Strongbow

Strongbow Variety Pack – Original Dry, Rosé Apple, & Pear Secco

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Review of a Strongbow variety pack with four of each of Original Dry, Rosé Apple, and Pear Secco, in 8.5 oz cans.  I’ve previously tried the Original Dry, but not since it was re-released in the U.S., and I’ve not tried the other two.

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Ciders:  Original Dry, Rosé Apple, & Pear Secco
Cidery:  Strongbow
Cidery Location:  Belgium
ABV:  4.5% or 5.0%
How Supplied:  12 pack of 8.5oz cans
Style:  imported commercial cider from primarily dessert apples (Rosé also has some red-fleshed apple juice and Pear also has some pear juice)

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Availability:  wide release

Original Dry:  Distinctive golden color and less sweet with a crisp apple flavor for a balanced, dry finish.
Rosé Apple:  A clear, light-coral pink appearance and sparkling rosé-wine-like effervescence with apple notes. Light and refreshing taste with a pleasant tartness balanced by fruity notes of red-fleshed apple and pear.
Pear Secco:  A mildly sweet pear-apple cider with a light dry finish.

Cidery Description:  Strongbow is the #1 import cider in the US.  With 50% conversion to usage, shoppers who buy once, buy again.  Exclusively available in this 100 Cal variety pack, we think Dry Pear is a great addition to the award-winning line up of flavors in the 100 Cal Slim Cans.  It’s a one-two punch; a popular, refreshing new flavor in a package that’s on-trend.  To find all Strongbow flavors near you, please visit our product locator at http://www.Strongbow.com. Strongbow recommends enjoying its hard ciders served over ice, for a crisp, refreshing taste.

Price:  $11.99 / 12 pack of 8.5oz cans
Where Bought:  Target
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  browsing; it was my first time spotting the re-released Original Dry in the U.S., so I was going to get a 4 pack of that, but then I saw the variety pack which also included 2 others which I haven’t tried

Photo Jul 12, 4 46 56 PM.jpg Photo Jul 07, 5 27 28 PM Photo Jul 07, 6 30 35 PM

Original Dry:  Moderate gold hue.  Light carbonation.  Smells very mildly of apple juice.  Semi-dry.  Light bodied.  Low tartness and acidity.  No bitterness, sourness, or funk.  Notes of apple juice and pomace, orange, and lemon.  Moderate finish with a hint of tannins.  Moderate apple flavor.  High sessionability.  Low complexity.  Low to moderate flavor intensity.  Similar to Crispin Browns Lane and Blackthorn, but I prefer this.

Rosé Apple:  Medium pink hue.  No carbonation.  Smells very mildly fruity.  Semi-dry to semi-sweet.  Light to medium bodied.  Low to moderate tartness and acidity.  No bitterness, sourness, funk, or tannins.  Notes of green apple and white grape with a hint of strawberry.  Quick finish.  Low apple flavor and complexity.  Low to moderate overall flavor intensity.  High sessionability.  Similar to Rosé offerings from Angry Orchard, Crispin, and Woodchuck.

Pear Secco:  Medium straw yellow hue.  Low carbonation.  Smells very mild.  Semi-dry.  Light bodied.  Low tartness and acidity.  No bitterness, sourness, funk, or tannins.  Subtle notes of canned pear, green apple, and champagne.  Quick finish.  Low complexity, overall flavor intensity, pear flavor, and apple flavor.  High sessionability.  Most similar to Woodchuck Pearsecco, which is also a commercial tasting drier sparkling pear cider (apple & pear).

My Opinion:  I liked all of these.  Definitely commercial tasting (ie. slightly less natural tasting, likely due to the processes used, such as adding sugar instead of back sweetening with juice), but plenty drinkable, with some flavor and not too much sweetness, and far from the worst I’ve had.  I also liked getting a smaller variety pack (as its 8.5oz not 12oz cans), although ideally it would have only been 2 instead of 4 of each.

Closing Notes:  Although I typically prefer craft cider, I think commercial ciders are underappreciated.  It seems that most people (including myself) started their cider journey with an easily available sweeter commercial cider, and over time their tastes evolved towards drier local craft selections.  However, there are still parts of the U.S. where craft cider is difficult to find.  Thankfully the offerings from commercial cideries (such as Angry Orchard and Woodchuck) have improved in recent years, tending towards more complex, drier, and/or more innovative offerings, as they struggle to compete with growing regional craft cideries.

Have you tried Strongbow?  What did you think?

