Review of Dragon’s Head Summer Cider.  It is my first time trying this, but I have had their Traditional Cider, Wild Fermented, Kingston Black, Columbia Crab, Methode Champenoise Perry, Perry, and Manchurian.

Cider:  Summer Cider
Cidery:  Dragon’s Head
Cidery Location:  Vashon WA
ABV:  7.3%
How Supplied:  750ml bottles
Style:  American craft heritage cider from cider apples

 

Availability:  probably only in Western Washington

Cider Description:  not given

Cidery Description: At Dragon’s Head Cider, we believe in producing high quality hard ciders with a traditional approach, which means you will never find us using apple juice concentrate, over sweetening our ciders, or adding other flavors to our ciders. We love the story that apples and pears can tell all by themselves. And so we keep it simple. Press high quality apples and pears, ferment the juice, put it in a bottle.  We believe one of the keys to creating great cider is to have control over the entire process. For this reason, we do the pressing, fermentation, blending and bottling all right here on the farm.

Wes and Laura Cherry moved to Vashon Island in 2010 with the dream of planting an orchard and starting a cidery. Dragon’s Head Farm, named for the dragon who guards the apples of immortality in the Garden of Hesperides, is now home to over 2,200 cider fruit trees as well as our production facility.

They have a tasting room on Vashon Island open Saturdays and Sundays.

Price:  ~ $18 ?
Where Bought:  Schilling Cider House in Seattle WA
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  browsing

First Impression:  Dark straw yellow hue.  Low carbonation.  Smells dry, acidic, and fruity.

Tasting Notes:  Semi-dry.  Light bodied.  Moderate tartness and acidity.  Low to moderate tannins.  Hints of sourness and bitterness.  No funk.  Notes of sharp apple, honey, pineapple, and floral.  Long tannic finish.  Low to moderate flavor intensity and apple flavor.  Moderate complexity and sessionability.

My Opinion:  I liked it.  It had a non-descript fruitiness that was nice, and it wasn’t too acidic.  However, its not a favorite of mine.

Most Similar to:  nothing specifically, although in general it is pretty typical of a complex heritage cider

Closing Notes:  My favorite from Dragon’s Head is their Traditional, plus their Perry and Kingston Black.

Have you tried Dragon’s Head cider?  What did you think?