PULPT Flare Cider (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

It's rare I write about cider. I have a pork belly roast tonight with crackling on top. Cider goes best with pork, so I have opted for this PULPT Flare - Cider without compromise.

At 4.6% in volume, the bottle states that this is a balanced and easy going cider. PULPT say Flare is not just any run of the mill cider. I hope they're right. This is not just any run of the mill dinner. Pork belly roast is one of my favourite meals, and I like my cider sweet, and definitely not too dry.

On opening the bottle there was a sweet apple cider aroma. Flare is a fizzy cider, not too fizzy, just an excitable buzz. On first taste Flare is sweet and mildly alcoholic. This cider is finely balanced with a touch of dryness into the aftertaste.

Flare went perfectly washing down my lovely pork belly meal, and I had lots of roast potatoes, veg, apple sauce and English Mustard on the side. Cheers.

Lilley’s Piña Colada Cider (Morrison’s) By @SpectreUK

It's a lovely sunny day outside and I have scampi and chips for dinner tonight. I used to joke with an ex-boss that whilst working at home during the lockdowns he was drinking Pina Colladas in the garden. This Lilley's Piña Colada Cider is a 3.4% in volume fusion of pineapple and coconut blended with Somerset cider. I'm hoping it's going to wash down my fishy dish a treat tonight.

I was given a Piña Colada in a restaurant once that was ordered by someone by mistake. I tasted it surreptitiously and realised that it had so much alcohol in it that if I had a second sip I'd be over the limit for driving. So, unfortunately, I gave it back. I think the waiter drank it surreptitiously after that, as he was a little bit wobbly for the rest of the meal.

On opening the bottle of this Lilley's Piña Colada Cider, there was a subtle fizz followed by a summer aroma of apple cider, pineapple and a little coconut in the background. This murky fresh lemonade coloured cider tasted funnily enough of pineapple and coconut and cider apple, there was an extra sweet hit of pineapple into the aftertaste.

Not as alcoholic as the one I was given in the restaurant, this ridiculously moreish flavoured cider was so good, I could quite drink it all night. Well, I am at home, and my car keys are resting this evening. I just need some more bottles.

Aldi 99p Taurus Bubblegum & Sherbet Lemon [@NLi10]

I visited my parents for Fathers Day this weekend, and had to pick some bits up from Aldi on the way - and I saw some suspect cider to try. 

At 99p a can it’s hardly luxurious gift cider, but as a post dinner aperitif it’s a lot of fun

Well - post pudding anyway.

First up - bubblegum! And it does smell like bubblegum, and it tastes like the blue stuff they add to ice-cream. Unfortunately it’s on top of the cheap, rough Taurus cider. It’s fine - I mean it’s what I expected. Would be better with ice and a festival.

This is more of a pudding cider, a hit of sherbet and lemon in the same cider.  I think it elevates it a little, but it’s still not a smooth experience.

And the stats confirm - it’s a can of cider! 

For the price these are fine, stick them on the table at a BBQ and they’d certainly all get opened, but I bet some of the sweeter ones wouldn’t get finished.

Rekorderlig Blood Orange (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

It's rare I fancy a cider, and it's even rarer if it's a flavoured cider. I've tried flavoured ciders before and rarely like them. However, a nice sweet cider washing down a pork meal of some kind usually works rather well. I have a Chinese takeaway tonight where I always have Pork Yuk Sung, so it seems like a good idea to crack open this Rekorderlig Blood Orange pear cider.

This premium Swedish pear cider is 4% in volume and was blended with Blood Oranges, and made from pure Swedish spring water. A hot day like this deserves a nice cold drink. The bottle recommended serving this Rekorderlig Blood Orange pear cider with some ice and a slice of orange. No oranges to hand and with a certain laziness in finding some ice, I left the bottle in the fridge for much of the day.

On opening the bottle of this Rekorderlig Blood Orange pear cider there was a strong smell of oranges with a milder aroma of pear cider. On pouring this lightly fizzy drink it was orange to almost pinkish in colour. Gosh this is a refreshing cider, full of sweet blood orange flavour with a touch of bitterness from the pear cider just nudging behind it. This cider is perfect for a lazy sunny afternoon with a good book in the garden. It also went rather well with my Pork Yuk Sung too.