Strongbow Limited Edition Minis

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Review of Strongbow’s Limited Edition Minis.  I’ve previously tried their British Dry (original version), Gold (U.S. version), and Red Berries, Ginger, and Honey Apple.

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Cider:  Limited Edition Minis
Cidery:  Strongbow
ABV:  4.5-6.0%
How Supplied:  four pack of 5.1oz cans
Style:  American commercial cider (with color and flavor)

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Availability:  wide release, in the U.S. (see here)

Gold Apple Description:  Crisp, refreshing taste with a hint of golden apple and a smooth, elegant finish.
Orange Blossom Description:  Spring-like fresh orange blossom aroma with a touch of sweetness and a juicy apple finish.
Cherry Blossom Description:  A cherry blossom aroma with a subtle sweetness and a ripe apple finish.
Artisanal Blend Description:  Crafted with semi-sweet, cold-pressed heirloom apples.

Price:  $0.99
Where Bought:  Total Wine
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  Browsing.  I had read about these online, but only saw them at Total Wine, several months after other folks talked about it.

Artisanal Blend Notes:  Hazy hue.  Low carbonation.  Semi-sweet to semi-dry.  Light to medium bodied.  Low tartness and acid.  Apple-forward but mildly flavored, with hints of honey and citrus.  I didn’t get any sort of heirloom apple flavor or complexity out of this.

Cherry Blossom Notes:  Light pink/red hue.  On the sweeter side of semi-sweet.  Slightly cherry cough syrupy, with a moderate flavor intensity, and little to no apple flavor.

Orange Blossom Notes:  Light orange hue.  Semi-sweet.  Reminiscent of orange soda, with a moderate flavor intensity, and little to no apple flavor.

Gold Apple Notes:  Light gold hue.  Sweet.  Medium bodied.  Overly apple juice like, with a moderate to strong flavor intensity.

My Opinion:  The Artisanal was my favorite by far, and something I actually wouldn’t mind drinking again, unlike everything else Strongbow makes.  However, it wouldn’t be anywhere near my first choice.

Most Similar to:  The overall style/flavor and sweetness of Strongbow Artisanal reminded me of Angry Orchard Easy Apple, but Easy Apple was significantly more complex.

Closing Notes:  I’d recommend these for folks who typically drink sweet commercial cider, like Angry Orchard or Woodchuck.

Have you tried the U.S. version of Strongbow?  What did you think?

Strongbow British Dry (Original Recipe)

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Review of Strongbow British Dry, apparently the original recipe.  A cider buddy brought this back from Canada and shared a can with me.  Since early 2014 however Strongbow has only had a new sweeter version (Gold Apple) available here in the U.S.

Cider:  British Dry
Cidery:  Strongbow (Bulmer’s, Heineken UK)
Cidery Location:  Edinburgh UK
ABV:  5.3%
How Supplied:  500ml can

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Availability:  Year round in Canada, UK, etc

Cider Description:  A perfectly balanced English apple cider that is light in body, crisp and bittersweet.

Cidery Description:  From the orchard to the glass, we are inspired by the power of nature to deliver the golden, crisp refreshment in every drop of Strongbow Hard Apple Cider. And like our namesake, Richard “Strongbow” de Clare, who was legendary for his skill with the bow and arrow, we’re setting our sights and making our mark. Our cider’s crisp, refreshing taste sets the tone for the rest of the night. We’re the go-getters. The makers and doers. To us, every hour is golden.

After the ripest apples are harvested, they arrive at the mill where they’re washed and crushed. This pulp is pressed to extract pure juice, which is then concentrated and stored (with the apples’ natural sugars acting as a preservative). The concentrated apple juice is then fermented and left to mature, allowing smoother flavors to develop.

Our apples are grown to produce crisp and refreshing cider, and nothing else.  We have over 125 years of expertise in extracting their natural flavors.

Price:  n/a
Where Bought:  n/a
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  a cider buddy brought it back from Canada

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First Impression:  Light amber.  Low carbonation.  Mild dry crisp acidic apple scent.

Opinion:  Semi-dry.  Moderate tartness.  Moderate to high acidity.  No detectable bitterness, sourness, or funk.  No to low tannins.  Light bodied.  Quick finish.  I found it to be a pretty standard cider without too many other flavor notes, except maybe a bit of green apple…definitely crisp, refreshing, and fairly easy drinking.  I was hoping for a bit more bittersweet cider apple flavor, but it wasn’t quite there.  It is however fairly flavorful.  There are some hints of artificialness, but not nearly as much as sweeter ciders made in a similar method.

