The Sixty- Fifth Cider of the Year!

Westons Cider Oak Conditioned Medium Sweet

English; 4.5% Alcohol Content.

$7.99 (AUD); Thirsty Camel (Maddington, WA)

This cider has a nice flavor and a pleasant twist because of the oak conditioning; you can really taste the woody essence. It lacks a bit of carbonation as far as I am concerned, but it is very drinkable and a refreshing brew.

Rating 7.6

Ciders 61-64; Rae & Shane's Wedding!

The Blackwood Valley Brewing Company; The Cidery

Australian; Sweet Rosie- 4.5% Alcohol Content, Bittersweet- 6.5% Alcohol Content, Spider Cider- 5.5% Alcohol Content, and Scudamore's Scrumpy- 8% Alcohol Content.

$3 (AUD) for Sweet Rosie, Spider Cider, and Scudamore's Scrumpy. $4.50 (AUD) for Bittersweet; The Cidery (Bridgetown, WA)
The Cidery holds a special place in my heart. Two years ago, not long after I arrived in Australia, their beverages were my first boutique cider experience. At that point in my hard apple drink journey I had only sampled Strongbow (not a knock on them, but it is certainly one of the most mass produced/ generic ciders on the market). In addition to their eye opening ciders, I will always think fondly of The Cidery because of the inextricable link they have with Donnelly River/Bridgetown and now the wedding of my sister-in-law and my new brother-in-law. Congrats Rae and Shane; these ciders are all a toast to you and your amazing weekend at Donnelly River!

Spider Cider- This cider has a very refreshing apple taste, my favorite Cidery cider. It has great carbonation, good sweetness levels, and no aftertaste. A great all around cider.
Rating 9.

Sweet Cider- As the name would suggest, this cider has a sweeter taste than Spider Cider. It also possesses a much richer apple flavor and less alcohol. In fact, drinking Sweet Cider is a bit like pouring freshly pressed apple juice in your mouth while gargling a bit of alcoholic soda water. That sounds a little gross, but I meant it as a positive assessment; I'm not a huge sweet cider drinker, but if you are you'll love this one. If it's any consolation, Sweet Cider was a HUGE hit at the wedding reception.
Rating 8.6

Bitter Sweet- Bitter Sweet has quite an interesting taste; the first splash that hits your lips is that of sour apple, but it's not like the candy sour apple flavor, it's fuller. Honestly, I'm not even sure how I feel about this one since I do not like sour/ bitter apple flavors in general, but this one is still pretty good.
Rating 8.4

Scudamore's Scrumpy- My struggles with scrumpy ciders are well documented, but I had an enlightening conversation with a brewmaster at The Cidery that gave me pause. She spoke of the importance of the scrumpy cider to the genre as a whole; how it was/ is the genesis of ciders as we know them today. Even after she dropped her knowledge, I told her that I appreciated all that she said, but still didn't like scrumpies. We agreed that the scrumpy cider was an, "acquired taste," and went our separate ways. With all of that said, I re-sampled the first scrumpy cider that ever passed my lips years ago with a greater appreciation for the history and tradition of hard apple ciders. To be honest, this is the BEST true scrumpy I have tasted during my tour-de-force of ciders. Scudamore's Scrumpy still has that apple- vinegar feature of most scrumpies, but somehow this one is more palatable and I could actually imagine how a scrumpy enthusiast would truly enjoy it.
Rating 7.5

Cider Sixty.

Thatchers Old Rascal

English; 4.5% Alcohol Content.

$7.99 (AUD); Thirsty Camel (Maddington, WA)

Maybe I am just looking too hard or perhaps it's the head cold with which I am currently afflicted, but I really like Thatchers Old Rascal. It has pretty much everything a good cider should contain, except that it's a bit light on carbonation. Interestingly, this cider is something of a reverse- scrumpy; bitter to start and then a sweet aftertaste.

Rating 8.1

Cider 59

Badger Apple Wood Cider

English; 6% Alcohol Content.

$6.99 (AUD); Thirsty Camel (Maddington, WA)

Badger Apple Wood Cider is a bit on the scrumpier side of life, but not too bad. It's another cider that's in the average range, still on the lookout for something GREAT...

Rating 6.9

#58

Old Mout Cidre

Kiwi (New Zealand); 4.5% Alcohol Content.

$4.99 (AUD); Dan Murphy's (West Perth, WA)

Old Mout Cidre has a strong apple taste, good carbonation; a quality cider, but like most, it does not quite blow me away. However, if you are out buying ciders and want to impress your friends with something that is unique, good, but not too scary, go with Old Mout Cidre, you won’t be disappointed.

