organic cider

Tieton Organic

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Review of Tieton Cider Works Organic Hard Cider.  It is my first time trying this, but I have had their Cidermaker’s Reserve, Apricot, Smoked Pumpkin, Wind (Pommeau), Wild Washington, Cherry, Blossom Nectar, Sparkling Perry, Cranberry, Bourbon Peach, Frost (ice cider), Spice Route, Russian Red, Lavender Honey, and Oak Barrel Aged Cider Summit Collaboration.

Cider:  Organic Hard Cider
Cidery:  Tieton Cider Works
Cidery Location:  Yakima WA
ABV:  6.9%
How Supplied:  six pack of 12oz cans
Style:  American Organic craft cider

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Availability:  probably only in the Northwest

Cider Description:  Dry and Crisp, made with 100% organic apples. Growing the fruit organically combines our farming tradition with being good stewards of the land we call home. This organic cider represents our heritage, the care that goes into the land and trees that produce it. It’s slightly tart but well balanced with a fruity nose.

Cidery Description:  From our orchards to your glass, TCW controls every aspect of the growing and cidermaking process. TCW boasts the largest orchard of cider apple varieties in Washington state and the largest Perry pear orchard in the United States. We blend our cider fruit with all Washington apples. We’ve been growing apples, apricots, cherries and pears on Harmony Orchards – our family farm – since the 1930’s and are thrilled to be involved in Re:interpreting the tradition of cider making.

Price:  ~$3 / can (runs ~ $9.99-11.99 / six pack)
Where Bought:  The Cave in Kirkland WA
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  browsing; I had seen this before, but not singles

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First Impression:  Light amber hue.  Still.  Smells dry and apple-forward.

Tasting Notes:  Dry to semi-dry.  Light bodied.  Low tartness and acidity.  Hints of tannins.  No bitterness, sourness, or funk.  Notes of purely apple and apple juice with a hint of richness.  Quick finish.  High sessionability.  Low flavor intensity and complexity.  Moderate apple flavor.

My Opinion:  I thought this was quite average.  Plenty drinkable and a nice relatively easy to find in the NW drier cider option, but a tad bland, probably primarily due to the dryness and it presumably being at least mostly made from dessert apples, without any fruit/hops/spices/etc added.

Most Similar to:  a drier plain apple flagship cider

Closing Notes:  I was surprised to see Tieton start canning ciders, as I assumed they would keep that for their Rambling Route brand.

Have you tried Tieton Organic Apple?  What did you think?

Vizo Elderflower

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Review of Vizo’s Organic Elderflower cider.  It is my first time trying this, but I’ve had their Green Apple variety.

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Cider:  Elderflower
Cidery:  Vizo Organic Apple Cider
Cidery Location:  Denmark
ABV:  4.8%
How Supplied:  11.2oz bottles
Style:  organic craft cider from Denmark, from unknown apple varieties, with elderflower extract

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Availability:  limited, plus online sales

Cider Description:  The aroma of our cider is intense, fresh and with a slightly floral background. Vizo Organic Hard Cider perfectly combines sweet and tart apples in order to enrich the flavor, leaving a pleasant, fruity and  refreshing aftertaste. Made from Danish organic apples with just the right touch of elder-flower, forest fruits or green apple flavor. It is a seamless amalgam of flavors, with no sugar or additives, resulting in a 100% natural drink a craft cider like no other.

Cidery Description:  The aroma of our cider is intense, fresh and with a slightly floral background. Vizo Organic Hard Cider perfectly combines sweet and tart apples in order to enrich the flavor, leaving a pleasant, fruity and  refreshing aftertaste. Made from Danish organic apples with just the right touch of elder-flower, forest fruits or green apple flavor. It is a seamless amalgam of flavors, with no sugar or additives, resulting in a 100% natural drink a craft cider like no other.

Price:  ~ $4.50 / 1 bottle
Where Bought:  a natural grocery store in Northern California
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  browsing

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First Impression:  Light caramel hue.  Very low carbonation.  Smells of sweet apple juice.

Tasting Notes:  Sweet.  Medium bodied.  Low tartness and acidity.  No bitterness, sourness, funk, or tannins.  Notes of rich sweet caramelized apple juice and a hint of honey.  Quick finish.  Moderate apple flavor.  Moderate to high flavor intensity.  High sessionability.  Low complexity.

My Opinion:  I liked it, although it was a bit too sweet for my liking.  Same as the first one I tried from them, the color confuses me.  This was quite similar in flavor to the first one too, just a tad less tart, and with a hint of honey (I didn’t pick up any floral notes)

Most Similar to:  Woodchuck Barrel Select but without the barrel & bourbon flavor, Locust New England Amber but sweeter and less complex, Locust Sweet Aged Apple with more caramel than honey & brown sugar, or Spire Dark & Dry but more caramel then molasses and no malt

Closing Notes:  I also picked up Vizo’s ‘Forest Fruits’ variety.

Have you tried Vizo cider?  What did you think?

Vizo Green Apple

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Review of Vizo’s Organic Apple Cider Green Apple.  It is my first time trying anything from this cidery.

