2 Towns Nice & Naughty Imperial Spiced Cider

September 26, 2016September 25, 2016 cidersays 2 Towns, review 2 Towns, cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, imperial, Nice & Naughty, spiced cider, tasting notes

Review of 2 Towns’ Nice & Naughty Imperial Spiced Cider, their winter seasonal high ABV cider with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. I’ve tried this before (see here), and even tried the bourbon barrel aged version (see here), but only on draft. I’ve previously tried most of their lineup; see here.

>>This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by 2 Towns. 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: Nice & Naughty
Cidery: 2 Towns
Cidery Location: Corvallis OR
ABV: 10.5%
How Supplied: 500ml bottles
Style: American craft apple honey wine with spices

Availability: Thru the end of 2016 in AK, CA, HI, ID, OR, WA, and Minneapolis MN & Chicago IL.

Cider Description: Festive and warming, Nice & Naughty is crammed full of whole cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and a touch of honey to celebrate the season. Made with Cinnamon, Nutmeg & Clove.

Cidery Description: At 2 Towns Ciderhouse we believe that the long history of cidermaking demands respect and deserves to be done right. Starting with the highest quality whole ingredients from local farms, we take no shortcuts in crafting our ciders. We never add any sugar, concentrates or artificial flavors, and instead use slow, cold fermentation methods to allow the fruit to speak for itself. As a family-owned company, we are committed to the growth of our team and enrichment of our communities. We take pride in producing true Northwest craft cider.

Price: n/a (retails for ~$8)
Where Bought: n/a
Where Drank: home
How Found: n/a

First Impression: Light to medium straw yellow hue. Low carbonation. Smells sweet, of baked apples and cinnamon.

Tasting Notes: On the sweeter side of semi-dry. Medium bodied. Moderate tartness. Moderate to high acidity. Low bitterness and tannins. No sourness or funk. Notes of baked apples, juicy apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, hints of cloves, honey, and citrus. Long warming slightly boozy finish. Low to moderate sessionability. Moderate apple flavor. Moderate flavor intensity / spice intensity. Low to moderate complexity.

My Opinion: Tasty. I liked it better closer to room than fridge temperature, oddly enough (considering the high ABV). The level of spice is nice…not overwhelming. I also liked that it wasn’t overly sweet. It is however a bit on the acidic side.

Most Similar to: AEppelTreow Sparrow Spiced and Elemental Seasonal Spiced Apple, both which had similar levels of sweetness and flavor profiles, but not as high of an ABV. Reverend Nat’s Winter Abbey Spice has a higher ABV, but had an odd sourness.

Closing Notes: If you are looking for a unique spiced cider, one with a bit more kick but not too much sweetness, this is a nice choice.

Have you tried 2 Towns Nice & Naughty? What did you think?

Eden Imperial 11 Rosé

August 17, 2016August 8, 2016 cidersays Eden, review cider, cider review, cider tasting, Eden, hard cider, ice cider, imperial, red currant, rose, Vermont

Review of Eden’s Imperial 11 Rosé. This is their newest cider, an Imperial cider made with red currant, sweetened with a bit of ice cider. I’ve previously tried a number of their ciders; see here. I ordered this and a few other bottles through their online store, so stay tuned for more Eden reviews.

Cider: Imperial 11 Rosé
Cidery: Eden Specialty Ciders
Cidery Location: Newport VT
ABV: 11.o0%
How Supplied: 375ml (and 750ml) bottles
Style: American craft Imperial (high ABV) rosé (blush colored) cider with red currant, sweetened with ice cider

Availability: Their ciders are at least sold in AK, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, IL, MA, MD, ME, MI, NC, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OR, SC, VT, WA, and British Columbia, although this one has less distribution, and likely didn’t make it too far beyond VT. Eden also offers online sales when allowed by state.

Cider Description: Heirloom apple cider made with red currant and lightly dosed with ice cider. It is just off-dry and gently fizzy, with bright acidity and chewy tannic structure. A perfectly refreshing summer sipper!

This semi-dry tannic rose cider is fermented with red currant juice and slightly sweetened. It is made from a blend of traditional and heirloom apple varieties grown within 200 miles of our cidery.

