A BC Cider I haven’t tried? Summerland Heritage Cider

I’m always happy to profile a cider – though the one I’m writing about today, I’ve never tried!

I thought I’d tried all the ciders in British Columbia, save for a few of the fruity Growers and Okanagan ones. But I was wrong.

(Courtesy Summerlandcider.com)

I got an email from the folks at Summerland Heritage Cider Company, a brand new operation in.. heh.. Summerland, BC.

Unfortunately, I don’t make it into the interior all that often (maybe once a year, if I manage to brave the Coquihalla) so I will have to wait on trying this one out.

But I wanted to give a heads up to anyone who CAN get their hands on it.

From the website:

“We really wish that our product list was longer, but to describe us as a “micro-cidery” would be generous.  Our cider apple crop was quite small in this, our first year of production.  The volume of these apples will increase in the coming years as new trees come into bearing.  This will allow us to offer you a variety of ciders in the future but for now we offer only our signature selection:

Tuesday’s Original is a modern take on classic English cider. Gently sparkling, this off-dry, full-bodied cider is rich in flavour with soft tannins and a lingering finish. 7.7% alc.”

 

Sounds good to me!

Best liquor store for cider (in Seattle, and possibly the West Coast)

 

Last week we went to Iceland. (I’ll blog about cider options in Iceland soon.)

The flights were out of Seattle, so we figured we’d hit up a liquor store on our way back.

The beer selection was well-above average.

The cider selection was the best I’ve ever seen.

It’s called Full Throttle Bottles.(5909 Airport Way S, Seattle, WA 98108)

From their website: Because Erika is an Anglophile, cider is like mother’s milk. There is an impressive and ever growing selection of hard ciders ranging from the very sweet to the very dry. This includes styles from unfiltered scrumpy to French sparkling ciders.

I came back with half a dozen. (Mainly ciders from Oregon and Washington.)

Once again, with similar climates and growing conditions, why doesn’t BC have such a great cider industry and a liquor store to carry them all?

Sigh.

Review – The Hills Cider

Background:

On our last day before heading back to Brisbane, we toured some wineries. While doing so, I got into a conversation with a winery staff member about being a cider fan, first and foremost, and that I even blog about it.  Though I protested, he offered me a bottle of The Hills Cider to try, free of charge.

This is the first and only time I have ever gotten anything free and I’d like to think it didn’t cloud my judgement when doing this review.

Kind: The Hills Cider – Apple

Size: 330mL

Strength: 5%

Product description: Made from 100% Fresh Adelaide Hills Apples, fruit driven style, filtered bright straw colour, great acid backbone, vanilla, lime/sherbet characters shine through the pallet that actually tastes like real apples! Well balanced, complex, clean, lightly carbonated cider that finishes dry and fresh making you want more…

Orgle’s thoughts:

“Tasty, semi-dry cider. You agree?”

My thoughts:

I did agree. It hits you with apple flavour right off the bat. It’s not overpoweringly carbonated, but quite fizzy right out of the bottle. It smells nice and tastes fresh.  There’s no “in your face” flavours – it’s really likeable.  I would recommend it be consumed quite cold – a crisp summer cider.

This is what people should be drinking instead of Strongbow.  You get a light sweetness and carbonation but with a better backstory, knowing where it is coming from.

Note to self:

It was nice to be able to hear some of the origins of the cider from the guy who gave me this bottle.  I believe friends of his are owners of the company.  Maybe that skewed the tasting, but that connection to the product is not something you get from the mass produced ciders made out of apple concentrate, sugar, and colouring.

Where to buy:

Sigh. Australia.

I wonder if cider companies could get on board with the wine distributors that get their products here…

Mini Review – Left Field Cider – Big Dry

Background:

Orgle brought home this cider one night. It’s not often I find a cider in the Lower Mainland I haven’t seen before.  But Orgle did it in early July. I have reviewed the Little Dry from Left Field already.

Kind: Left Field Cider Co – Big Dry

Size: 500mL

Strength: 7.2%

Orgle’s thoughts:

(He did not offer any, however I know he prefers the Little Dry over the Big Dry.)

