D’s Wicked

D’s Wicked Baked Apple

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Review of D’s Wicked flagship Baked Apple cider.  I’ve tried this before, but only on draft.  I’ve also tried their Chanilla and Cranny Granny.

Cider:  Baked Apple
Cidery:  D’s Wicked
Cidery Location:  Kennewick WA
ABV:  6.9%
How Supplied:  six pack of 12oz cans (and bottles & draft)
Style:  American craft unfiltered spiced cider

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Availability:  Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Reno Nevada, New Jersey, and New York (per this page).

Cider Description:  d’s Wicked Baked Apple™ is a premium, artisanal, hand crafted cider made with natural flavors and the freshest Washington State grown apples. Off-dry with a hint of spice, Baked Apple™ hosts the flavors of Red Delicious and Honey Crisp apples, finishing with a perfect touch of allspice and cinnamon. Just like the apple pie Grandma made, only WICKED!

Cidery Description:  We started brewing cider because we love great ciders!  Try the wicked delicious flavors that inspired us…wicked good ciders…wicked good times!  Using the very best apples from Washington State, we let the unique character of each apple variety guide our crafting,  resulting in our sinfully delicious varietals.  d’s ciders are crisp with the freshness of just picked apples, not too sweet, not too tart, just playful layers of flavor that are just plain WICKED GOOD.  d’s  ciders are naturally gluten free, rough filtered to maintain the richest apple flavor, contain no colorants, and use natural ingredients. 

Note – cider is fermented like wine – not brewed like beer (no heat involved).

Price:  ~$2.50 / single can
Where Bought:  Special Brews in Lynnwood WA
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  Browsing

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First Impression:  Hazy dark straw yellow hue.  Low carbonation.  Smells of baked apples and cinnamon.

Tasting Notes:  Sweet.  Medium to full bodied.  Mild tartness.  Moderate acidity.  No bitterness, sourness, or funk.  Hints of tannins.  Notes of baked apple, apple skin/pomace, cinnamon, and a hint of citrus.  Quick finish.  High apple flavor.  High sessionability.  Moderate flavor intensity.  Low complexity.  Low spice level.

My Opinion:  I thought this was pretty average.  Its a dessert cider for me as I found it quite sweet (12oz was more than enough).  I can see why it is appealing, but its not a favorite type of mine.

Most Similar to:  Downeast Original Blend and One Tree Crisp Apple, as they have the unfiltered slightly spiced flavor, although both are drier.

Closing Notes:  This definitely isn’t off-dry as described, but it is a very popular cider, probably because it is sweet.  People often say their want a drier cider, but sweet sells.

Have you tried D’s Wicked cider?  What did you think?

d’s Wicked Chanilla (Cherry Vanilla)

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Review of Chanilla (Cherry Vanilla) cider from d’s Wicked, their newest release.  I’ve previously only tried their Baked Apple cider (see here).

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Cider:  Chanilla
Cidery:  d’s Wicked Cider Co.
Cidery Location:  Kennewick WA
ABV:  6.9%
How Supplied:  22oz bottle
Style:  American craft cider from dessert apples with cherries & Madagascar vanilla beans

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Availability:  WA, OR, and HI; see here

Cider Description:  d’s Wicked Cider Chanilla is a hand crafted hard apple cider made with the freshest Pacific Northwest grown apples.  We’ve infused fresh cherry and Madagascar vanilla bean to create this cidergasmic new flavor.  This cider has expressive notes of pie cherries and cream soda with a lush marshmallow finish.

Cidery Description:  We started brewing cider because we love great ciders! Try the wicked delicious flavors that inspired us…you deserve it! Wicked good ciders…wicked good times!!

Using the very best apples from Washington State, we let the unique character of each apple variety guide our crafting,  resulting in our sinfully delicious varietals.  d’s ciders are crisp with the freshness of just picked apples, not too sweet, not too tart, just playful layers of flavor that are just plain WICKED GOOD. d’s ciders are naturally gluten free, rough filtered to maintain the richest apple flavor, contain no colorants, and use natural ingredients. 

They have a tasting room in Kennewick WA.

Price:  $8
Where Bought:  Special Brews in Lynnwood WA
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  Browsing, although I had heard about it online

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First Impression:  Cranberry red with slight brown & orange hue.  Moderate to high turbity.  Moderate carbonation upon pouring, medium size bubbles.  Smells of granny smith apples, cherries, and a slight sourness.

Tasting Notes:  Sweet.  Moderate to full bodied.  Creamy texture.  Moderate carbonation.  Moderate tartness and acidity.  No bitterness, funk, or tannins.  Hints of sourness.  Notes of cherry, vanilla, marshmallow cream, cranberry, pomegranate, and green apple.  Low apple flavor.  Moderate to full flavor intensity.  Moderate sessionability.

My Opinion:  Quite sweet and rich…a bit much for me.  Definitely more suited to sip on with dessert than with dinner.

Most Similar to:  Cherry vanilla creme soda.  The alcohol remains well hidden under all the sugar in this beverage, the flavor is quite a good match, and even the carbonation is almost as high as soda.  Chanilla seems more like hard soda than cider.  It reminds me a bit of Elemental’s NW Atomic Root Beer (see here), which is a cider-based hard root beer (although that one is less sweet than its soda counterpart).

Closing Notes:   Although this was too sweet and rich for me, I liked the creamy flavor; I’m curious how they pulled that off.  I imagine this will be a great seller, as sweet cider is popular and hard soda is a current trend.

Have you tried d’s Wicked Chanilla?  What did you think?