Cidery Description: Eden Orchards and Eden Ice Cider began on a trip to Montreal in 2006 when we first tasted ice cider and wondered why nobody was making it on our side of the border. We had dreamed for years of working together on a farm in the Northeast Kingdom; it was a dream that had vague outlines including an apple orchard, cider, and fermentation of some sort. That night we looked at each other and knew ice cider was it. In April 2007, we bought an abandoned dairy farm in West Charleston, Vermont and got to work. Since then we have planted over 1,000 apple trees, created 5 vintages of Eden Vermont Ice Ciders, and have introduced a new line of Orleans Apertif Ciders. Out goals are to create healthy soils and trees in our own orchard, to support out Vermont apple orchard partners who do the same, to minimize our carbon footprint, to contribute to the economic and environmental health of our employees and our Northeast Kingdom community, and most of all to make world-class unique ciders that truly reflect our Vermont terroir.

They have a tasting bar on the main floor of the Northeast Kingdom Tasting Center in downtown Newport VT. Their current product line includes at least eight ice ciders, two Aperitif ciders, and dry & semi-dry sparkling ciders. They also have a cider club where members get access to special release ciders not available to the public.

Price: $7.00 (for 375ml; or $14 for 750ml)
Where Bought: Eden’s online store
Where Drank: home
How Found: I had read about its release on Facebook, and had been wanting to do an online order for awhile, as there are a number of varieties not available locally.

First Impression: Lovely rosé red hue. Low carbonation with tiny tiny bubbles. Smells of strawberries and watermelon.

Tasting Notes: Semi-dry. Light to medium bodied. Moderate to high tartness and acidity. Low bitterness. Low tannins. No sourness or funk. Notes of red currant, strawberry, watermelon, honeydew melon, and raspberry. Long slightly boozy finish. Low apple flavor. Moderate flavor intensity. Moderate complexity. Low sessionability.

My Opinion: Yum! I also think this cider is an excellent value, especially considering the high ABV (the 375ml bottle was plenty for me for the evening due to the 11% ABV) and the high cost of heirloom apples and red currants.

Most Similar to: I more commonly see black currant used in cider. The only one with red currant I’ve had is Finriver’s newish Liberry Brandy Wine (see here), although I heard Schilling made a Red Currant Ginger cider recently. I’ve a huge fan of Imperial cider though.

Its uncommon to have a fruity/flavorful Imperial cider. I think it would be quite difficult to pull off, as a high ABV cider typically requires high sugar content apple juice fermented completely dry, which often results in a less flavorful cider. Yet in this case the red currants still shown through, which I think is a sign of experienced cidermaking (and likely a lot of experimentation!). I think the bit of ice cider back sweetening helped in this case make it less harsh, as a completely dry, tart, and high ABV cider can be a bit much.

Closing Notes: Another winner from Eden!

Have you tried any rosé ciders? What did you think?

Aspall Imperial English Cider (Blue Label)

April 27, 2016April 22, 2016 cidersays Aspall, review aspall, cider, cider review, cider tasting, English Cider, hard cider, imperial

Review of Aspall’s Imperial English Cider. This time I tried the blue labeled version of their Imperial cider, having previously tried the black labeled version. I’ve also tried a number of their other varieties.

Cider: Imperial English Cider
Cidery: Aspall
Cidery Location: Suffolk England
ABV: 8.2%
How Supplied: 500ml bottles
Style: English Imperial

Availability: Semi wide release.

Cider Description: We called this cyder Imperial in honour of our great grandfather JB Chevallier’s success at the Imperial Fruit Show in 1921. Every year we craft a special vintage. This is our 285th….Rich fudgy, tantalising flavour enhanced by bitter-sweet apples from a single year’s crop. Notes of raisins, dates and prunes. Sweet mellow finish.

Apple Composition:
Sweet (35%): Orange Cox Pippin, Royal Gala
Sharp (35%): Bramley Seedling, Howgate Wonder
Bittersweet (30%): Tremlett’s Bitter, Yarlington Mill, Medaille d’Or, Kingston

Cidery Description: Our family cyder-making business was established in 1728 by Clement Chevallier. He planted the orchards at Aspall Hall in Suffolk. The Chevallier family still live and work among Clement’s orchards and today Aspall is run by the eighth generation of the family….Aspall has been home to our family for nine generations. A tiny hamlet north of the small market town of Debenham in mid-Suffolk. It’s a rural and agricultural area characterised by the young river Deben flowing through our orchards.

Price: ~$8
Where Bought: Schilling Cider House
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing. I’ve been curious for awhile if this was the same or different from the black labeled version of Imperial, and now I have my answer.

