Now, I know that my point in writing this blog was to share my ideas about various beers. For now, I’m going to take a small side track to another fermented beverage: hard cider. As with beer, up until about a year ago, I had only tried apple ciders that I bought at an orchard from Upstate New York. Delicious, autumnal, and non-alcoholic cider that made me excited about carving pumpkins and the leaves changing colors. But then, in one of my first Irish pub outings in Dublin, I tried a Bulmers Cider. (Side note: Bulmers is called Magners everywhere else in the world other than Ireland. Bulmers came first, and they exported the cider under a different name. Same cider, same logo, different name. It’s one of those fun little things that the Irish are proudly stubborn about.) Needless to say, I discovered that cider is a perfect middleman for beer and wine. It has the fruitiness of wine, but the bubbles of a beer. It’s not as sweet at the non-alcoholic type, and it is a lot more refreshing. I’ve tried flavored ciders, like berry and pear, and I wouldn’t really recommend them, unless you enjoy the cough syrup thing or want to really be reminded of your Juicy Juice days. Bulmers/Magners is available in most bars I’ve been to. I prefer it from the tap, but try it from a bottle if that’s the your only option. Definitely check out their website if you are interested in how it’s made and the great story behind the beverage.
Another option is Strongbow Cider, a favorite in the UK. Strongbow and Bulmers/Magners are huge athletic sponsors abroad, kind of like Budweiser and baseball in the US. Back to the taste, I think Strongbow’s a little less sweet than Bulmers/Magners. Maybe it is because of its slight tangy flavor that makes it easier to drink more of. For me, cider in take stops after 2 pints. Just like I can’t handle more than one “-tini” drink because of their sweetness, it’s hard to drink a lot of cider. Personally, I am partial to Bulmers/Magners versus Strongbow — I think its my way of keeping allegiance in the Irish-English competition.
As promised, I just got around to trying Harpoon’s brand new cider. I must say that of the ciders I’ve tried, Harpoon’s take is the sweetest. At first sip, the essence of apple pretty much slapped me in the face. It brought me back to days on the playground and juice boxes, but not in the offensive way the flavored varieties had (see above). I nearly asked for a straw to aid in my slurping. It is perfect for the non-beer, non-cider drinker. It actually paired really well with the burger and fries I ordered. It reminded me of a cider I found at Trader Joe’s — my favorite grocery store, and place, on Earth. It’s called Newton’s Folly and it comes straight out of Natick, Mass. It comes in 2 varieties: The Original Authentic Draft Cider and a Granny Smith Cider. The Granny Smith is different because it has the sweet and sourness that people love Granny Smith apples for. Newton’s Folly and Harpoon both got the “apple” thing down.
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April 27, 2008 at 10:14 pm
[...] either. They supplement their namesakes with other quirky brews from the local area. For example, Newton’s Folly cider is on the Trader Joe’s rotation. Anyway, one of my favorite ways to test the ever-rotating [...]