Mel Cider

Posted on April 25, 2020 by melsmosaic

I was sitting at home and the doorbell rings. I hadn’t ordered anything online, we’re in a pandemic, stay-at-home orders in place. What is this? A very kind friend was just making a delivery to me. Talk about nice!

She brought to me one of my favorite beverages (3rd in line — wine and margaritas top the podium); cider. It was Mel Cider, or Pome Mel to be precise. What a great name! It’s produced by Colorado Cider Company and is an Apple Honey Cider. The name is pretty much a derivative of French (with some typos), pomme = apple, miel = honey.

Their quick description: “The first in our botanical series, it delivers notes of lavender and rosemary over flavors of honey and tart apples. It finishes clean and dry with hints of its signature herbs. Now a seasonal selection scheduled for Springtime!”

It’s a light cider, with some sweetness. Ahh, the honey. I am writing this as I continue to enjoy the fine (6.5% ABV) beverage. I have finally pinpointed the unique taste that I couldn’t put a finger on that both hits that palate (then nose when I had to confirm) — rosemary (note, not having read what is posted above about the cider)! That’s not a common one. But then I, of course, inspect the label more and see green things on the left of it which are sprigs of rosemary. And the ingredient list? Apple juice, honey, yeast, rosemary, lavender. The lavender is there as well.

Quite a unique taste, great name, and local cidery, so you can’t go wrong. Cheers!

Goose Ridge Orchards, Woodinville, WA

Posted on July 3, 2018 by melsmosaic

In Woodinville, in the same room as the canned wine, there are also hard ciders. Goose Ridge Winery is very much expanding! These are their Goose Ridge Orchards. And, since I love hard cider, when I have the opportunity to try a new cidery’s ‘apple juice’ I can’t turn it down.

The background of this cidery —

“The Monson family has been growing apples in the Yakima Valley since the 1950s. They are well-regarded for their modern growing techniques and high quality fruit. Careful attention to natural resources and the seasonal growing conditions (much in the same way grapes are treated) allows for maximum production of exceptional fruit every year.”

Their ciders are bottled in champagne bottles with the same great corks. This is done because of the champagne yeast they use in production. Not something I’ve seen before, so interesting to see something different, and find out why it’s done.

The tasting was $8 and included the four ciders they produce:

Perry Pear – 6% ABV, $12/bottle

Our Perry Pear cider, light in color with subtle flavors of fresh cut pears and hints of citrus. Whispers of tannins are followed by a slight sweetness for a cider that is artfully balanced.

-Dry. Not much taste, but very refreshing.

Dry Apple – 6% ABV, not available in bottles, only Growler fills ($18)

Made in a refreshing, balance style this versatile cider is bubble and effervescent with flavors of fresh pineapple and citrus notes with a crisp finish.

-Not as dry as expected, and had some sweetness

Passionfruit – 6% ABV, $12/bottle

Absolutely explodes out of the glass with aromas of bright tangerines and passionfruit, followed by tropical fruit flavors and a dry snappy finish. The perfect welcome to spring!

-Sweet, but not too syrupy. Had a good fruit taste.

Berry – 6% ABV, $12/bottle

Tart and juicy aromas of blueberry, raspberry and blackberry, finishing with the slightest hint of sweetness. An incredible compliment to grilled pork chops with a cherry demi-glace.

-Yea, berries were totally there. Didn’t taste like cider at all. Pretty dry, too.

Rankings-wise for my preference I would go:

Passionfruit
Perry Pear
Dry Apple
Berry

Love seeing that more and more cideries are coming about. Will be interesting to see what their seasonal ones are and/or what others they produce for their regular menu.

Cheers.

Climb Hard Cider

Posted on May 18, 2018 by melsmosaic

Colorado has plenty of breweries, but luckily I am finding cideries, too. A local one Wilbur’s (ahhh…) told me about was Climb Hard Cider. They are just down the street in Loveland, which means I need to go check them out in person soon.

Picked up a 6-pack of their ‘Apple’ cider. I say that because they have quite a few options available, one being vanilla, which sounds quite interesting. Now, based on their website they have both a dry and semi-dry apple cider. No where on the can does it say which one this is and nobody at Wilbur’s was sure.