Rating 8.4

The Fifty Seventh Cider

Old Mout Cider; Scrumpy

Kiwi (New Zealand); 8% Alcohol Content.

$4.99 (AUD); Dan Murphy's (West Perth, WA)

Upon registering in my mind that this cider was scrumpy I prepared myself for a negative experience. With that said, maybe it’s just the fact that my expectations were so low, but I really enjoyed this cider! It is not very carbonated, but the taste is wonderful. No scrumpiness (ie; bitterness/ vinegar flavor/ general crappy taste) and better than the original Old Mout Cidre, or more accurately, it has a more singular taste.

Rating 8.6

56

Herrljunga +46

Swedish; 4.5% Alcohol Content.

$11.99 (AUD; Six Pack); Dan Murphy's (Kelmscott, WA)

Herrljunga +46 Apple Cider is a very sweet candy apple cider. I wish I knew what the ‘+46’ or even the ‘Herrljunga’ means. But honestly, this cider is just too sweet, too standard, and too candy flavored. I like the description, “Created by Herrljunga, brewed in the Kingdom of Sweden, from European apples.”

Rating 6.6

Cider Numba Fifty Five!

Kopparberg Apple Cider

Sweedish; 4.5% Alcohol Content.

$5.99 (AUD); Dan Murphy's (Kelmscott, WA)

Another Sweedish cider that tastes like taking a bite out of an apple. Not my ideal cider, but solidly in the average range; just not carbonated enough and too sweet for me.

Rating 6.8

54

Heil Cider

German; 5.3% Alcohol Content.

$3.99 (AUD); Corkers Cellars (East Victoria Park, WA)

I believe that this is first German cider that I have ever tried and given the German expertise in beer, I expected a high quality cider. However, while not a bad cider, once again, this one is just standard. Solid, but not great in every category that matters to me; good apple taste, light on the carbonation, no aftertaste. It’s actually a bit like slightly carbonated alcoholic apple juice.

Rating 7.1

Cider Fifty Three

Black Rat Cider

English; 4.7% Alcohol Content.

$3.99 (AUD); Corkers Cellars (East Victoria Park, WA)

Not bad, but nothing spectacular; a pretty average cider. It has moderate carbonation and a slightly bitter aftertaste. It has a disconcerting name/ packaging combination… it looks like the ‘home brand’ of ciders. This cider is in a can, and until now, I thought that the aluminum tinge improved the cider experience, but it just turns out that the other canned ciders I sampled were good and happened to be in a can. This is ok at best.

Rating 7

52

Harvest Gisborne

Kiwi (New Zealand); 4.7% Alcohol Content.

$3.50 (NZD); Super Liquor (Auckland City, New Zealand)

This cider was bizarre because of the incredibly high levels of carbonation; I actually could not put my finger on a taste because there was so much foam and fizz filling my mouth with each sip, no matter how small or slow. I think it tasted good, but honestly, I was never certain.

Rating 6.6

Cider #51.

Johnny Arrow

Kiwi (New Zealand); 4.5% Alcohol Content.

$2.50 (NZD); Super Liquor (Auckland City, New Zealand)

I cannot remember why I did not write more about Johnny Arrow at the time that I drank it, but it was a pretty run of the mill hard apple cider, nothing too great, nothing too terrible… nothing ventured, nothing gained. The label is pretty cool though.

Rating 7.5

50! Fifty! The Fiftieth Hard Apple Cider!

Whew, half way home and it has been a battle. I'm not sure if I'll make it to 100 ciders, but it will be closer than the doubters would have believed. To commemorate number fifty, I'll switch gears and jump down to New Zealand for a few ciders.

The next three ciders were each hastily (partially) consumed at a bus stop on Karangahape Road (commonly known as K' Road) in Auckland. Normally, I am not a street drinker, but I bought these ciders during a 12 hour layover in the fine Kiwi city and I could not resist checking out the local cider scene.



'Sweet As' Cider

Kiwi (New Zealand); 9% Alcohol Content.

$2 (NZD); Super Liquor (Auckland City, New Zealand)

'Sweet As' Cider (SAC) has a very unique taste; almost like a sweet champagne. The taste is enjoyable, but unlike any cider I have ever tasted before, the high alcohol and carbonation truly make SAC an apple champagne in a can. SAC has a few aesthetic benefits as well; for starters the name is awesome and very culturally relevant; secondly, it's in a can which is always unique and a little fun; finally, SAC is super cheap! $2 in New Zealand is about $1.70 in Australia which is unheard of for a cider, unheard of for anything except an old can of Foster's.

