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What cider are you drinking?


Kpiz
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I drank this cider from Pacory (a Domfrontais producer) tonight and it is excellent. Really nice apple and pear flavors along with the rubber band flavor I love and a finish of concentrated, tannic apple skins.
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  • 1 month later...

I’m trying the Bordelet Brut Tendre for the first time this evening. It clocks in at 5.5%, significantly stronger than the regular Tendre cider. There is definitely some resemblance between the two Tendres, but the Brut is noticeably drier (though not completely dry) and has a pleasant, slight bitterness in the finish. Could use more funk, but overall it’s very tasty.

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Drinking the Bordelet “Sidre Tendre Brut” the other night reminded me that it has been a while since I’ve had the regular “Sidre Tendre” and also how tasty the Bordelet ciders (and poires) are. With the Brut still fresh in my mind I decided to pick up a bottle of the non-Brut to go with dinner tonight.

The Tendre is very tasty, has strong juicy apple flavor and a tannic finish that invites another sip. This is much sweeter than the Brut but is still delicious; it’s only 4% ABV and assuming both start as the same unfermented juice, this means it has quite a bit of residual sugar.

Between the two, I prefer the Brut but the regular Tendre helped kickstart my French cider obsession so I will always have a special place on my shelf and in my stomach for it.

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I went back to the store to pick up another bottle of Bordelet Brut Tendre but they were sold out, so I picked up this little guy instead. It is a hopped apple cider from California wine maker Scar of the Sea. I knew this would be much different than the Bordelet but it came highly recommended from the store worker so I figured it was worth a shot.

It smells great, like fresh flowers and tropical fruit. Not particularly cider-y, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The palate is very floral with mild apple flavor. No sign of the 8% ABV. Thin mouthfeel and the flavor fades rapidly.

Decent effort overall but not one I’ll purchase again - especially at $15 for a 375ml bottle. The store worker also talked up the blueberry cider from this producer but it was also pricey.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Picked up this bottle today and intend to try it this evening. There aren't many French style ciders available in my area, so I jumped on this for $7.99/750ml. Tasting notes to follow later today.

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Picked up this bottle today and intend to try it this evening. There aren't many French style ciders available in my area, so I jumped on this for $7.99/750ml. Tasting notes to follow later today.
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Ooh I’ve never seen that before. Looking forward to your notes.

I had a fairly good Breton cider tonight while dining in London. It was very well priced (£10.50, $13) for a liter bottle and seemed like it would pair well with the fare. It was indeed a food-friendly cider, very (but not completely) dry with good apple flavor, medium carbonation, and a moderately tannic finish that dries the mouth. My only criticisms are that it has a diluted quality and it wasn’t very funky at all. Still good overall.

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3 hours ago, Kpiz said:


Ooh I’ve never seen that before. Looking forward to your notes.
 

Ok, here are my amateur-ish tasting notes:

 

Appearance: Carbonated apple juice

Nose: Apple juice, slight yeasty/dry/grainy scent, very very slight funk, apple skin?

Taste: Dry but not bone dry, good apple flavor, apple skins, wax?, hay/grain. Medium body, moderately carbonated

Finish: Short! Dry and tannic, mildly bitter. There's something in there I can only describe as "cardboard" but in a good way if that makes sense, it's very slight

 

Not as funky as a saison, and the astringency increased as I drank more but it was good. It was especially good for the price IMO, as most local hard ciders are $10-12/750 and more on the sweeter side of the spectrum. I'll probably purchase this one again.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’m back from the UK and settling back into normal, non-holiday life. I was able to try a few ciders while I was over there and the two below were two of the three best by my palate (the third being the Cidre Breton I already posted). I don’t tend to like the British bone-dry style of ciders so I didn’t try too many in pubs and such, just when I saw one that intrigued me or if I needed a non-beer, non-whiskey option. Or if I spotted a Frenchy!

