Tag Archives: snowdrift cider

Snowdrift Cider – Seckel Single Varietal Perry

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Snowdrift Cider Seckel Single Varietal Perry

Snowdrift Cider Seckel Single Varietal Perry

I am having the best of all possible problems with pear ciders: enough cideries are making them now that some are actually making pear ciders I don’t like. Which is quite a feat, let me tell you, given my penchant for perry.

Snowdrift’s Seckel doesn’t fall into this category, but it’s very different from other pear ciders I’ve tried. At 8.6% ABV, it’s pretty substantial, and the color is a light amber closer to apple-based ciders than to the paler, more yellow appearance common to fully pear-based ciders.

The aroma is minimal — a little bit of yeast and cool spice. The flavor is very — well, very. It has a distinct character. I might have guessed this was a single-varietal perry even without being told.

With an ABV so high, it’s no surprise that it’s not particularly sweet even though it comes from a pear that’s known for its sweetness; the flavor is dense and strong, a little acidic. It’s much more like an apple cider than other pear ciders I’ve had, in the sense that it’s lacking the sort of cool, crisp, airy flavor I tend to associate with pear ciders.

Snowdrift really needs to update their website to include their latest offerings, but you can check their website for a distribution location near you.

Snowdrift Cider – Cliffbreaks Blend

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Snowdrift Cider's Cliffbreaks Blend

Snowdrift Cider’s Cliffbreaks Blend

My first experience with Snowdrift Cider was a glass of their Nebula Red at Capitol Cider a while back. It was, and I put this mildly, like pure manna from heaven descended into a glass. Nothing I’ve tried from Snowdrift since then has quite lived up, as is so often the case, but I still get excited when I see their labels.

Deep golden in color, 7.8% ABV and mostly still, Cliffbreaks has a fresh, tangy scent underlaid with light bittersweetness.

For some reason the aroma led me to expect a drier cider than it turned out to be. In addition, the bittersweet notes in the aroma don’t particularly translate into bitterness in the flavor.

It has some tannins supporting a profile largely dominated by strong, mouth-puckering tartness and acidity, but is decidedly more on the sweet side than the dry.

That’s not to say it’s over-sweet, or that I’m bothered by the lack of bitterness — the balance is quite good. “Bold & Assertive” is how the bottle sums up Cliffbreaks, and I’m not inclined to argue (though I’m not entirely on board with the more detailed notes they claim, like an “aromatic coconut finish”).

Find yourself some Snowdrift here! They’re pretty small right now, so good luck if you’re not in Washington, but they do have an online shop, and I look forward to them expanding over the coming years.