Crispin is an American company, but they import this particular variety from England and it is spot-on. It was a bit of an acquired taste, but now I am completely on board and I can say this is the best cider I've had to date. It has a fresh apple aroma, with a very natural organic flavor. It has such a wonderfully fermented taste, with notes of soil and moss (and maybe even mold!), one may wonder if the apples were mined from Middle Earth rather than grown on trees. It was a bit jarring at first, but the handmade farmhouse quality grew on me very quickly and left me thirsty for another. A fine example of British craft. 8.75 out of 10.
This full-flavored cider is one of the better American ciders I've had, but at 24g, the sugar content is extremely high. The apple flavor is strong throughout the whole taste experience, with some nice sour/tart notes. It is fairly natural tasting for the most part, but there are a few fleeting Martinelli's-esque moments where it takes on a syrupy apple juice flavor. In the end, better than average. 7 out of 10.
Here we have another proper British cider. It is very dry and crisp with a seltzer-y mouthfeel -- by far the most 'mature' tasting cider I've had to date. Not suprisingly, it has half the sugar of Excalibur. The back half of the flavor curve is a bit disappointing, however, as the taste falls off to almost nothing. It lacks a nice strong finish, punctuated by a tart or sweet taste. Instead it fades to something on the order of diet ginger ale. Not bad, just not wonderful. 6 out of 10.
This is an utterly pedestrian and completely forgettable pear cider. I was less than thrilled to try it, but it was the only cider on the menu at Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ. Wyder's is a big name in the cider game, sort of the equivalent of Miller or Budweiser in the beer world, which is to say their product tastes as if it is mass-produced for that cross-section of the public with little discriminating taste. The mouthfeel was thin, and the color was weak -- basically like tinted water. No haze or sediment to speak of. The low ABV and the almost nonexistent carbonation further undermined the taste/texture experience. All that remained was the overly sweet essence of Bartlett pear. 4.5 out of 10.
This one's British, so there is a certain level of sophistication that is expected and delivered upon. It is crisp and dry, with a highly carbonated mouthfeel. It does not come across as overly sweet, considering its relatively high sugar content. The apple taste is very natural/organic, nothing artificial about it, in the vein of Red Delicious. There are some earthy notes at the finish which definitely give this a nice handmade/farmhouse quality. The rich copper color adds to the overall pleasant imbibing experience. 7.5 out of 10.
I am an avid craft beer fan who has just discovered I am gluten intolerant. The symptoms had been mounting steadily over the last 15 years until I finally deduced that gluten was the culprit. Sad news for me. But when one door closes (e.g., the door to the exciting world of craft brewed IPAs), another one opens, and so I will document here my explorations in the world of cider. I've tried a few of the gluten free beers, and they're impossibly awful. Widmer's Omission line is the only real contender I've encountered, but it's still only as good as, say, the Full Sail beers, which have always tasted a bit artificially flavored to me. And so begins my search for a cider that is mature, dry, and as beer-like as possible. I'm really hoping to find something that is as complex and flavorful as a bitter, resinous IPA, and I will not rule out eventually trying to make my own. Here goes . . .