My thoughts:

It’s quite a dry cider but really refreshing and easy to drink.  it is appley right off the bat with a little tart linger.

It is fairly fizzy. There’s a distinct alcohol taste midway through the gulp but doesn’t detract from the flavour.

It has a great label!

Note to self:

I have consumed this a couple times since this initial review. In addition to being a likeable drink, I like the idea of buying locally made ciders from microcideries. It is no surprise that I prefer ciders that I could just drive up to and ask for a tour. Maybe these little ciders are no better than a Strongbow. Maybe they taste no different.  But I still prefer them.

Where to buy:

I’ve seen it at Legacy Liquor Store here in Vancouver. The Left Field website also has a PDF of other places to get it.

 

Full review: Merridale’s Scrumpy Cider

Seeing as it is summer, I have all sorts of light, easy-drinking ciders stocked away in the fridge. But the sun never really made it out, so I changed gears, going with Merridale’s Scrumpy Cider from Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island.

This isn’t a starter cider.

If you like Growers Blueberry cider, this will be a bit of a shock to the system. You may have noticed I’ve already referenced Growers a few times, not always in a positive light. If that’s your thing, I’m cool with that. Recently, I read a quote that stuck with me: “Just because people drink bad beer, it doesn’t make them bad people.” (Quote from beer blogger Chuck Hallett/@Barley_Mowat)

You’re not bad, but I think your sickly sweet cider is.

Anyways, this cider is dry. That’s the main theme I get from it.

From the Merridale website:

In old England, Scrumpy was made by farm workers who stole or ‘scrumped’ apples from the orchard. This cider is strong, sharp and rich in the flavours of our strongest cider apples. If you’re a Scotch drinker, try this one. Winner of Gold & Silver North American Brewers Awards in Idaho Springs.

The mouth-dry feel of this cider is combined with a level of tartness probably attributable to the apples used.  It doesn’t have any overwhelming outside flavours like the honey in Merridale’s Cyser cider or the other barrel aged ones.

 

There is a moderate level of carbonation. The smell is slightly of apples (but having consumed an amazing New Zealand IPA from 8 Wired before this which smelled of something so delicious I wanted to rub it on my body – it was comparably unremarkable.) It has an alcohol finish that evaporates quite quickly.

I still find it to a be a likable beverage, but for nearly $7 for a 341mL plastic bottle, it’s not the best deal, nor do I think it’s even as good as Cyser or Traditional in the Merridale line.

Oh, and at 11%, it’s fairly potent.

It’s fairly easy to find, but not in BC-run liquor stores.  In Vancouver, I’ve seen it in places like Brewery Creek or Lennox Liquor store.

 

 

Questions that may be frequently asked in the future

Hello?

Hi.

What is this blog all about?

Cider. Specifically those available in the Vancouver-area and in trips to the surrounding provinces and states.

Who are you?

My name is Erin Loxam. On twitter I post professionally as @ErinLoxam, personally as @Loxyisme. I’m a media-type by day, cider-lover by night.

Do you know anything about making cider?

Unfortunately, no.  My life in a 600 square foot Vancouver apartment does not afford me the ability to be part of the process. I have toured a couple cideries, but that may have been after a few beverages.

What makes you qualified to review cider?

Passion. I love cider and have tried almost* any kind I can get my hands on.  I don’t pretend to know anything about pairings and palates. I just know what I like.

*see below about Growers Cider

How did you become a cider drinker?

Growers Cider used to make a nectarine version.  Since I love nectarines and there are few options when it comes to nectarine-flavoured goodies, I jumped on this.  Unfortunately, it appears the flavour was discontinued recently.  While that particular flavour took me back to younger years, the others I’ve tried (and I can only say I’ve had a couple) have been just too sweet for my tastes.

Anyways, that was just the beginning…

We know you don’t like sweet ciders, so what do you like?

The more I try, the more I go back to Sea Cider‘s Rumrunner. It is fizzy, quite dry, full of flavour and packs a punch. It’s made over on the island near Victoria.  I will get around to posting a real review of it and then link to it here.

How do I contact you?

Turns out I have just the email address for that!

thewestcider@gmail.com