This Hogan’s Cider was fruity and drinkable with just a bit of residual sugar:
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And of course I couldn’t pass up this Cyril Zangs 2015 when I saw it on the menu at a restaurant where we were dining with our London friends. It was very tasty and seems close in profile to the 2013 I tried a while back, though I was starting to get sick at that point in the trip and it seemed a little muted as a result. Everyone else at the table really liked it as well.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This Dan Armor Poire was just $5 at Trader Joe’s, and for that price it was worth taking a shot since there isn’t a wide variety of Poire/Perry available here.

The aromas are a bit light and anonymous with some malty and fruity notes like a Coors Light meets cider. Carbonation is strong and an initial sip reveals an intensely tart and sweet palate. The fruit comes through in the mid-palate with some pear skin flavor. Much less floral than other poires I’ve had, which is a little disappointing to me but which my girlfriend prefers (she doesn’t really like floral flavors at all). It finishes with tart pear with some tannins.

A very straightforward but tasty Poire that is well priced. Too sweet for my taste though it is fortunately tempered by the tartness and tannin. Will definitely buy this again. Goes great with pork chops!

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Hello cider people. Looks like there are about three of you.

 

What are your favorite barrel aged ciders?

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2 hours ago, flahute said:

Hello cider people. Looks like there are about three of you.

 

What are your favorite barrel aged ciders?

 

Now there are four of us. Welcome, Steve! :D

 

I tried a few barrel-aged ciders several years ago when I was first getting into cider and they were all pretty bad, which put me off the BA ones for a while. I'm just starting to look at them again as legitimate options and I think some of the producers (mostly the American ones, which seem to produce the most BA ciders) have risen in quality a lot since then. With that said, I may not be too much help here so hopefully the other guys will chime in.

 

The one BA cider I've had in recent memory that's worth a taste is the Reserve E. Dupont Cider from Domaine Dupont in Normandy. It is aged 6 months in Calvados casks and I recall it being very dry but good. Unfortunately I don't seem to have written any notes on it.

 

Also, Eden Ciders out of Vermont seems to be doing some pretty cool things and they have a few barrel-aged products including ice cider aged in brandy casks and one aged in french oak: https://www.edenciders.com/store/eden-ice-ciders/. They're fairly pricey so I haven't taken a chance on them yet but I plan to do so in the near future.

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That is great info! Thank you Kyle.

I've heard of Eden but have not yet tried them. I am on the hunt now.

Cider aged in Calvados cask sounds really interesting. It's like doubling up.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Forgot to post this Manoir de Grandouet brut from the other night. It is labeled as “cidre fermier” which I think means all the fruit must come from their property but it does not seem to carry an AOC designation, despite the property lying within the Pays d’Auge.

This is a very effervescent cider - it was difficult to even pour a glass of it because the it foamed up so much, and the foam was surprisingly firm and not fleeting.

The smells coming from the glass are very barnyardy...wet hay, a whiff of rubber, and slight apple skins. The taste mostly follows the nose with light apple/pear, hay, and a hint of bandaids. Sweetness is very subdued (which makes sense since it’s a brut, but I’ve had relatively sweet brut ciders as well). It is slightly diluted tasting but the flavors are nice and it’s very refreshing. This would be a good one for a hot day.

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  • 1 month later...

I found this Claque Pépin Cidre Bouche locally and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try a different French cidre. It’s imported by Heavenly Spirits, the same people who import Delord Armagnac.

Smell: crisp, tart apples. I don’t detect much else

Taste: very light. Some crisp, tart apples here again. Mid-palate has some baked apple and a touch of spice. Carbonation is low to moderate.

This is the most boring French Cidre I’ve tried. Nothing stands out as bad, it’s just diluted-tasting and bland. Would probably work ok with food, but I still won’t buy this one again.

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The last cider left me wanting, so I decided to pop this Le Brun Brut Cidre de Bretagne in hopes that it’ll scratch my cider itch.

This is a cidre from the town of Plovan in Brittany, France. Brittany produces a lot of apples (and all related products) though I don’t see too many ciders imported into the US from there.


Smell: apples! And something slightly grassy, maybe hay
Taste: tart and juicy apples from front to back with a little band-aid in the background. Just enough sweetness to contrast the tartness. About average carbonation for a French cidre.

