Favorite Commercial Ciders?

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oldtimeydave

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Location
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After posting here for a few weeks I've come to wonder about which commercial ciders different folks like and have access to

So... got any favorites?
 
Personally I am a fan of Magner's and Strongbow on draft. I tend to go for these because they are more on the dry side, which I like. I dont usually buy too many commercial ciders to drink at home, but when I do I will get a 4 pack of Strongbow. SWMBO likes Hornsby's (sp?) its not bad, just a bit sweet for my taste.
 
Local irish pub has strongbow on tap. On tap and in the can is pretty much the only good commercial cider I've enjoyed so far. Woodchuck and hornsby are "good" in the sense that it tastes like apple juice. But sometimes apple juice is good, I say this since my friends back in Cinci buy the stuff.
 
of the stuff I can get here, the order is (from fav to least)

Magner's
K
Blackthorne
Newton's
Ace
Woodchuck (only the 808 dark and dry)
Strongbow
Wyder's
Hornsby's
 
It occurred to me I didn't list mine.

We have access to quite a bit a really great ciders by smaller producers out this way.

A few of my favorites are...

Westcott Bay Orchards (San Juan Island, WA)
Red Barn (Mount Vernon WA)
Wandering Aengus (Salem Oregon)
Irvine's Vintage Cider (Vashon Island, WA)
Sea Cider (Vancouver Island, BC)

In the Middle:
Blossomwood Cidery (Colorado)

From back East:
Farnum Hill Cider (New Hampshire)
Foggy Ridge Cider (Virginia)
Doc's Draft - Warwick Valley Winery (New York)

Samuel Smith also makes a nice consistent cider now.
 
Oh I forgot Blackthorne, pretty good stuff as well. Though I have only had 1 six pack of it.
 
I really enjoy Black Magic from Bellwether Cidery. It get s is flavor and color from black currants (which had been illegal to grow in New York for the last 100 years)
 
Once I thought Hornsby's wasn't too bad; but I'd never had a REAL cider before. I've tried Woodchuck and Blackthorn, and wasn't impressed. Samuel Smith's makes a pretty good cider & I like it; but after having a bottle of Farnum Hill Summer Cider, I can NEVER go back to the rest... The difference between Hornsby's & Farnum Hill is like the difference between Coors light & Celebrator Doppelbock, hell Hornsby's isn't even cider & is made by Ernest & Julio Gallo. Well, maybe I can have a little Samuel Smith's Organic Cider once in a while, but at $4.99 a bottle, I'll make my own, thank you very much. My next experiments are geared toward attempting to come close to reproducing that Farnum Hill taste with what I have available to me here. That's my 2 cents worth. Regards, GF. Farnum Hill Cider
 
Nicely put... That Summer Cider was awesome I bought two bottles this year however the nearest place I can find it is in Portland Oregon.

For those who haven't ever tasted a "real" cider like Farnum I highly recommend you do so. It will change your perception of what cider should be and possibly how you approach making it.

Once that happens there is no looking back. Unfortunately I think being able to find the quality ciders is far too difficult. Most have to gauge what a cider is by the "Coors Lights" of the Cider world.

Once I thought Hornsby's wasn't too bad; but I'd never had a REAL cider before. I've tried Woodchuck and Blackthorn, and wasn't impressed. Samuel Smith's makes a pretty good cider & I like it; but after having a bottle of Farnum Hill Summer Cider, I can NEVER go back to the rest... The difference between Hornsby's & Farnum Hill is like the difference between Coors light & Celebrator Doppelbock, hell Hornsby's isn't even cider & is made by Ernest & Julio Gallo. Well, maybe I can have a little Samuel Smith's Organic Cider once in a while, but at $4.99 a bottle, I'll make my own, thank you very much. My next experiments are geared toward attempting to come close to reproducing that Farnum Hill taste with what I have available to me here. That's my 2 cents worth. Regards, GF. Farnum Hill Cider
 
If anyone happens to be on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, there is a fantastic cidery north of Victoria called Merridale. They make an extensive line of ciders from everyday quaffers to more potent, refined stuff.

You can only get it in private liquor/wine stores or at the cidery since it's unpasturized. Our stupid government liquor stores in BC don't refrigerate anything so . . .

Certainly worth a visit for all you folk from the PNW who visit B.C.

Merridale Estate Cidery
 
Definately Growers while in Canada. I diverted the boat and my girl and I rowed for over a mile, walked another mile, and rowed back a mile just to have some more tasty grower's cider for the sail back to the USA. It was actually more her idea than mine. :)

When not in Canada, woodchuck and strongbow. Of course in Australia (last time I was there) there were 4 types of strongbow...

BrewOnBoard
 
Sam smiths is all I can get here thats good. We can get Hornsby's but i cant stand that stuff. Wish I could get strongbow here. Sam Smiths is crazy expensive so I just press and brew enough to last me every fall now.
 
For those who haven't ever tasted a "real" cider like Farnum I highly recommend you do so. It will change your perception of what cider should be and possibly how you approach making it.

Once that happens there is no looking back. Unfortunately I think being able to find the quality ciders is far too difficult. Most have to gauge what a cider is by the "Coors Lights" of the Cider world.

For the lucky ones that live in the northeast, Cider Day in northwest Massachusetts is a great event celebrating all things apple in early November. CiderDays Sweet and Hard Cider Festival in Franklin County Massachusetts There are about 20 makers of "real" cider serving at the Cider Salon and at the dinner (Farnum Hill, Bellwether, West County, Appletroew, etc). In addition to traditional cider, you can try perry, ice cider, and fortified ciders. It's a great opportunity to try a lot of great cider that you probably couldn't get otherwise (a lot of homemade cider and mead, as well)

They also have a number of seminars on making cider with speakers such as Paul Correnty ("The Art of Cidermaking" author) and Ben Watson ("Cider, Hard and Sweet" author). One of the seminars consisted of four cidermakers (Farnum Hill, West County, etc) discussing their cider making techniques and answering questions. It was great to hear their different philosophies and methods. Many of the local orchards get involved. Pine Hill Orchards presses 2,000 gallons of cider (three blends) that is specifically for hard cider. We bought 290 gallons this year ($3.25 gallon). They use apple varieties that you couldn't get otherwise (Dabinett, Spitzenberg, etc).

I've been there twice and going back this year. Definitely worth the trip!
 
I once was doing the cannonball run from school to home along a lonely backroad highway in eastern washington and stumbled across a cidery called "Bad Seed" in a one horse town somewhere in the wheat desert. Best I've ever had. I bought as much as my Ford Focus could handle.

Since then, the Newton's Folly Granny Smith is the best I can find.
 
My favorites are generally the Normandy ciders. I really enjoy the Etienne Dupont ciders. Also, Aspall's line of English ciders are quite tasty as well. Samuel Smith Organic is okay, but I'm rather disappointed by it, overall. What I don't like is the soda-pop/wine-cooler style of ciders like Woodchuck, Woodpecker, Blackthorn, etc. Even the dry versions of their ciders are far too sweet and one-dimensional to me. JK Scrumpy is another one that is cloyingly sweet and rough. It's more interesting than the mass market ciders, but it's still much too syrupy. It's hard to find interesting ciders around here--I'm going to have to make a road trip one of these days to explore some domestic cideries.
 
Westons Old Rosie Scrumpy, hard to beat, although the last time I was on a session of it, the night ended up a bit of a wreck, and I did promise not to overindulge in that one again.
Beautiful stuff going down, but at 7.8% it's got a punch and with 4 pints, after 5 pints of bitter, it was not pretty.
 
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