Category Archives: Cider

Angry Orchard – Iceman

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Angry Orchard "Iceman"

Angry Orchard “Iceman”

Though the non-flavor-related driving themes of my Strawman review still more or less hold true for Iceman (for the money you’ll pay to buy it you’d be better off supporting a smaller craft outfit), I thought I’d get a review on the books for practice and for the sake of being comprehensive.

Iceman is dramatic, a bold clear orange in color and 10% ABV.  Taking its cues from ice ciders, its aroma is sweet, sweet, sweet, like candy-dipped apples, and the flavor follows with more strong sugary notes, caramel and toffee over the intensity of the tart apple.

Even for my sweet tooth, Iceman is on the verge of being too much like ice ciders and ice wines, generally consumed in small amounts, a sip at a time. It’s a big taste.

On the up side, while it’s pricey for cider (especially for commercially produced, widely-available cider), Iceman is more of a decent deal for someone who wants to try ice cider but doesn’t want to shell out $$$$ for a tiny bottle of the stuff.

Locate some Iceman for yourself here.

Cascadia Ciderworkers United – Dry

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Cascadia Ciderworkers United Dry

Not shown: the delicious pretzels at Brave Horse Tavern

I found this cider while out with some coworkers for a sort of “we survived the last few months” celebratory happy hour, and since I haven’t seen cans or kegs of it in the stores I tend to frequent I figured I’d try to jot down some notes without being too blatantly rude to my fellow happy-hour-goers.

It’s a classic clear gold, 6.9% ABV, and the aroma is disarming at first — a mild, sweet, pretty straightforward dessert-apple smell. So when I took a sip, the wallop of powerful vinegar sourness came as a major surprise. Sure enough, when I took another sniff I could get a hint of the vinegar under the apples, though that might have been a contribution from the long finish of the cider.

It’s not a sweet vinegar taste, either. Acidic, tannic, bitter — it’s been a long time since I couldn’t prevent myself from making a face when I tasted an alcoholic drink.

In the words of Ian Fleming, once is an accident, twice is coincidence, and three times is enemy action. Before trying Troy’s MCMXIII I might have thought I somehow got a can that soured on the shelf; I still haven’t entirely ruled the idea out given that they’re both unfiltered varieties, but I’m also starting to consider that there’s an actual market out there for people who really want to drink cider vinegar with bitters.

CCU doesn’t have a cider finder, but you can check them out on Facebook and keep an eye out for them on tap around the Pacific Northwest and in cans more broadly distributed.

Crispin – Pacific Pear

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Crispin Cider Pacific Pear

Crispin Cider Pacific Pear

IT’S HERE! After the months and months of longing and searching since the Seattle Cider Summit, I finally found some Pacific Pear on shelves — at Bartell’s, of all places. And to my great delight, it is entirely as delicious as I remember.

Pacific Pear is made entirely from pear juice, not a mix of apple and pear juice as many perries are, and it really shows. Its aroma is cool and flowery and sweet but not cloying, the pear notes immediately distinct, and in the glass it’s a very clear, very pale yellow.

The taste of this cider is a glorious pear explosion, bursting on your tongue and all through your mouth. In addition to the pure-pear-juice composition, the low alcohol content (only 4.5% ABV) also leaves much of the fruit sweetness intact. This is a sweet cider, of that there’s no question, but it’s light and refreshing rather than heavy or syrupy.

It’s a real shame I only saw this in 4-packs of 12oz bottles, because what I’d really like is to be able to fill up a growler with this stuff. (Over and over and over again…)

To be clear: though I know it can’t be to everyone’s taste, I recommend this cider really without reservation. I loved it when I tried it at the Summit, I love it today, and now that it’s shown up on store shelves near me I look forward to loving it on a regular basis in the future. Run, don’t walk, to locate some for yourself on Crispin’s website here.

Portland Cider – Hop’rageous

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Portland Cider Company Hop'rageous

Yeah, still showing off the BR mugs. :)

Through fondness and lucky timing, I’m developing a reputation at my local liquor store for being the keg-killer of their dedicated cider tap — I killed the last two they had, and we’ll see if I can make it three for three with Portland Cider Company’s Hop’rageous.

Hop’rageous is 6.8% ABV, a clear gold in color, and brings serious citrus and bitter notes in both aroma and flavor — not surprising since Portland Cider Company says it’s not only made with Citra hops but that they also added in orange peel.

No doubt thanks to the orange peel, for once I can pick out that there is a particular type of citrus taste instead of being unable to pin it down to anything in particular.