Cherry Gusto Cola & Gingerbread Cider! By @NLi10

 Happy New Year! Here are a few oddities I’ve had recently to celebrate.

Gusto organic make a load of lovely social soft drinks - I had the Real Cherry Cola with my post-Christmas Pieminister Mistlemoo

The combination was surprisingly successful with the fruitiness of the pie and the drink working together nicely.

It’s brewed like Fentimans so it’s nicely strong.

And this is also brewed - gingerbread cider!

I only had a half as it looked like Scrumpy - and I was right. It needed a little more sweetness - the gingerbread house is made of sugar too you know! Nice though - but you don’t need more than a half…

Jack Ratt Barrel Select Cider (Lyme Bay Winery) By @SpectreUK

I've loved every mead that I have tried that has been produced by the Lyme Bay Winery, and there has been quite a few. I especially adore their flagons of mead, of which I order quite a few to enjoy with my favourite fig biscuits after dinner. This 8% in volume Jack Ratt Barrel Select Cider should go down a treat with those very same fig biscuits.

Jack Ratt Barrel Select Cider Is made with West Country cider apples and aged in oak barrels that previously held spiced rum. I would think that would be Lyme Bay Winery's Lugger Rum, which I've also enjoyed a few tots of in the past. The back of the Jack Ratt bottle states it "has a bittersweet flavour with a smooth rounded finish." It recommends pork dishes and caramelised vegetables. Unfortunately I have neither for dinner. Alternatively I have a sirloin steak and chips. I usually prefer to wash a steak down with a stout. Oh, well… I'm still going to try Jack Ratt Barrel Select Cider with my fig biscuits instead.

On opening the bottle there was a spicy smell mixed with a bitter apple cider aroma. On taste this cider has quite a kick from the barrel's rum and spices. There is a warming flavoursome bitterness to begin with, which would be perfect for the Autumn and Winter months. This spicy bitterness smooths out with a slightly tart cider apple flavour. The combination of warming bitter spices and apple cider went very well together and complemented my fig biscuits rather well.

This is a still cider. I probably should have mentioned that previously. I don't know whether a sparkling cider would suit the bitter spices more. It's something I'd like to try anyway…

Jack Ratt Cyser: Cider & Mead (Lyme Bay Winery @LBWdrinksltd) By @SpectreUK

I've been ordering in my flagons of mead from the Lyme Bay Winery for a few months now. They are quick on delivery. My last order included some extra interesting treats. This Cyser blend of sparkling Mead and traditional Scrumpy cider offers "a crisp, clean and unique flavour." I do love my mead from the Lyme Bay Winery, and I am partial to the odd glass of cider now and then.

This 4% in volume Cyser has a strong sweet honeyed apple cider aroma. Cheerfully sparkling this cider and mead combination tastes like a sweet strong Scrumpy cider. The added mead takes a bit of a backseat to the strong Scrumpy cider, blending with the apples subtly adding sweetness for a distraction from the usual sourness of the apples. It's certainly very flavoursome combination indeed and I'd have Cyser again. It went very well indeed with my traditional pork schnitzel meal at dinner time.

Bulmers Crushed Red Berries & Lime Cider (Co-Op) By @SpectreUK

Well it is a little brighter outside, a little warmer... maybe, so I thought I'd try a spring sounding cider to blowout the icy cobwebs of winter. This Bulmers Crushed Red Berries & Lime Cider sounds like a refreshing treat. Although it has sour cherries in it, it also has lime juice, elderberry juice, blueberry juice, strawberry juice, and raspberry juice in it, so it can't be too bad!? Though I hate cherries, and I always have.... so hopefully the rest of the fruits will drown out the flavour.

I once stayed in a posh hotel some years back that had the most pretentious puddings on the dinner menu. The only pudding I could pick out was a bowl of cherries and shortbread biscuits on the side. It really was that desperate. I thought; "how big can the bowl of cherries be?" It turned out that it was more like a bucket of cherries and I had to pop the seeds out too. I managed to eat some of the bucket, but passed it on to Cinabar, and had to make do with a really small biscuit for my dessert.

