First Press | Medium Sweet | Inspired by American cider making techniques apparently and uses eating apples like Cox and Russets. Light golden colour, clear and sparkling Roasted apple nose Cooked apple taste, which is strange considering, a touch of vanilla and a fleeting cinnamon spiciness. Fresh flavour tingles nicely all the way through the drink. Not much tannin. Small bottles which is a shame, I'd like a much longer drink than 330ml. So I tried it from a BiB in May 2024. Yes, works well by the pint and is very easy to drink. Good little session cider but lacks a bit of bite otherwise I’d rate it higher. Perfectly nice little drop though | ★★★★★ | 4.8% |
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Gasping Goose | Medium | Dark gold, flat and slightly hazy Sweetish rich apple nose Sweetish Honey/caramel apple flavour with a fair belt of oak initially but the you get some tannin that balances and rounds it out nicely to a rich medium flavour. Long mouth watering aftertaste. For me the Tannin and oak kind of builds up over a pint so I did find it a bit challenging by the end, but not a bad pint at all | ★★★★★ | 5.8% |
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Panting Partridge Perry | Medium Dry | Wine yellow colour, clear & sparkling. Decent Perry pear nose. There is a difference between Perry pear nose and pear, but it’s hard to describe. A little bit of elderflower but not huge. Nice smooth pear flavour. Small amount of pear drops and acetone with a bit of caramel. There is a bit of a taste of lychees there when you think about it (ooh and as it says on the bottle - I'm getting better at this). A little bit of an oily texture which is not unpleasant IMO. Very little tannin as you'd expect from a Perry and it is crisp and refreshing. A nice little drop that. 3/5 only because it is a little sweet to me for a medium dry, but well worth one bottle. | ★★★★★ | 5.3% |
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Rubens | Medium Sweet | Light golden clear flat Slightly tart fruity nose Light gentle taste. Quite fruity and mouthwatering. Flavour is mainly of fresh russet apple to which is curious as it’s a single variety Rubens. Nice long aftertaste. Very little tannin. Very good refreshing cider. Not huge and punchy but it's not sweet and sickly so you could polish off quite a few of these. | ★★★★★ | 5% |
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Redstreak | Medium Sweet | Clear, golden and flat from the barrel Lovely honey or toffee tinge to the nose but strong fresh red apple generally Deep strong apple flavour, the flavour of a good traditional eating apple(not the sttUff from supermarkets ). Nicely cheek filling apple taste with toffee. Dryish for me for a medium sweet with a fair tannin hit even if they say medium sweet. Lovely long sweetening apple flavour in the aftertaste almost ends up like an apple pie despite the dry start. Cracking little cider that and very drinkable for a single variety. | ★★★★★ | 5.8% |
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River Cottage Organic Bold Oak Cider | Medium Dry | In collaboration with Newton Court cider which is why it's here. Golden, clear with a slight sparkle ( I didn't find it as fizzy as others did) Big farmyard nose, lots of straw. Tiny bit of Ester but not in a bad way. Oh that is nice. Lots of vanilla oak with the smooth apple core fruit there in the background. A slight note of toffee apple as advertised on the bottle but with very little tannin. Shortish aftertaste but leaves a nice oaky vanilla freshness. Not bad at all to be honest. A little too much vanilla to be a session cider but worth the effort if you see it. At least the bottles don’t explode unlike other celebs' cider does. | ★★★★★ | 6.8% |
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