The orange comes through more in the aroma, the bitterness more in the flavor — yet neither the orange nor the bitterness are overpowering, and the cider stays pretty light and fresh overall. Not overly tart or acidic or sweet, but well-balanced.

I still like it less than, say, their Kinda Dry, but that’s just a matter of personal bias against hops in general. For a hopped cider, it’s pretty decent.

Hop’rageous is currently only available on draft according to Portland Cider Company’s website, but you can look for some near you.

Seattle Cider – Oaked Maple

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Seattle Cider Oaked Maple

CHECK OUT OUR AWESOME MUGS! Does anyone want one? Let us know!

As you can tell, we’re having a hard time getting back into the swing of things here at Bad Rider. But your regularly scheduled reviews have returned! (Hopefully. More or less.) First up in the new year, a cider I tried earlier in the winter which made me immediately think, “I have to review this because it’s so strange.”

My last interaction with maple in cider was Woodchuck’s spring seasonal, which was (to my own great surprise) not particularly to my taste. Usually I will be first in line for anything with maple and brown sugar.

Perhaps it’s something specific to maple in cider, because this Oaked Maple is also…weird. It starts off well enough, with a straightforward apple aroma and some of the oak notes underneath.

When I taste it, I get maple — but scarcely any sweetness. Which is bizarre, right? Maple should be sweet! I have a hard time wrapping my head around something tasting like maple but not being sweet the way maple-flavored things generally are.

Other than the strange non-sweet maple taste, Oaked Maple is fairly tart, and a little bitter. The bottle copy says it’s fermented with oak chips and raisins, and there is something of wrinkly dark fruit about it, an aftertaste like raisins picked out of a cake.

Seattle Cider needs to keep their website up to date (AHEM), as it currently only lists Pumkin Spice and PNW Berry as the available seasonals, but you can still use their locator to track yourself down some cider here.

Best of 2014 – Cider Edition

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While the cider scene isn’t as rampant as the beer scene, even here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s really seen a boom over the past few years. The rise of gluten-free awareness and consumables has helped, I’m sure, as cider is gluten-free by nature.

Starting up Bad Rider Reviews has made me appreciate just how much good cider is out there, and just how diverse the field really is.

My devious plan of dragging Andrea into this with me has also worked out perfectly, as I suspected the beer reviews would tend to bring in more readers than the cider reviews (especially now that we’re in a real live newspaper holy crap), so I feel the blog is more of a success overall than it would be if it were just me.

I’m looking forward to a whole new year of reviews to come!

BEST EVERYDAY & BEST LOCAL

Hands down, the mellow and distinctive Oak-Aged from Schilling. It’s so good it wins two categories. Not too sweet, not too dry, just an all-round solid cider — and from a great local outfit, to boot. I’m really glad this is in their regular lineup instead of being a seasonal or limited edition.

BEST IMPORT

Since I haven’t actually had that much imported cider, it’s not hard to call this for Sea Cider’s excellent Prohibition, but it would be a strong contender even if the field were larger. Sweet and sharp, with a strong flavor and a dangerous bite, Prohibition is a stunner. Literally, if you’re not careful.

BEST FRUIT “WEIRD”

Since all cider is fruit cider, I can hardly pick just one, and I wanted an excuse to call out Angry Orchard’s Elderflower cider somewhere on this list. Why don’t more people make elderflower cider? Why doesn’t Angry Orchard produce it year round? My woes are neverending.

BEST LIMITED

SIGH. As much as I love Angry Orchard’s Elderflower, at least I know it’ll be back; I’m still in mourning for Crispin’s Steel Town being gone forever. When I first tried it I thought it tasted kind of odd and squashy, but it lingered in my mind and the next time around I really fell for it. The blend of favors and the way the taste changed as it warmed up kept me coming back for more, right up until it was gone.

BEST UNREVIEWED

Toss-up between Crispin’s Lion Belge and Pacific Pear. Both are pear ciders; Lion Belge is one of Crispin’s higher-end ciders like Steel Town, and you’ll see a review of it later, whereas Pacific Pear I just cannot find in any local store for the life of me, and I’ve been on the lookout ever since I tried it at the Seattle Cider Summit.

2015 CIDER RESOLUTIONS

I have a few:

  • Visit local cideries! There’s several, such as Finnriver, within range of a day trip, and every summer I regret not getting out of the city more often.
  • Spend more time at the Schilling Cider House. Just looking at their menu makes me excited for all the things I haven’t yet tried.
  • Track down and review more Canadian ciders. Sea Cider is great but I know there’s more out there. Andrea keeps threatening to send me the terrible cheap grocery store stuff from BC.
  • Explore homebrewing my own cider — I just laid down my first keg to ferment this afternoon. I may indulge in an occasional review of my own cider as the year progresses, if things go well (or spectacularly badly).
  • Maybe put a photo in my section of the About Us page? We’ll see.
  • And if Andrea thinks she’s not going to get a box and/or car trunk full of US pumpkin beers this fall, well, she’s got another think coming.

