A Cider Trip: The New Normal

Earth Log: June 21, 2118

We emerged from our shelter today to a new world. A world filled with empty restaurants and most everyone walking around with masks. We did see some dinosaurs without face coverings but I’m pretty sure they are on their way to extinction in our area of the world. But in all seriousness, we decided to move forward with life in as safe as means possible. Therefore, we strapped on our masks and decide to go on a cider hunt last weekend. Our first in so many months, I can’t even remember.

We grabbed breakfast at an empty Panera. When a couple more people entered, they were also wearing their masks and ordered or picked up their food for take out. It’s was the first time we’d eaten breakfast at a restaurant since everything was shutdown. It did feel good to at least take these initial steps. We decided to see what new hard ciders the local bottle shops had available. I was quite impressed with the approach taken by many of them. Most maintained social distancing throughout the entire process. We could look at the bottles in the refrigerator but not touch them. They would pull them out and package them up for us, which was great.

I must say, it was an enjoyable afternoon, masks and all. All total, we checked 4 of the local bottle shops and found 8 new hard ciders that we hadn’t tried yet. It was like Christmas! The cool thing was that they were from a variety of locations as well. Not just west coast ciders but an East coast and even a couple international samples. Let’s check out the find.

As you can see, a nice variety considering the number of hard ciders I have already sampled. I have two perries, a traditional style hard cider, and five adjunct based ciders with cherry, ginger, and grapes. The hunt is only part of the fun. Now I get to try them! Let’s take a look at a couple that I’ve already sampled.

Cascadia Cherry:

This is from Schillings and I am generally a fan. This one had a nice ruby color along with a good balance of tart and sweet. It has good mouthfeel and a nice long finish that has some astringency hiding in it. It’s a very nice clean cherry hard cider.

Super Station:

Superstition Meadery offered this hard cider, which is a cherry, ginger, lime cider. It has a definite ginger aroma and a semi-dry tart cherry and ginger flavor. It is a medium carbonated deep red hard cider. It has a sour note at the finish. I have to say that I find the cherry, ginger, lime flavor combination to be a bit odd. Overall, I thought it was okay, but it wasn’t one of my favorite.

Prickly Pearadise:

2 Town Ciderhouse made this hard cider. I must say that since I am Prickly Apple Cider, I do have a bias about prickly pear hard ciders and perries. I will also say that I like this hard cider but it wasn’t prickly pear. Both my wife and I smelled and tasted strawberry along with raspberry. It was semi-dry with some tart and acid notes but the smell and finish kept screaming strawberry. If you are looking for a true prickly pear hard cider, it wouldn’t be my recommendation but if you are looking for a clean tart berry flavored hard cider, it is quite refreshing.

I’ll keep sampling and you can always check out my other ratings on the Cider Expert app. It’s a great way to track and record hard ciders that I’ve sampled. Look for PricklyCider to see all my reviews and ratings. If you aren’t ready to mask up and begin exploring the world again, you can always do some online orders. It’s always fun to try a new hard cider with dinner.

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