Anyway, on opening the bottle of this 4% in volume Bulmers Crushed Red Berries & Lime cider there was a cheerful refreshing sounding fizz. There was a strong fruity smell of a cacophony of berries and sweet apple cider at the back of the aroma. This deep red apple cider tastes predominantly of cherries. There are other berries trying to fight their way through the cherry flavour. There is even some hints of lime underneath all those cherries. There may have even been at little apple cider right at the end of the flavour just beyond the aftertaste... but the cherries knocked me off my seat. There was no coming back from that. I was immediately drowning in that bucket of cherries again. Bucket of cherries ahoy, drowning in cherries here... help, help... glug... glug... bubbles... goner!

Älska Strawberry Lime Cider (Aldi @alskacider) By @SpectreUK

Here is a cider that hid itself on a shelf in my beer fridge all of the summer. I'm not much of a cider drinker. I don't mind the odd bottle here and there, and flavoured ciders usually interest me more than regular brands. This Älska Strawberry Lime Cider was made by the Swedish Cider Company. At 4% volume it is a pear cider blended with natural fruit flavourings of strawberries and lime. That sounds like a pretty good flavour combination. I'm sure I've had something similar recently, but I just can't put my finger on it.

Apparently Älska means 'love' in Swedish, so hopefully that's the way I'll feel about this cider. On opening the bottle there was a cheerful fizz that made me smile after a long week at work. Things are very busy indeed and I seem to have a lot of projects on in various stages, which makes time fly by. So I need something refreshing this evening to wash away the work blues on a Friday night. The strong natural smell of strawberries made me think back to warm summer nights, and there was a touch of lime at the back of the aroma to add an extra zing.

This bright almost fluorescent pink cider showed just how strong the strawberries were in the ingredients. On taste the strawberries were ever present from beginning to end. There was a light touch of alcoholic pear cider just underneath that sheer weight of strawberries, and just a dot or two of lime to give the flavour a sour edge as the predominantly strawberry cider travelled into the aftertaste. This is one of those alcoholic drinks I always feel could be mistaken for a alcopop. I can't help wondering what it could taste like frozen in a lolly. Having said that it tastes great. You do need to like strawberries though. And, hey, I'm an adult (sort of) so I can drink an alcoholic pop drink that predominantly tastes of strawberries. So there…!

Rekorderlig Passionfruit Cider (Morrison’s) By @SpectreUK

I may have left this Rekorderlig Premium Swedish Cider Passionfruit flavour a little late in the year to savour. The weather seems to have turned here today, although not rainy it's certainly colder and windier. Good for working out and doing weights in the kitchen, not so great for drinking a refreshing summer fruity flavoured cider.

This pear cider blended with passionfruit was made from Swedish spring water. At 4% volume it is gluten free and Vegan friendly. The back of the bottle recommends serving this Rekorderlig Passionfruit over ice and with a squeeze of lime. Well I'm afraid I'm all out of lime and I've got the heating on at the moment trying to warm me up after cooling myself down from my hot bath earlier, so I'm all out of ice too.

I miss the sauna and steam room at the gym so much that I've taken to having a really hot bath to start with to soak up all the heat. I generally overheat pretty quickly possibly due to the amount of exercise I do, so I then get rid of more than two-thirds of the hot water replacing it with cold to try not to sweat so much after I've washed myself down and got out of the bath. There's nothing worse than getting out of a really hot bath and then sweating your own private shower. It always makes the bath so worthwhile!

Anyway, I digress… I thought I'd cool myself down further with a refreshing summery sounding flavoured cider. Rekorderlig Passionfruit has been sitting way too long in my beer fridge (er… cider fridge, ah… who am I kidding… beer fridge!). On opening the bottle there was a cheerful fizz and a strong smell of pears mixed with passionfruit. Strangely I was expecting this cider to be a pinkish colour, but it was more or less transparent. On taste this pear and passionfruit cider couldn't be mistaken for a child's pop drink. It's full of pear fruitiness with an alcoholic kick of a strong cider. There is a tartness at the back of the flavour from the blended in passionfruit just as my palate enters the aftertaste. This is a really lip smacking fruity flavoursome cider. It may not sound like a tough guy's drink, but I can't see why anyone would dislike it. I hope I can pick up another bottle or two of this Rekorderlig Passionfruit in the future.