Finnriver – Pear Cider

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Finnriver Pear Cider

Finnriver Pear Cider

I resolve in the new year to review more pear ciders. Apple cider is all well and good, but I’ve gotta confess I have an extra-soft spot for pear cider.

Finnriver’s is a light gold, very very slightly cloudy, and has a barely-there aroma of mostly apples, with just an edge of cool crisp pear.

There’s a fresh, real-fruit aspect to the flavor — I saw tasting notes on Finnriver’s site when I was looking up the cider (to see if they mentioned whether pear juice was part of the fermentation or added in afterward to back-sweeten), and though I wouldn’t go so far as the reviewer in saying Finnriver’s pear cider tastes more like a skin-on pear than a peeled pear, I can see what he’s getting at. There’s a certain bitterness grounding the pear flavor, pulling it out of the realm of single-note sweetness.

You can order some Finnriver cider for yourself here, or look for their stuff in your local stores. One of these days I’m definitely going to make it out to their farm for a visit.

Bull Run – Gravenstein Single Varietal

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Bull Run Gravenstein Single Varietal

Whence your horned apple logo, Bull Run?

I know eventually I will have tried every cider my favorite local liquor store has to offer, but so far I still manage to walk in and find entire brands I’ve either not yet reviewed or not reviewed in many weeks.

Bull Run is one of the former — I thought for sure I’d reviewed something of theirs before, but no, they’re a newcomer to the annals of Bad Rider Reviews.

Unassuming at first glance, the Gravenstein Single Varietal is definitely distinctive. The aroma is funky under the sweet apple smell, a little cheese drifting in from somewhere.

It’s tart, somewhat acidic, and lives up to the bottle label of “medium dry” — only sweet enough to keep it from being dry. It’s light, but there’s something stony about it as well, like an undertaste of cold granite.

It would be interesting to get my hands on an example of the apple itself when I try these single varietal ciders. I can’t say I recognize the taste of a Gravenstein compared to another type of apple, though as I mentioned, I can at least tell this cider is different.

This cider makes me wish I were the kind of person who could put together a cheese and charcuterie board from the contents of their pantry at the drop of a hat. It would pair fabulously with some complex cheeses and cured meats.

Check Bull Run’s website if you’d like to find some of their cider for yourself, though it only lists places in Portland so don’t count on it to be entirely comprehensive.

 

Sea Cider – Kings & Spies

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Sea Cider, Kings & Spies

Sea Cider, Kings & Spies

Bad Riders, you are saved from another Christmas carol review only by the fact that my local liquor store didn’t have any of Sea Cider’s “Wassail” in stock when I stopped by. It may yet happen in the future.

Instead of Wassail, I picked up some of their Kings & Spies, a pale yellow cider that’s stronger than average at 8.0% ABV. The name comes from the composition — King and Northern Spy apples, among others.

It’s fairly fizzy, and leads with a light aroma, bittersweet and a little spicy.

The taste is acidic and tart in moderation, balanced out by the cider-apple flavor. Chilled, this cider has more of a sharp bite and astringency, but it really blooms as it warms up a bit from fridge temperature, the sharpness easing off and blending with the flavor of the heritage apples.

Though off-dry, an aftertaste of fresh fruit taste lingers in the corners of my mouth, skirting around the edges of the acid and tartness.

Good stuff, all in all, though I generally like what Sea Cider does. You can track some down for yourself here.

2 Towns Ciderhouse – Nice & Naughty

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2 Towns "Nice & Naughty"

visual puns are my weakness / that “snow” cap really is the best

(to the tune of “O Tannenbaum”)

Nice & Naughty, Nice & Naughty,
How lovely your aroma!
Rich with cloves and cinnamon spice,
Clear gold in hue, with bubbles light,
Nice & Naughty, Nice & Naughty
How lovely your aroma!

Nice & Naughty, Nice & Naughty,
Your label is quite charming!
2 Towns’ black tree, snow-capped in white,
The bottle, too, to my delight,
Nice & Naughty, Nice & Naughty,
Your label is quite charming!

Nice & Naughty, Nice & Naughty,
You’re 10.5% ABV!
Though pumpkin spice still dwells in minds,
Your flavor’s mulled and less pie-like,
Nice & Naughty, Nice & Naughty,
You’re 10.5% ABV!