Most Similar to:  Other drier flagship commercial ciders.

Closing Notes:   I’d call this an above average commercial cider.  If it was available in the U.S., I’d much rather drink it when out at a bar than Angry Orchard Crisp Apple, Strongbow Gold Apple, or a number of other more commonly available ciders.  However, besides that it is on the drier side, I can’t say there is too much that sets it apart.

Have you tried Strongbow British Dry?  What did you think?

Strongbow Gold Apple, Red Berries, and Ginger

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Three for one!  Review of Strongbow’s Gold Apple, Red Berries, and Ginger varieties.  These were freebies from a friend, along with a can of original recipe Strongbow, the kind they no longer sell in the U.S. (which will be a future review).  These are relatively new cider varieties from Strongbow, supposedly made for the American palate.  It looks like the can of Gold Apple is from Canada by the way (which is where my friend got the original recipe Strongbow), although I’ve had it here.

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Cider:  Gold Apple, Red Berries, Ginger
Cidery:  Strongbow (Bulmer’s, Heineken)
Cidery Location:  Edinburgh UK, Aubel Belgium, Aubel Belgium
ABV:  4.5%, 4.5%, 4.5%
How Supplied:  15oz can, 11.2oz bottle, 11.2oz bottle (Gold Apple also comes in 11.2oz bottles).  The Gold Apple comes in 4 packs of 15oz cans, 6 packs of 11.2oz bottles, or as part of a multipack of 12 bottles.  The Red Berries and Ginger varieties appear to only be sold as part of a multipack of 12 bottles.

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Availability:  wide release, year round

Gold Apple Description:  Sweet and golden with a crisp kick, a hint of green apple and a long, bittersweet finish.
Red Berries Description:  Hard cider with Strawberry and Elderberry flavors, a hint of lemon notes, and an apple finish.
Ginger Description:  Hard cider with just the right hint of Ginger, floral aroma, and light muscato notes, and an apple finish.

Cidery Description:  From the orchard to the glass, we are inspired by the power of nature to deliver the golden, crisp refreshment in every drop of Strongbow Hard Apple Cider. And like our namesake, Richard “Strongbow” de Clare, who was legendary for his skill with the bow and arrow, we’re setting our sights and making our mark. Our cider’s crisp, refreshing taste sets the tone for the rest of the night. We’re the go-getters. The makers and doers. To us, every hour is golden.

After the ripest apples are harvested, they arrive at the mill where they’re washed and crushed. This pulp is pressed to extract pure juice, which is then concentrated and stored (with the apples’ natural sugars acting as a preservative). The concentrated apple juice is then fermented and left to mature, allowing smoother flavors to develop.

Our apples are grown to produce crisp and refreshing cider, and nothing else.  We have over 125 years of expertise in extracting their natural flavors.

Price:  n/a (but it runs $7 for a 4 or 6 pack and $14 for a 12 pack in my area)
Where Bought:  n/a
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  n/a

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<I didn’t bother with photos of the ones in the clear glass bottles, plus I only had one sip of each of those>

Gold Apple:  The most drinkable of the three, but still definitely among my least favorite ciders.  It starts with a sweet strong fake apple scent.  The fakeness continues with the flavor, which is overly apply, syrupy, and sweet.  I didn’t even pick up any noticeable acidity or tartness.  Only the lightest carbonation level.  It goes down easily though.  I’ve had this one before at events that had free drinks and this was the only cider, but I won’t pay for it.

Red Berries:  Tastes like what I would imagine a strawberry wine cooler tastes like, although admittedly I’ve never had one.  Way artificial tasting.  However, it wasn’t as sweet as I was expecting (although definitely sweet), and it wasn’t overly syrupy.  No complexity though.  One sip was plenty.

Ginger:   The ginger remains mild, more like an aftertaste, but is still ginger.  However, I’m just not a ginger fan, so one sip was plenty.  This one like the Gold Apple was a bit syrupy, and like both, was fake tasting, but a bit less so.

I wouldn’t recommend any of these at all.  They give cider a bad name.  These are aimed at folks who like their alcohol well-hidden and sweet.  Even as an introduction to cider / inexpensive option / easily available option, I think Angry Orchard, Woodchuck, Crispin, etc, are better.  Apparently some folks like them, but there is a lot of talk online of folks being disappointed they can no longer get the original drier Strongbow here in the U.S.  Its pretty bad they import cider this bad.

Have you tried any Strongbow cider varieties?  What did you think?