Rhubarb & Pink Grapefruit Premium Cider (Aldi) By @SpectreUK

I may have mentioned a few times in the past how much I love the flavour of rhubarb. Even earlier this week I wrote about how much I'd enjoyed a glass of rhubarb mead wine. Well I also love grapefruit juice too. I have it on some mornings for breakfast these days. I used to have it for a treat by the bucket load to wash down my vast English Breakfasts whilst staying in a hotel. Unfortunately it'll be a long time before we go on holiday somewhere, probably later on next year.
I've decided that I'll drink more grapefruit juice when I get back to regular work. I used to eat a banana for breakfast, and another with my lunch, but I'm on strict calorie counting ad infinitum due to the rehabilitation of my knee and keeping my weight down, so will most likely go with a liquid breakfast when I get back to regular day to day life in general.
This Rhubarb & Pink Grapefruit Premium Cider appeals to both my love of rhubarb and my love of grapefruit juice. The Swedish Cider Company, Älska, created this Vegan friendly, gluten free, 4% volume rhubarb and pink grapefruit flavoured pear cider. I also like pear cider, so all good here in the description, but what does it taste like?
On opening the can there was a cheerful fizz. It's been an extremely hot afternoon and after my usual weights and mat exercises this morning I could really do with something that refreshes me, as well as a few extra calories to help wash down the protein from my tuna sandwich and Scotch Egg on the side. There was a heavy smell of pink grapefruit with a little rhubarb and pear at the back of the aroma. On taste this pinkish fizzy cider has an initial strong flavour of pink grapefruit. The sourness from the pink grapefruit is soothed almost immediately by a sweetness from the rhubarb and a faint alcoholic buzz and fruitiness from the pear cider.
This Rhubarb & Pink Grapefruit Premium Cider is definitely a keeper. I'll have to get a few more cans in. Here are some of my all time favourite flavours wrapped in a 330ml can of refreshing goodness. It is perfect for a lazy afternoon in the sun with a good book, or on a hot steamy night with a good thriller on the box. Personally I enjoyed it cold, on it's own, and not on the rocks!

Rekorderlig Botanicals Rhubarb Lemon Mint (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK

We seem to be well into the storm season this month. A storm last weekend and a storm this weekend. Storm Dennis didn't sound too bad until people started are calling it Dennis the Menace! Although I still think they should name storms more appropriately such as 'Storm Hades" or 'Storm Death Monger', but that's just me.

Anyway, I thought I'd go off the wall completely this weekend with this pear cider. Made with Swedish spring water Rekorderlig Botanicals Rhubarb Lemon Mint is a 4% volume welcome break to my mind from the howling wind and rain outside. Trying not to think of the snow and flood warnings, this rhubarb and lemon blended cider should bring about thoughts of early Spring, especially with its added hint of mint. So I'll put some headphones on in an attempt to drown out the rain battering at the window nearby.

On opening the bottle there was a light cheerful fizz from the pinkish liquid inside. To go with the colour of the liquid there is a dominant aroma of rhubarb. I do love the smell and taste of rhubarb. I used to grow it at the last place we lived at, so I may have to do some planting this Spring time in the garden here. I used to have a decent sugary pudding or two from the stems and then a lovely rhubarb juice drink to wash it down with.

On taste this Rekorderlig Botanicals Rhubarb Lemon Mint does taste predominantly of rhubarb. It has a lovely sweet rhubarb flavour mixed with pear, offset slightly by the blended lemon and then there is a refreshing mint flavour into the aftertaste. It was hard to put my glass down after the first swig. I could imagine myself in the garden on a Spring or Summer's afternoon drinking quite a few of these whilst reading a good book. So bring on some warmer weather!

Rosie's Pig Raspberry Roller Cider (Morrisons) By @SpectreUK

I've written about "Rosie's Pig" flavoured ciders before. I've written about the damson flavoured cider and also the rhubarb flavoured cider. This Raspberry Roller is flavoured with not only raspberries, but cucumber too. This feels like a real summer cider, so I might be a bit late writing about it, but better late than never… I hope!

