For serious beer drinkers, cider is a tough sell. It starts off refreshing, then the cloying sweetness starts to coat the toungue. Yet after many a happy day spent in rainy East Bay pubs drinking a cider, I have a soft spot for them. So I was pleased to find a box of Angry Orchard hard ciders on my doorstep.
Angry Orchard is named for the bittersweet apples they have grown for their ciders. Their apples are a blend of Italian culinary apples from the Apline foothills and french bittersweet apples from Normandy. They are serious about their cider!
The flavors I tried:
Crisp Apple: This is the traditional cider I expect. It’s sweet with a subtle dryness and has a fresh apple aroma. I recommend it for mixing. My favorite cider mix is a Snakebite: cider and a stout. We made these with the Crisp Apple and my husband’s homebrewed ginger stout. Yum!
Apple Ginger: This was the one I could drink on its own. The zip of ginger really complements the smooth sweetness of the cider.
Traditional Dry: I imagine this is what they are referring to in English chick lit novels when they say they are grabbing a cider.
Angry Orchard rerails for around $8.99 a six pack. If you’re looking for something different than the usual beer or a way to break wine drinkers into beer, I recommend picking up some. To find where Angry Orchard is served near you, visit the “cider finder”. Also if you see it on draft, definitely have the bartender make you a Snakebite. I prefer a craft stout but Guinness works too. I also enjoy using cider in cocktails such as the Fall Basket. By the way, Angry Orchard ciders are gluten free!
Do you enjoy cider? Which is your favorite?
Cider lovers can explore the orchard online, Facebook , and Twitter.
not a cider drinker. . .but these sound yummy and very “fallish” – I may have to give it a try!
Hillary
You should know that there IS, in fact, high fructose corn syrup in Angry Orchard Cider. It has been pulled from the shelves of Whole Foods.
Thanks for letting me know!