First Impression: Light copper orange amber hue. Low carbonation. Smells of rich sweet bittersweet apples, caramel, butterscotch, and melted butter.

Tasting Notes: Semi-sweet to semi-dry. Medium bodied. Mild tannins, tartness, acidity, and bitterness. No sourness or funk. Notes of bittersweet apples, caramel, butterscotch, orange, apple pomace, and yeast. Moderate length warming finish with more alcohol burn than expected. Strong apple flavor. Low sessionability.

My Opinion: Although I enjoyed this cider, I think it doesn’t even compare to their black label Imperial, which is one of my all time favorite ciders (and I believe an excellent value).

Most Similar to: Other English ciders, such as Aspall, Worley’s, and Sheppy’s, English-style ciders such as from Liberty Ciderworks (English Style and its barrel aged cousin, Stonewall) & Montana Ciderworks (Darby Pub), and ciders with significant bitterness / harshness. The yeast-forward flavor actually reminds me of many French ciders.

Closing Notes: I hope I can find the black label version of this cider again….so far my best guess is that this blue label version replaced it, as I haven’t seen it for awhile. That would be unfortunate.

Have you tried Aspall cider? What did you think?

Aspall English Imperial Cider (Black Label)

December 2, 2015April 19, 2016 cidersays Aspall, review aspall, cider, cider review, England, hard cider, imperial, Suffolk

Review of Aspall’s English Imperial Cider. I’ve previously had their Dry and John Barrington varieties, which are impressive. Aspall has got to be one of the oldest cideries out there, founded in 1728! Aren’t their tall bottles awesomely distinctive? Note that it appears this cider has since been switched to a light blue label (similar description and same ABV), but I don’t have confirmation.

Cider: Imperial
Cidery: Aspall
Cidery Location: Suffolk England
ABV: 8.2%
How Supplied: 500ml bottle

Availability: Semi-wide release. If you can’t find it locally, you can actually get it for $7 from ShipCider.com, which ships to a number of states. Shipping can be spendy, but their cider prices are the lowest I’ve seen, so overall its not too bad, especially considering you can pick up ciders you normally don’t have access to.

Price: $8?
Where Bought: Schilling Cider House
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing

First Impression: Rich amber. No carbonation except for a few bubbles on the border of the glass. Smells like rich ripe apples, tannins, oak, earth, and a hint of spice and honey.

Opinion: Between semi-dry and semi-sweet. Lovely rich full-flavored English cider. Warming from the slightly higher ABV, but doesn’t taste boozy. Moderate tannins. No to low bitterness and tartness, Low acidity. No sourness or funk. Medium bodied. Medium length finish. Still (no carbonation). Tastes oaky (but isn’t barrel aged as far as I know) and has some caramelized sugar notes. I particularly enjoyed the lack of bitterness and that the level of tannins was noticeable but not extreme. I can definitely taste the bittersweet apple character. From their website I also learned they use champagne yeast on all their ciders. I found this cider’s taste didn’t too significantly change as it warmed up, so I’d recommend anywhere between fridge and room temperature, based on your preference. My go-to cider pairing is pretzel bread, and it didn’t disappoint!

Most Similar to: Other English ciders, such as Aspall, Worley’s, and Sheppy’s, English-style ciders such as from Liberty Ciderworks (English Style and its barrel aged cousin, Stonewall) & Montana Ciderworks (Darby Pub), and higher tannin ciders such as Cider Riot 1763, Alpenfire Ember, Traditions Bourbon Barrel 2012, and Whitewood Kingston Black.

Closing Notes: Awesome! Probably easily in my top 10 favorite ciders, and my favorite Aspall variety so far (although their others are also awesome). This cider is the epitome of my favorite qualities in a cider. Its also a great value, at approximately the same cost as a lot of local craft ciders I see, many of which are made from dessert apples and have flavors added (fruit, hops, spices, etc), when this is imported and contains some cider apple juice. Aspall makes some amazing ciders, and I look forward to trying more. Their website it super informative on their history, cidermaking, and more, so check it out. I highly recommend their ciders! That said, its all a matter of taste…if you prefer a lighter flavor and easy drinking / low ABV / sessionable cider, this isn’t it.

Have you tried Aspall Imperial? What did you think?