Fruit flavoured ciders and beers can often be overpowered by the fruit, and I've had a few in the past that have been completely drowned by the fruit and ended up tasting like a fizzy pop drink. Produced by Weston & Sons; Raspberry Roller is made with fresh pressed Herefordshire apples, which have been slowly matured and left unfiltered for a stronger flavour, so I'm not too worried here…

On opening the can there was a light fizz to this 4% volume pinkish red cider, and a well balanced smell of both cider apple and raspberry. This aroma was predominantly cider apple followed by raspberries. I'm expecting the cucumber flavour to be drowned out here in the flavour. On taste the cider apples have a strong kick and then the sweetness arrived on my tastebuds from the raspberries. There is cucumber here, though right at the back of the flavour. I probably wouldn't have been able to pick it out if I hadn't have seen it mentioned on the can.

This is a very flavoursome and tasty refreshing fruit cider, which I should have probably drank earlier when it was a bit hotter outside. However, I will enjoy it tonight instead.

Brothers Rhubarb & Custard English Cider (Aldi) By @SpectreUK

The weather has been glorious today. After a good long session on the weights at the gym, I had a swim in the outdoor pool as usual. There were lots of lovely ladies in bikinis lounging around getting tans and lots of kids playing in the children's side of the pool. It honestly felt like I was on holiday somewhere in the Mediterranean.

I came back home, had a huge tuna sandwich, dozed off afterwards in the heat over a good(ish) book, and then we've just come back from a long walk up the canal. It's still really hot. Why am I telling you all this? Well, I need something cool, possibly a refreshing cider to drink now, and I still can't bring myself to fancy this Brothers Rhubarb & Custard English Cider!

Now I like cider, as you may know. I like rhubarb. I like custard. All three of them in a 330ml bottle just don't sound very appetising to me. The problem is that they come in a four pack. Cinabar probably bought them as a punishment for something. The bottle of this 4% volume cider from Showerings Cider Mill, in Shepton Mallet, doesn't mention as to how they produce this cider with custard, and I'm not even going to contemplate it. It reminds me of a cartoon back in my childhood called Rhubarb and Custard, which when I tried to watch an episode recently, it seemed that you needed to be very drunk to understand what was going on. Perhaps that's why it's a four pack?

On opening the bottle there was a pleasant fizz. There was a strong smell of rhubarb, and if I'm not mistaken a creamy smell after it, with cider apples at the back of the aroma. This ultra pink and murky cider glugged menacingly into my waiting glass. It was at this moment I remembered that when I eat rhubarb as a sugary pudding, I like it without custard. I took a sip. It really does taste like rhubarb and custard, with cider apples for afters. I still have three bottles unopened.

Cornish Orchards Blush Cider (@cornishorchards @glouc_services) By @SpectreUK

Well it's been fairly hot and humid today. The sun has been trying to poke through the clouds and I've had a lazy day resting from the gym. I fancy a cider for a change. This Blush Cider from the Cornish Orchards, was practically sitting up and begging in my beer fridge to be drank. At 4% volume and lauded for its raspberry aroma and fruity flavour, it sounds like a refreshing treat to cheer me up.

I hurt my ankle a little a couple of days ago during weight lifting, and then upset my knee during a physiotherapy appointment. Sometimes your body needs a rest, as well as your heart and mind to try to conquer doubts. Recovery of any kind, say from my knee operation, can be both frustrating and punishing on all parts of the human psyche. You have to step back and rest, whilst trying to stay positive, and then sometimes attack issues from different angles.

Anyway, on opening the can of this Blush Cider there was a pleasing fizz from the carbonated contents. There was a fruity smell akin to raspberries from the deep pink cider, and a luscious sweet fruity taste with a little bitter cider apple at the back of the flavour. It's not often I'd recommend drinking a cider or anything else over ice, but refreshing as this Blush Cider already is, the weather is a little more humid than I'd prefer.

I'd definitely like to have a few more cans of this cider in my beer fridge though. A deck chair, some suntan lotion (yes, I even burn under clouds), a good book, and several Blush Ciders would make for a perfect lazy afternoon in the garden.

Smirnoff Cider with Raspberry & Pomegranate (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK

I was talking to some guys in the changing room this morning at the gym. Don't worry… we were all fully clothed (if not a little sweaty from our various workouts). We were talking about weight loss and how many calories there are in beer and cider. We all agreed we still like a drink now and then. Let's face it, it would kill my Saturday night blogs if I didn't. Besides everything in moderation, especially if you workout beforehand and are still burning calories hours later from various one minute burnout exercises when you pop the bottle open.