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Cider:  Green Apple
Cidery:  Vizo Organic Apple Cider
Cidery Location:  Denmark
ABV:  4.8%
How Supplied:  11.2oz bottles
Style:  organic craft cider from Denmark, from unknown apple varieties, with green apple extract

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Availability:  limited, plus online sales

Cider Description:  Take the classic cider and now imagine a zest of aroma and flavor of green apple with a clean finish, Vizo’s Green Apple is that cider. Beneficial to both health and well-being, the taste and freshness of the traditional and the well-known fruit is outstanding.

Cidery Description:  The aroma of our cider is intense, fresh and with a slightly floral background. Vizo Organic Hard Cider perfectly combines sweet and tart apples in order to enrich the flavor, leaving a pleasant, fruity and  refreshing aftertaste. Made from Danish organic apples with just the right touch of elder-flower, forest fruits or green apple flavor. It is a seamless amalgam of flavors, with no sugar or additives, resulting in a 100% natural drink a craft cider like no other.

Price:  ~ $4.50 / 1 bottle
Where Bought:  a natural grocery store in Northern California
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  browsing

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First Impression:  Light caramel hue.  Very low carbonation.  Smells of sweet apple juice.

Tasting Notes:  Sweet.  Medium bodied.  Moderate tartness.  Low to moderate acidity.  No bitterness, sourness, funk, or tannins.  Notes of rich sweet apple juice and caramel.  Quick finish.  High apple flavor and sessionability.  Moderate to high flavor intensity.  Low complexity.

My Opinion:  I liked it, although it was a bit too sweet for my liking.  The color confused me, as from that I had assumed it was made from cider apples, but the flavor didn’t support that theory, as it tasted like typical cider from dessert/supermarket apples, although richer.  I’m also surprised they called this ‘Green Apple’, as it didn’t have that flavor, only a bit of tartness with the rich profile.  It doesn’t list color as being added though, so maybe they just use a different process which retains more color than a typical clarified American apple juice or hard cider.

Most Similar to:  Woodchuck Barrel Select but without the barrel & bourbon flavor, Locust New England Amber but sweeter and less complex, Locust Sweet Aged Apple with more caramel than honey & brown sugar, or Spire Dark & Dry but more caramel then molasses and no malt

Closing Notes:  I also picked up Vizo’s ‘Forest Fruits’ and ‘Elderflower’ varieties.

Have you tried Vizo cider?  What did you think?

Sixknot Cider Organic Goldilocks

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Review of Organic Goldilocks from Sixknot Cider.

Cider:  Organic Goldilocks
Cidery:  Sixknot Cider
Cidery Location:  Twisp WA
ABV:  6.5%
How Supplied:  500ml bottle

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Availability:  likely limited to WA, especially Western WA

Cider Description:  Goldilocks is made by arresting the fermentation process with cold shock prior to complete transformation of the natural sugars to alcohol. This process delivers a refreshing, elegant cider that is easy for the first time cider drinker to embrace, and still provides complexity for the experienced palate. As the name implies, Goldilocks is not too sweet or too dry, it is a true balanced cider. The cider is naturally effervescent.

Cidery Description:  Our farm and cidery rests on the banks of the Methow River near Twisp, Washington. We only press certified organic Washington apples, selected from our trees and other local orchards. We do not add sulfites, preservatives or sugars. To retain the subtle flavors often lost in processed ciders, we do not filter. Our cidermaking is kith and kin to the natural wine movement…organic practice in the orchard, and minimal intervention in the ciderhouse.

They sell three core bottled ciders, Goldilocks, High Desert Dry, and Gingerella.  They also have special releases (such as Purple Sage), and their ciders can be found on draft.

Price:  $11.00 (restaurant; retail is $9; pretty low markup actually)
Where Drank:  The Repp in Snohomish WA.  This is their only cider selection, and it isn’t even on the menu (I was glad I asked if they had cider the last time I was in).  The only other time I’ve had this cider was also there.  Its a great restaurant by the way, with good variety on the menu and reasonable prices for finer dining.  There is also Fred’s down the street, a unique bar with a huge Scotch collection and a few ciders (where I had Woodchuck Raspberry).
How Found:  I’d heard of Sixknot, but tried it mostly as that is what was available.

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First Impression:  I was still getting over being asked if I wanted ice with my cider!  After that, I noticed the lovely hazy lemonade color with light carbonation & foam.  Clean acidic apple scent.

Opinion:  Semi-dry.  Mild tartness and tannins.  Moderate acidity.  Some earthiness and the slightest bit of funk.  Mild citrus notes.  Very apple-forward.  I enjoy unfiltered ciders.  Some folks however consider haziness a flaw.  I’ve heard that overly filtering can take out some of the flavors.  This is a rather flavorful cider for being a flagship type variety, and I enjoyed it.  I think this variety would be pretty widely appealing, although some would probably like a bit more sweetness.  This was advertised as middle of the road sweetness but I found it a bit drier than that.

Closing Notes:   Quite tasty.  It was great to be able to enjoy some local craft cider at a local restaurant for our anniversary.  I had seafood pasta and my husband had red wine and a steak.  This wasn’t the greatest cider to pair with seafood pasta (I’d go for something a bit richer), but I was happy to have cider at all.  Oddly enough, even being in a huge producing cider area, lots of restaurants in my area still don’t have cider, or only Angry Orchard Crisp Apple.  Going to a non-chain restaurant increases the odds.  Note that I’ve had another cider from apples grown in the same Methow Valley region, Methow Valley Honey Bear, but it was quite a different style & level of sweetness.

Have you tried Sixknot Goldilocks?  What did you think?