2 Towns The Bad Apple

November 20, 2015November 9, 2015 cidersays 2 Towns, review 2 Towns, Bad Apple, barrel aged, cider, cider review, hard cider, hard cider review, honey, imperial, oregon

Review of The Bad Apple from 2 Towns. I’ve had this cider before, and many other 2 Towns varieties. Isn’t their bottle styling awesome? Really eye-catching.

Cider: The Bad Apple
Cidery: 2 Towns
Cidery Location: Corvallis OR
ABV: 10.5%
How Supplied: 500ml bottle (or kegs)

Availability: Year-round, at least in OR, WA, CA, AK, HI, NV (limited), ID, IL (Chicago), & MN (Minneapolis)

Cider Description: Big & bold, The Bad Apple is an imperial style cider, fermented with local meadowfoam honey and aged on Oregon White Oak. Complex notes of apples and wood make the Bad Apple a NW favorite. Sometimes…it’s good to be Bad!

Cidery Description: 2 Towns was founded in 2010 by partners Lee Larsen and Aaron Sarnoff. Dave Takush joined us shortly thereafter. All three of us grew up together in the Corvallis, OR area. We’ve had explosive growth since our inception at which point we had intended to produce and distribute cider to the Corvallis, OR and Eugene, OR areas only (incidentally, the 2 Towns of our namesake). It became readily apparent that our initial vision needed to grow as we hit our maximum capacity in our first production space (a converted 1,000 sq ft garage) in roughly 2 months. We’ve since built 2 new production facilities with a total of 25,000 sq ft of production space and our team has grown to over 30 people to help us to distribute to 9 states and counting.

Over this time, we’ve kept to our original goal of bringing craft hard cider back to the people. We feel that a craft cider is made with fresh-pressed fruit and contain no artificial flavorings. Our fruit is all sourced in Oregon & Washington and all of our ciders are also free from added sugars other than those present in the juice and in some cases local honey. We feel that cider doesn’t need to be sweet to express the natural flavors of the fruits we ferment.

2 Towns Ciderhouse planted an orchard in 2011 with all traditional cider apple varieties such as Kingston Black, Dabinett, Jersey Brown Snout, and many others. 2 Towns has also contracted with several growers in the Willamette Valley and beyond to grow additional traditional cider fruit.

Price: $7.50
Where Bought: Special Brews in Lynnwood WA
Where Drank: home
How Found: Initially, browsing. I’ve had this cider at least once before and was in the mood to have another bottle.

First Impression: Yellow/orange tinted straw gold hue. Moderate carbonation upon pouring with a light foam ring and tiny bubbles. Smells like rich apples, honey, booze (whisky?), yeast, and oak.

Opinion: Semi-dry. Quite apple-forward, with rich apple, honey, vanilla, and oak notes. The perceived barrel influence remains mild. Moderate acidity and tartness. I almost pick up some citrus with the tartness. Mild bitterness and astringency. No sourness or funk. Medium bodied. Low to moderate carbonation. Longer finish with lingering tartness and acidity. Well-hidden ABV, which mostly presents as warmth. Complex but simple at the same time. I enjoyed this fridge cold, which surprised me as usually with this style of cider I like it closer to room temperature than fridge temperature…when it warmed up the tartness seemed more present.

Most Similar to: This kinda reminds me of Moonlight Meadery ‘How Do You Like Them Little Apples’ cider for some reason…probably as that one tasted like it was higher ABV (but wasn’t), and had honey and oak notes (but it was sweeter and more full bodied). By the way, I find this cider very different from the other 2 Towns Imperial-Style cider I’ve tried, Serious Scrump, which is an 11% ABV English-Style cider available seasonally, which I found to be quite dry and bitter and not to my liking.

Closing Notes: Awesome! This is actually my favorite cider from their regular line so far (and I’ve tried at least 10 ciders from 2 Towns). I think its a great value. I also think 2 Towns is a really cool cidery in general…really down to earth and fun-loving. Their tag line is “Damn Fine Cider” lol. I hope to visit them someday in Corvallis OR. I’ve actually met co-founder Aaron Sarnroff-Wood (at Cider Summit Seattle 2015 and a Schilling Cider House 2 Towns tasting event) and communicated with him by e-mail about their Cider Master Reserve Batch No 01, and he is super helpful. I highly recommend this cider if you enjoy higher-ABV ciders and want something unique.

Have you tried any ciders from 2 Towns? What did you think?

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