Review of Angry Orchard’s Easy Apple, their newest release, added to their core ciders.  It is marketed as a less sweet and easy drinking (low ABV) cider.

>>This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by  Angry Orchard.  Although I will take care to treat it the same as any other review, there is always the potential for bias as I received it for free.  The only consideration I knowingly made was pushing this up in my cider review cue.  I love free stuff, especially cider!  Want your cider or cider-related product reviewed here?  Contact me.<<

Cider:  Easy Apple
Cidery:  Angry Orchard
Cidery Location:  Walden NY (their R&D facility)
Cider Production Locations:  Cincinnati OH & Breingsville PA
ABV:  4.2%
How Supplied:  six pack of 12oz bottles
Style:  American commercial cider made from dessert & cider apple varieties

  

Availability:  Currently (since early Aug) year round in RI, WA, OR, ID, MT, and AK, and it will be in variety packs Aug-Dec 2016.

Cider Description:  Angry Orchard Easy Apple is a less sweet, refreshing and easy-to-drink hard cider. It is unfiltered with an apple-forward taste, slightly hazy appearance and a refreshingly dry finish. It never weighs you down, making it the perfect drink choice for those long, relaxing days.

Apple Varieties: Dessert (Braeburn, Fuji, Granny Smith, and Gala) and French Bittersweet (Dabinett, Harry Master Jersey, Frequin Rouge, and Bisquet)

Ingredients: hard cider, water, cane sugar, apple juice from concentrate, malic acid, natural flavor, carbon dioxide, sulfites

Price:  n/a (but retails for $8.99-$9.99 / six pack)
Where Bought:  n/a
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  n/a

First Impression:  Slightly hazy amber orange hue.  Still (no carbonation).  Smells of apple juice with a hint of sharp apples and citrus.

Tasting Notes:  Semi-sweet to semi-dry.  Medium bodied.  Low tartness.  Low to moderate acidity.  Hints of tannins.  No bitterness, sourness, or funk.  Notes of apple juice, citrus (orange), honey, and honeycomb.  Hints of richer tannic cider apple flavor.  Quick finish.  High sessionability.  Moderate to high apple flavor.  Low complexity.  Low flavor intensity.

My Opinion:  Better than I expected–I actually enjoyed this.  It was very easy to drink and refreshing.  It was very simple, but had hints of complexity (I would have liked to see a higher percentage of cider apples).  While it remains on the sweet size, it isn’t too sweet for me (ie. I could actually drink more than one of these).  Too bad these drier (superior in my opinion) varieties don’t make it to restaurants and bars and such like their flagship Crisp Apple does.  However, I’m not all that pleased with the ingredient list (its definitely commercial).

Most Similar to:  2 Towns Out Cider, One Tree Crisp Apple, and Downeast Original, which are apple-forward and less filtered.  Easy Apple also reminds me a bit of Angry Orchard’s Traditional Dry variety, which I think they discontinued, which was a similar sweetness level and seemed to have hints of cider apple flavor.  The honeycomb notes reminded me of Long Drop Vanilla Honey.

Closing Notes:   This was surprisingly tasty.  Angry Orchard is definitely trying to keep up with changing expectations in the cider market, and they remain the market leader by far.

Have you tried Angry Orchard Easy Apple?  What did you think?