John’s Apple Brandy. I got a 30% discount on the rest of my purchase.

Appearance: Nearly fluorescent pink. Lots of fizz.

Nose: Apple juice, hint of cinnamon.

Palate: Apple sauce with red hots, flint.

Finish: Cinnamon candy, then dry. Goes quickly.

Parting words: The last cider I reviewed was Cinnamon Girl from Left Foot Charley. That was flavored with single origin cinnamon from two different places and no sugar was added. Uncle John’s took a completely different approach to creating a cinnamon hard cider. They threw a bunch of Atomic Fireball candies into the fermentation tank. The result is something like when my grandmother made applesauce and put red hots in while it was cooking. I enjoyed the flavor then and I enjoy it now, but it’s not as nuanced as Cinnamon Girl. Atomic Apple is cheaper and still pretty good, though. All that said, my wife hated it. Atomic Apple is recommended.

Cinnamon Girl

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Maker: Left Foot Charley, Traverse City, Michigan, USAwp-1474425628803.jpg

Apples: Northern Spy, Golden Delicious, Ida Red.

Style: Apple cider with Sumatran and Vietnamese cinnamon (no sugar added).

ABV: 5%

Purchased for $8/500 ml (Michigan by the Bottle Tasting Room)

Appearance: Very pale gold, slow bubbles.

Nose: Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal, apple sauce.

Palate: Crisp and acidic, then the cinnamon kicks in.

Finish: Some tartness and cinnamon, then elegant tannins.

Parting words: Left Foot Charley might be Michigan’s best winemakers, and their ciders are very good too. Cinnamon Girl is better than most spiced ciders because the spice doesn’t cover up any of the apple character. No traditional cider apples were used in its production but there’s just the right amount of tannin, tartness and sweetness to balance the spice and bring it all together. Cinnamon Girl is recommended.

Vander Mill Ginger Peach

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Maker: Vander Mill, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USAwp-1471352720002.jpg

Style: Apple cider with peach juice, ginger juice and sugar.

ABV: 6.9%

Price: $11/4 pack of pint cans (Binny’s)

Appearance: Bright gold.

Nose: Light ginger, golden apple, peach nectar.

Palate: Medium bodied, medium dry and well-integrated. Tart with a little tannin. Fresh cut peach and a pinch of ground ginger.

Finish: Much bigger peach in the finish. Dry, underripe peach. Lightly lingers.

Parting words: At the annual early June party my wife and I host, I went with an all Michigan theme. I wanted to make sure there was cider there since I like it and like variety. I also bought a six pack of Beard Bender dry cider from Blake’s. I assumed the Blake’s would go quicker, but Ginger Peach did. After tasting it, it’s easy to see why.

When making a fruit flavored cider it is critical that the cider base is of good quality. When it’s not the fruit element has to be increased to hide the flavor and the whole thing ends up being cloying and gross. The best flavored ciders, like this one, let the tannins and apple character come through while harmonizing with the flavorings. Ginger Peach goes well with food, too, especially grilled meats and South or Central Asian food. Ginger Peach is recommended.