Based on the taste, I’m guessing it’s the semi. Regardless, it was 6.1% ABV, 100% real fruit and tasted great. Crisp, refreshing and was too easy to drink.

Check it out if you can grab it at your liquor store. If you’re in the area and want to visit the cidery, let me know.

Cheers!

Big B’s

Posted on May 14, 2018 by melsmosaic

Awhile back when I was in Steamboat (Springs), CO, I checked out one of the local liquor stores and came across a hard cider I had never seen or heard of before — Big B’s. They are located in Hotchkiss, CO and have a variety of apple-related products.

The cider I found is the Harvest Apple from their Orchard Series. This one is “created by using a perfect blend of fresh pressed apples. This is a semi-sweet hard cider and has a bold and refreshing apple taste.”

It was great because it hit semi-sweet perfectly. Nice and crisp, giving a bit of dryness, but not too much based on its category, and also no overkill on sugar. Comes in convenient cans, too.

I’ve only found it in one place in the Ft. Collins area, so far, which is Supermarket Liquors, so glad that’s easy accessible.

Cheers!

St. Vrain Cidery

Posted on December 27, 2017 by melsmosaic

Visited a friend in Longmont, CO not only to catch up with her, but so that we could check out St. Vrain Cidery.

This place opened in 2014 by Dean and Ciny Landi with cidermaker Dan Daugherty.

Based on their site, ‘the St. Vrain Apple was last seen in 1891 by a farmer taking inventory of Colorado fruits. The name St. Vrain runs deep in the city of Longmont’s history, and our cidery’s name honors this regional apple and our city.’

They have a large variety of ciders on tap from the state, five of which are their own. While there enjoying the adult apple juice, you can order sampler flights, 4oz, 8oz or 12oz pours.

My friend and I each went with the samplers, which had four 4oz pours.

I sampled these (ordered one more after the initial tasting, too):

St. Vrain Cidery Dry Apple (Longmont, CO) This refreshing cider starts with baked apple and a hint of tea on the nose. Fresh, dry apple flavors combine with white wine-like minerality from the Winesap apples in the blend. All followed by a clean, crisp finish. Dry. 6.6% ABV

Very dry, a bit too much for me. But they definitely didn’t add anything unnecessary to this cider. It’s all apple!

St. Vrain Cidery Ironface Infusion (Longmont, CO) We infuse our Dry Apple cider with gin botanicals from Anvil Distillery’s Ironface Gin (Longmont), resulting in our first in a series of botanical ciders. Dry. 6.9% ABV

You definitely got that hint of gin/juniper. Subtle, unique, nice. Still very dry. I (personally) don’t like sweet cider, but I don’t like it beyond dry.

Summit Hard Cider Pineapple (Fort Collins, CO) Fresh pineapple flavors blend well with apple. Semi-Sweet. 5% ABV

Had to try this because I love pineapple and did have my doubts. This ranked #1 for me. I didn’t expect the semi-sweet. I was expecting it to be candy. Delicious!

C Squared Ciders Ella IPC (Denver, CO) India Pale Cider with dry hop aromas of tropical fruit. Melds into green apple flavors with clean, bitter finish. Off-Dry. 6.0% ABV

Just a nice basic off-dry cider. Mild on the hops but gave it a nice taste!

Wild Cider Bee Hoppy (Firestone, CO) Refreshing, crisp, dry hopped cider with citrus undertones. Finishes with a kiss of honey. Off-Dry. 5.0% ABV

This is the one I got after my initial tasting. Subtle citrus with very mild hop. Then the sweet at the end was awesome. Totally maintained the off-dry level though. Another one that I had my doubts about but it came in strong.

Was very glad that I got to check this place out. And, my friend and I happened to get there during happy hour and I think my bill was $8-$10 for all this, with tip. So, next time you’re in Longmont, check this out. Or, if you’re a cider fan, plan a trip there, you won’t be disappointed. Take your growler, too. You can get it filled with one of their five ciders.

Cheers!