Watermelon cider

Fresh Cut Watermelon Cider

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Review of Fresh Cut Watermelon Cider.  It is my first time trying anything from this cidery.

Cider:  Watermelon Cider
Cidery:  Fresh Cut (by Central City Brewers + Distillers)
Cidery Location:  Surrey B.C. Canada
ABV:  5.0%
How Supplied:  single 500ml can
Style:  Canadian craft? cider from dessert apples with natural watermelon flavor

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Availability:  likely only in British Columbia

Cider Description:  Bursting with flavour like a fresh cut watermelon, Fresh Cut is a fruity, lightly sweet and delicious twist on apple cider. Chill, relax and enjoy Fresh Cut Watermelon with friends.

Cidery Description:  Fresh Cut is a fruity, lightly sweet and delicious twist on apple cider. Try Fresh Cut Cider in flavours like fresh cut pineapple and watermelon.  Chill, relax and enjoy Fresh Cut Pineapple with friends!

Price: ~ $4 CAN
Where Bought:  a shop in Victoria B.C. Canada
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  browsing during a cruise port stop

Photo Oct 27, 5 19 22 PM

First Impression:  Light pink hue.  Low carbonation.  Smells like a hint of watermelon.

Tasting Notes:  On the sweeter side of semi-dry.  Light bodied.  Low tartness and acidity.  No bitterness, tannins, sourness, or funk.  Notes of watermelon, strawberry, and lemon.  Quick finish.  Low apple flavor and complexity.  Low to moderate flavor intensity.  High sessionability.

My Opinion:  I really enjoyed it.  My expectations were low, as from the packaging and flavor (and the high prevalence of non-cider “ciders” in the area), I had assumed this would be commercial (fake) tasting and super sweet.  However, it had some nice light flavor and a mid-level sweetness.

Most Similar to:  Locust Watermelon

Closing Notes:  I didn’t realize it at the time of purchase, but this cidery is part of Central City Brewers, which made a cider that I bought last year in B.C. that was amazing (probably my favorite cider of the couple cases I purchased, and my favorite cider ever made by a brewery), and I was super disappointed not to find it again this year – Central City Limited Edition Imperial Cider.  Central City Brewers also makes Hopping Mad Cider, although I haven’t spotted it in Victoria.

Have you tried Fresh Cut Cider?  What did you think?

Locust Cider Tasting Notes #4

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After lunch at Tipsy Cow in Woodinville WA, my husband and I stopped by Locust Cider.  See my notes here from visit 1, here from visit 2, and here from visit 3.

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<Cherry, Apricot, and Watermelon ciders>

Sweet Dark Cherry:  I’ve tried this previously (see here), and it is also available in cans.  Semi-dry.  Light bodied.  Low tartness and acidity.  Light simple cherry flavor.  Quick finish.  My husband really liked it, but for me its pretty average.

Apricot:  This is a draft-only release.  I tried an apricot cider from them awhile back (see here), but it was quite different.  Semi-sweet to sweet.  Medium to full bodied.  Low tartness and acidity.  Syrupy tropical and apricot flavor.  Quick finish.  This was too sweet for both of us, but had a nice flavor.  I prefer the apricot ciders from Atlas and Summit.

Watermelon:  This is a new draft-only release.  Semi-sweet to semi-dry.  Hazy hue.  Light to medium bodied.  Low tartness.  Moderate acidity.  Moderate watermelon juice flavor.  Quick finish.  I really enjoyed it (I’m a huge watermelon fan), but my husband didn’t like it for whatever reason.  It reminded me of NV Cider Watermelon Perry.

Summary:  My favorite was the Watermelon, and my husband’s favorite was the Cherry.  Overall, my favorite Locust ciders are the Bittersweet Reserve (one-time special release?), Aged Apple, and a 50-50 mix of Smoked Blueberry & Vanilla Bean, as they are all super flavorful, but also rather sweet (not something I’d drink often).

Locust is a nice place to hang out and drink cider (they even have an outdoor patio and some games), and they often have varieties which don’t even leave their tasting room.  However, I noticed the small pours are expensive, at $3 / 3oz, so a flight of five (close to a pint) is $15 + tax.  Of course its much cheaper to get a pint ($6-7?), but the vast majority of folks opt for the variety of a flight.  Also, they only have 9 taps of their own ciders.

Locust is more convenient for me to get to, so I visit semi regularly.  However, I much prefer the Schilling Cider House, as they have cheaper flights ($2 / 3oz), more variety with 32 taps (often a few are the more artisanal varieties made from cider apples vs. the more commonly found flavored ciders from dessert apples), and hundreds of bottles too.