I had this cider while out for lunch today.
I’ve always liked Strongbow Cloudy Apple – it’s sweeter and less fizzy than regular Strongbow, and it makes for a really nice refreshing pint. Definitely a regular drink in places where I can find it.
Category: Cider
2018 Ciders #25: Old Mout Passionfruit and Apple
This one was a bit of an accidental cider. Yes, I know. My life’s just like that.
Basically, during the intermission at the Kim Wilde gig on Monday, Geth went to the bar to get us another round. He asked for an Old Mout Kiwi and Lime (already logged), which is the variety I usually drink, but when he brought it back to me in the venue, I discovered that it was instead an Old Mout Passionfruit and Apple:
Oh well, means another cider to log!
Passionfruit and Apple is similar to Kiwi and Lime in that it’s just the right sweetness for a fruit cider in my book – not cloying like Kopparberg or Rekorderlig, but sweet enough that I can down it if I have to. The flavours are lovely together, and I’d drink this variety a lot more often if I didn’t like Kiwi and Lime so much!
2018 Ciders #24: Thistly Cross Real Elderflower
Another day, another variety of Thistly Cross. This is one that my parents brought down last weekend.
Real Elderflower is very tasty – the best elderflower cider I’ve tried – and actually feels quite light, so it’s a nice one for the summer. It’s not too sweet either, so I’m not at risk of drinking it like juice.
Only one more Thistly Cross variety to log. I wonder when that will show up?
2018 Ciders #23: Thistly Cross Original
My parents brought some more Thistly Cross down for me last weekend, meaning I have some new flavours to log.
Thistly Cross Original is the earliest (obviously) and strongest of the Thistly Cross varieties. I first discovered it when it was the only variety of Thistly Cross you could get – back when Geth and I still lived in Edinburgh, there was a wee shop across the street from us called Nina’s that always sold interesting beer and cider. Geth would always pick up Polish beer – Tyskie and Zywiec – and I would grab the Thistly Cross, which they usually had in stock. It’s 6.2% vol, so it does knock you out a bit if you have too many at once, but it’s very tasty – the taste is similar to the Traditional variety, but more strongly alcoholic, as you might expect.
I don’t often drink this one nowadays – I usually have the lighter varieties – but it is nice occasionally.
2018 Ciders #21: El Gaitero
Geth and I went to our favourite tapas restaurant with my parents last night, which meant an appropriately Spanish drink:
The restaurant was dark and my camera flash was acting funny, hence the terrible photo, but that is Asturian cider! I can’t pour it from three feet high in the air like the waiters do in Asturias, but I gave it a good go from six or seven inches so it could breathe a bit. It’s not quite as good as the stuff you get in sidra land, but it was very tasty and went extremely well with my tortilla española.
2018 Ciders #20: Kingstone Press Classic Apple
I went for Easter lunch with the in-laws on Sunday, and so was able to enjoy a new cider alongside the pretty seasonal table display:
This was a nice light cider, fairly medium dry. Quite similar to Strongbow in taste and I wouldn’t be surprised to start seeing it in pubs more often. Apparently they do other flavours as well, so I’ll have to look out for those!
2018 Ciders #19: Thistly Cross Real Ginger
There was a couple of years where Geth and I were having a lot of trouble tracking down Thistly Cross Real Ginger, which is our favourite of the Thistly Cross varieties. They sell it at Tebay service station, but we only ever have cause to go there when we’re travelling with my parents (it’ll be a different story when we have our own car, but that hasn’t been the case up till now). However, recently a new beer and cider shop opened at Newcastle Central train station, Centrale, which sells every single variety of Thistly Cross (among many other tasty, tasty things). As such, I pick up a bottle every time I happen to be in the train station.
I’ve always loved this one. The ginger taste is really sharp and tangy, and it goes so well in a cider that I’m amazed I’ve not seen it by any other brand. They’d have to work pretty hard to beat the Thistly Cross version though. Probably in my top three ciders of all time.
2018 Ciders #18: Thatchers Stan’s Cheddar Valley
Geth and I went for a slightly ill-fated Maundy Thursday pint the other night – our favourite pub was absolutely rammed, so I started to feel ill and had to leave without finishing my second drink, which was Stowford Press, already logged. I did, however, enjoy my first, which was a rough cider I’d not tried before – Cheddar Valley, one of Thatchers’ ‘Stan’s’ line.
It was a nice change to have a rough cider – I usually only drink those in the summer – even if the taste of this one was a little dry for my liking. I’m interested to try the other ciders in the ‘Stan’s’ range now.