The one guy said that his friend's son-in-law was 39 stone and drank two bottles of vodka a day! I don't know which will get him first; the heart attack or liver failure. The last time I drank vodka was in my late teens. I decided in one of my less brighter moments that to get drunk really fast I would neck a bottle of Smirnoff. It was a 350ml bottle and went down slower than it came back up later on that night, I can tell you! I haven't touched the stuff since. Not through fear or anything, just because I'm more of a rum or whisky type of guy. I generally have them to spruce up a glass of lemonade these days. Besides beer is always my first love where booze is concerned.

This deep pink coloured Smirnoff Cider with Raspberry & Pomegranate fruit flavours seems like a good compromise from the almost tasteless distilled shots. It's lightly carbonated, served in a 500ml bottle and at 4% volume I won't see my last meal again. It smells mainly of a strong mixture of raspberry and pomegranate, which isn't surprising considering the colour. Scarily though it smells like something healthy you may drink with your breakfast (hair of the dog?), rather than giggling with friends on a night out. There is a hint of cider apple in the taste though, which is predominately fruity raspberry and pomegranate. There is a hint of something stronger in there too. That unmistakable hint that someone added a shot to your drink, trying to trip you up, when you are off dancing with the women they're sweet on at the same time… Ah, the good ole' nightclub days…

Katy Apple & Rhubarb Cider (Marks & Spencer) By @SpectreUK

I seem to be a little lost for words today. I could talk about the weather, which is cold and a little overcast. Not great for cider, such as this Spring feeling Katy Apple & Rhubarb Cider from the Woollen Farm, in Kent. There was not much heat in the outside pool whilst I was swimming after my weights at the gym today. I gave a little chuckle when the sun poked out of the clouds for a moment and a mom and dad with toddlers jumped in and then promptly jumped out again.

A day out at Ludlow Castle yesterday had left me in so much pain in my knee that I didn't think I'd be able to do any weights today. I even felt a little nauseous from it whilst driving to the gym. I push myself. You have to. Without discipline anyone who is going through any rehabilitation will tell you that you won't stand a chance. I got up to 30kg for two sets on the Seated Leg Curl for my hamstrings without pain. I don't even remember a time I reached that level before both operations on my knee over the last four years. I just had to catch myself for a while. It's difficult to control my emotions sometimes. Even writing this now. I managed to do all my other weights and cardio, even finishing with a fairly brisk walk on a machine after my physiotherapist had encouraged me to do so a couple of days ago. I didn't have to catch myself then though. It was the first time I'd ever been on a walking machine. It'll probably take sometime to get used to the sensation, as it feels like I'm walking backwards…!

So, what have I got here? Cider, yes… Katy Apple & Rhubarb Cider. I do like cider, of course, I prefer ale, but the amount of time I spend in the sauna these days, I do often need something refreshing to cool me down. I do like rhubarb also. We had a few rhubarb plants at the last house. Each year they would yield one pudding for three people and one glass of rhubarb juice, which I always drank. Not much, you may think, but it all tasted really good!

Made with Katy apple juice, Timperley Early and Queen Victoria Rhubarb this 4% volume lightly sparkling cider has a slightly pinkish glow to it on pouring. The cider apple shines through in the aroma first with a sweetness from the rhubarb behind it. Gosh this Katy Apple & Rhubarb Cider is crisp. It's got a knife edge sourness from the cider apple to start with followed by a tart sweetness from the rhubarb into the aftertaste. Mmm… I'll kick back and enjoy this cider for a while, and hopefully Cinabar will treat me to another few cans when the lady's tennis starts to get interesting!

Twisted Tree Hopped Cider (Aldi) By @SpectreUK

This Hopped Cider rings a bell. I thought I'd written about this cider before. Cinabar informed me that was a different hopped cider. I know I write a lot of beer blogs, and a few cider blogs, but hopped cider seems quite rare to me. Hops added to cider is more of a taste thing, perhaps, rather than a necessary preservative. However, saying that if hops were just a preservative for beer and not a taste thing, I guess there would only be one type of hops used in beer… Anyway, cider lasts quite a long time without hops, so I guess it's a taste thing here.

