Review of Old Swede’s Blueberry Hard Cider.  They are a relatively new cidery from North Central middle of nowhere WA, and its the first time I’ve tried their cider.  Their second introductory release is a Sour Cherry Perry.

Cider:  Blueberry Hard Cider
Cidery:  Old Swede
Cidery Location:  Tonasket WA
ABV:  6.2%
How Supplied:  22oz bottles
Style:  American craft cider made from dessert & crab apple varieties, with blueberries

Availability:  Only in WA

Cider Description:  Our Cider is crafted from Jonathan, Jonagold, Gala, and Manchurian Crab apples handpicked near the Okanogan River on the Maldonado Family Orchard and Big Check Orchard near Loomis.  These apples were naturally fermented with blueberries from Hunter’s Moon Farm creating a delicious libation.  Nicely balanced, dry to medium dry cider with a hint of blueberries.  Bright, Balanced, Refreshing.

Cidery Description: Our ciders are hand crafted from farm to bottle.  Out family farm was homesteaded in 1899 as new territories were opened in the west, near Havillah, Washington.  Old Swede is born from our roots in North Central Washington’s Okanagan Highlands, a place of natural beauty perched above a valley known around the world for apple production.  We moved back to the family homestead in 2014 and began to take our cider into the world in 2015.

They don’t have a tasting room, but do offer mobile juicing and event catering.

Price:  $9
Where Bought:  Schilling Cider House in Seattle WA
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  Browsing.  A friend recommended this cider, and I hadn’t tried anything from them, so I thought I’d pick it up.

First Impression:  Light red wine hue.  Low carbonation.  Smells of red wine, grape, blueberries, and tannins.

Tasting Notes:  Semi-dry.  Medium bodied.  Moderate to high tartness and acidity.  Low bitterness and tannins.  Hints of sourness and funk.  Notes of red wine, tannic blueberry skin, cherry, pomegranate, and lemon.  Long finish with lingering tartness.  Moderate complexity.  Low apple flavor.  Moderate sessionability.

My Opinion:  I found this a bit too tart and in general wasn’t wowed by the flavor, but berry cider isn’t typically my favorite.  However, my husband (a red wine drinker) fell in love with this cider, and said its probably his favorite ever!  He kept stealing sips of it.

Most Similar to:  Red wine; I got a lot of grape notes from this, and the blueberry skins and crab apples added some significant tannins.  I’ve previously tried two blueberry ciders, WildCraft Cider Works Blue River Blueberry and Superstition Meadery Blueberry Spaceship Box.  This actually really reminds me of the Blueberry Spaceship Box, with the tartness and blueberry skin tannins.  Although the Blue River Blueberry also had the tartness and blueberry skin tannins, it was much drier and slightly sour.  It also reminds me of Finnriver’s Black Currant cider, which is also grape-like and tart.  I’m curious how different a blueberry cider would turn out if they used blueberry juice vs. throwing in crushed blueberries (which I assume is what they do as all 3 blueberry ciders had that tannic blueberry skin flavor, and would be much less expensive and much easier than adding blueberry juice).

Closing Notes:   This is a great selection in their cider lineup, and will likely be especially appealing to red wine drinkers.  I’m interested to see what else they will release.

Have you tried Ole Swede cider?  What did you think?