Rating 7.9

The 49th Cider.

Hornsby's Draft Cider

American; 6% Alcohol Content.

$6.99 (USD(For a six pack!)); Schnucks (Ladue, Missouri, USA)

Hornsby Draft Cider is not bad; a little light on the carbonation and slightly bitter in its aftertaste, but a generally good cider and definitely the best American cider that I have tried thusfar; which is not saying a whole lot, but I gotta root for the US to have at least a decent cider... can’t beat the price either!

Rating 7.7

Number 48!

Farnum Hill Extra Dry Cider

American; 7.5% Alcohol Content.

$13.99 (USD); The Wine & Cheese Place (Clayton, Missouri, USA)

This cider is definitely scrumpy in taste, but there is something else intriguing in the taste; something that I cannot define. For Cate’s take, “Yuck! Actually, it’s not bad, but not good.” That pretty much sums up my feelings towards Farnum Hill Cider as well; part of me likes it, but most of me does not.

Rating 6.8

47.

Oliver's Herefordshire Dry Cider (Matured 8 Months in Oak Casks)

English; 8.1% Alcohol Content.

$9.99 (USD); The Wine & Cheese Place (Clayton, Missouri, USA)

Upon pouring this concoction to share with my family, I instantly had a bad feeling as there was no carbonation at all. Once the liquid hit my lips, my suspicions were confirmed. This cider is beyond scrumpy; in fact there’s almost no apple flavor at all… This cider is somewhere between a dry white wine and olive juice/ vinegar. I should have read the label before I drank it to prepare myself… “A very astringent intense tasting cider that lingers in the mouth." Correct me if I'm wrong but 'astringent' is not a word that I ever want to associate with anything I put in my mouth, let alone drink to supposedly enjoy. This was one of the worst cider experiences I have ever had.

Rating 5.4

Cider Forty Six

Oliver's Herefordshire Dry Cider (Bottle Conditioned)

English; 8.1% Alcohol Content.

$12.99 (USD); The Wine & Cheese Place (Clayton, Missouri, USA)

Very woody taste, still a bit odd however. The apple taste is almost hidden beneath the slight scrumpiness; it’s better than the other Oliver’s, but still not good.

Rating 6

Number 45...

Kerisac Hard Cider

French; 2.5% Alcohol Content.

$7.99 (USD); The Wine & Cheese Place (Clayton, Missouri, USA)

Kerisac Hard Cider is a sweet, sparkling apple cider that has an imperceptible dash of alcohol. Tasty, but not special and reminiscent of Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Cider.

Rating 7.3

The 44th Cider

Ace Joker Hard Cider

American; 6.9% Alcohol Content.

$4.29 (USD); The Wine & Cheese Place (Clayton, Missouri, USA)

Imagine with me for a moment; you are drinking a standard hard apple cider and all the while, you are sucking on a freshly hewn block of Pine or Oak, maybe even Jarrah. That’s what Ace Joker Hard Cider tastes like. Cate says, “it tastes a bit like fermented watermelon… in a bad way.” I’m not sure if I would recommend it, it’s not bad, but certainly a bit odd.

Rating 7.1

Forty Three

Crispin Cider: Lansdowne

American; 6.5% Alcohol Content.

$5.49 (USD); The Wine & Cheese Place (Clayton, Missouri, USA)

My initial reaction: “this tastes like burnt caramel popcorn… with alcohol.” The cider is very unusual both in color and taste. Strong molasses and stout beer flavors, while still maintaining an apple cider feel/ taste/ vibe. If you like stout beers or scrumpy ciders, then this might be a good pick for you, but it is absolutely not for everyone.

Rating 6.9

42

Overall, my USA cider experience was underwhelming. There were certainly many different varieties, most of which I had neither seen nor heard of in my cider blogging days, but sadly, in this case, diversity did not equal quality, just a lot of different kinds of mediocrity. Thankfully, the worst cider that I tasted was English… I just bought it in America. Enjoy the next few reviews!

Crispin Cider: Honey Crisp

American; 6.5% Alcohol Content.

$5.49 (USD); The Wine & Cheese Place (Clayton, Missouri, USA)

Crispin Honey Crisp is a color that I have never confronted when drinking cider. It looks like a cloudy apple juice, but paler. Surprisingly, given its name, it lacks a distinctive taste of honey or apple for that matter. Another disappointing American cider, especially given the quality of their packaging/ marketing.

Rating 6.2