19 July 2014

Stella Artois Cidre Raspberry [By @SpectreUK]



This new Stella Artois Cidre Raspberry was made with hand-picked raspberries to a Belgian recipe. Stella Artois very kindly sent me four bottles to try. It must be a birthday present, as it's birthday today. Therefore I decided to have two bottles. On opening the bright red liquid filled bottles I could smell a sharpe twang of raspberries with undertones of Cidre ("not cider" as the adverts state). There was a healthy cheerful fizz on pouring this Cidre Raspberry into my almost sheepish beer mug. My beer mug is used to all manners of beers, ales and stouts, so cider or Cidre touching my tastebuds is almost a rarity. I'm not saying I don't like cider (Cidre). Not at all. It's the bitterness in beers, ales and some stouts which I like that often leaves the sweetness or dryness of ciders on the shelf. The other beverages are complementary for snacking also, whereas a Cidre Raspberry sounds like it would more likely wash down a fruity dessert with lashings of cream. Not that a fruity healthy yet creamy pudding doesn't float my boat or anything, but I'm traditionally a late night ale and bowl of crisps kind of guy. Well not tonight. A change is as good as a holiday as they say. So I filled my rather surprised beer mug with the first 330ml bottle at 4% volume of fruity sweet fizzy Cidre and took a hefty glug. I was quite taken aback by the sweetness as the bubbles tickled my tongue. The crushed raspberries are definitely the dominant flavour, but the Cidre was definately apparent throughout the drinking, from the initial bouquet to the sharpened tip of the aftertaste. I was at first concerned that this would be a drink that would be more appropriate to the feminine touch, and I was happily wrong. I was concerned that this drink may be too much like a fizzy pop drink, and I was most certainly wrong. So happy birthday to me, and thanks to Stella Artois!
By Spectre

1 comment:

krnries said...

They were at the Tatton Park Foodies Festival today, so we tried a sample - very drinkable :)