I'd like to say I know a lot about this Hopped Cider, produced by Twisted Tree, but the writing on the back of the can was a kind of massed together white typeface on a light blue background. So I couldn't read it very well. Although Cinabar could read it, so maybe my old eyes are going? Anyway better to taste the cider instead, I guess…

At 4% volume this Hopped Cider smells like the innards of a sweet apple pie. It really does, I'm not pulling your leg. It seemed a shame to start drinking it, this Hopped Cider smelt so good. It made me think of a good hot pudding after a Sunday Roast. Strange though because on taste the sweetness is quickly replaced by the herbal hops, which spring to the fore and then in turn bring out the slightly sour cider apple flavours into the aftertaste. From first smell I thought I'd be recommending this Hopped Cider as a sweet pudding cider, but it'll probably go well with any white meat or spicy meal, or enjoyed clinking glasses together after a good day out with friends.

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Cider (DegustaboxUK) By @SpectreUK

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Cider

This could be one of those moments in life when I try something I didn't like many years before, and suddenly find out that my tastebuds have changed and I like it now. The last time was with Earl Grey Tea, which was quite a long while ago. Degusta kindly sent me this Jack Daniel's Tennessee Cider to try. Little do they know that when I used to drink "chasers" when I was a young lad (late teens, I guess) to try to get drunk as quickly as possible… I know… probably stupid, but you're only young once… It didn't take many chasers though and usually involved me being ill before the night was through, so I stopped doing it pretty early on. Besides, it was really expensive! Anyway, I tried all manners of spirits after each beer and liked Jack Daniel's the very least. I always thought it smelt like the liquid my dad used to clean paint brushes in…

Anyway, this Jack Daniel's Tennessee Cider is described as a "crisp apple cider blended with Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whisky." A description that made me hope that "crisp" meant really strong! I was hoping this cider would scream "apples!" at me on opening the bottle and on first taste. The aroma after the fizz didn't disappointment me. There was definitely a crisp cider apple smell, and only the merest hint of Jack Daniel's. In fact if it didn't have Jack Daniel's on the front of the bottle I probably wouldn't have noticed. "What's the point?" I may hear you say… "I don't know, someone sent it to me, I didn't buy it, I just figured I'd blog about it though…"

On taste the Jack Daniel's was much more prominent. There's Jack Daniel's on first taste and biting away at the back of the cider apples all the way through the flavour. There is also that Jack Daniel's fairly heavy whisky flavour right into the aftertaste. However, the cider apples bite the Jack Daniel's right back all the way through each mouthful, so there's a battle of flavours here no-one seems to win, asides the drinker maybe. On a cold, damp and dreary day like this, it's certainly warming and doesn't taste that bad at all. I don't think I'll switch back to spirits anytime soon, but I wouldn't mind another one of these on a dark stormy night to blast the chills away!

Wicked Grove Cider (Aldi) By @SpectreUK

May I be the first of us to welcome you to the spooky Halloween season (which is about two weeks of blogging). Bwuh hah hah haaaa! I seriously had to wrestle an alcoholic pumpkin for this Wicked Grove Cider. He was really quite strong! It harkens from an ancient grove hidden in the Vermont countryside which was full of bewitched apple trees. The apples from the grove were said to have produced the first Wicked Grove Cider, of which this beverage is a recreation. The brewer may have lost the grove to time or the trees themselves were uprooted and pulled through a portal into an enchanted realm! I'll leave you to ponder that while I find a bottle opener whilst looking out for an inebriated pumpkin.

There was a sweetness from the cider apples on opening the bottle, with sourness at the back of the aroma. I'm not sure how they lightly carbonated ancient Wicked Grove Cider, much the same way as someone invented the jacuzzi whilst they bathed in a nearby duck pond perhaps? Having said that, this is a very pleasant cider. There is sweetness to start with as the bubbles tickled my tastebuds, quickly followed by a tartness that follows into the slightly sour apple aftertaste. Much like the feeling of being followed on a dark windy night through a Wicked Grove… possibly by an angry farmer who doesn't like trespassers, or more likely by a drunken pumpkin!