This is good stuff, I’ll definitely buy this again. A steal for $8.98.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I picked up this Lemorton Poiré a couple months ago locally. It was the first time I had seen it for sale in the states and although I may have tried it in France, I couldn’t remember, so I decided to give it a shot. Lemorton is one of the larger (but still family-owned) producers in the Domfrontais, where pears are much more common than the other French cider regions due mainly to the soil type there. For Calvados, to qualify to use the Domfrontais appellation a producer must use at least 30% pears and many producers use more than that.

While ciders can vary quite a bit in color depending upon the apple varieties used, poirés seem to stay close to a pilsener color and this one is no different.

Smell: pear juice, very fruity but nothing earthy that I can detect

Taste: sweet, delicious pear juice. I chilled this too much and don’t have time to let it warm up so I may be missing some nuance here. Carbonation is on the strong side but not overwhelming.

Finish: more pear pulp and juice flavor. Still no real tannins, pear skin, or earthy flavors. A little bit of a floral quality emerges, which I commonly find in poiré.

This is a decent but very straightforward poiré. It tastes mostly of pear juice with not much else going on. Poiré is fairly hard to find so I may buy this again if I can’t find the other brands I prefer.


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Tonight I’m trying a Swiss cider for the first time. This is from Cidrerie du Vulcain seems to be made from just one variety of apple, the “Fer” apple. I’ve never even heard of this apple variety so that’s another first.

Nose: apples and funk and earth, like I’m walking through a Norman apple orchard in the fall, with apples all over the ground and cows grazing
Taste: like Martinelli’s sparkling apple juice, but drier. The funk on the nose doesn’t show up here.
Finish: more apple. The tannins referenced in the back label of the bottle show up here along with some tartness. Just a smidge of funk shows up after I swallow.

Pretty good cider, just a tiny bit too sweet and simple. If this is made from a single apple variety, that could explain the lack of depth. The finish was the best part.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I very much liked the regular Christian Drouin cider I had a while back, so I didn’t hesitate to pick this one up when I saw it.

Christian Drouin Cidre Brut Grande Cuvée 2013

Nose: dried apples and a hint of Champagne-like crisp minerality

Palate: Medium carbonation, but low for a French cider. Very dry but does maintain some apple flavor.

Finish: Medium in length. The apple and fades and turns somewhat barnyardy. Slightly tannic now as well.

This is a decent cider and one that would probably be appreciated more by someone who likes their ciders very dry. Could be good for beer drinkers looking to dip their toe into cider too. As for me, I prefer the regular Christian Drouin cider with its juicy apple and big funky notes. That one is also $8 cheaper.
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Wow I’m in the mood for some cider now. The funkiness of the Swiss cider de fer and the latest bottle seem right up my alley.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Wow I’m in the mood for some cider now. The funkiness of the Swiss cider de fer and the latest bottle seem right up my alley.
 


I had one last night that would probably be in your wheelhouse too. I’ll post some notes on a minute. Do you have access to much cider in Houston? I’d think so, but just checking. I didn’t think there was much available here until I really started digging.
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Domaine de la Minotière Cidre Fermier Bio Brut

Nose: apple skin, hay, and rubber. This is promising!

Palate: dried apple and new bike tires. The tannins are strong and present from the get-go. There’s a slight apple sweetness as well but it is still a pretty dry cider. With subsequent sips the apple gains traction and the tannins are even stronger and more mouth-drying, inviting another sip.

Finish: the apple notes fade and then are gone altogether, leaving that rubber tire note and a dry mouth.

Overall: I love the big funk and big tannins. My only criticism is that it’s a little soft on the finish, but that’s really nitpicking. Now if I could only remember where the hell I bought this...

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1 hour ago, Kpiz said:

 Now if I could only remember where the hell I bought this...

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Heehee!  Been there, done that, more times than I care to admit!  :D

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Lois, may need to make a trip to Calvados this Summer, Calvados and the cider above sound good.

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Heehee!  Been there, done that, more times than I care to admit!  [emoji3]


Glad I’m not the only one. It seems to be happening to me more as I get older...
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Lois, may need to make a trip to Calvados this Summer, Calvados and the cider above sound good.




It’s pretty cool you have family there. I’d be there every year if I had an excuse to!
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