The Cider Diaries-1/1/09

This year my friend, and co-presenter of my hospital radio show, Fog has set us a joint challenge. We are to sample fifty two different ciders in fifty two weeks, ie a year. The challenge was set live on air on our Sunday radio show and I happily accepted. In fact I was all set to start things off at the pub after the show but Fog was insistant that the challenge had to begin from the start of 2009 and we were still days away.

Nonetheless, while Fog seemed to think it was a difficult challenge, I am quietly confident that it'll be quite easy. In fact at this point I can see us managing 365 ciders this year. Hopefully we will meet halfway and complete our challenge about October. At which point will we stop? Will we 'eck as like! We'll see how many ciders we can sample before 2010.

I've been enthusiastically talking up the challenge to our mutual friends and one in particular has been keen to lend his support. Our friend Elliot has offered us a Welsh made cider that he bought at a farmer's market. His girlfriend Cath was dubious. "Don't give them that," she chided, "It tastes like iodine!" Still, the year is young, the challenge is fresh and I'm enthusiastic. Elliot if you're reading, bring it on!

Fog was working behind a bar on New Year's Eve which put paid to any plans to start our challenge in the early hours of the first January morning of the year. This evening, at Fog's flat for a meal with the lads was our first chance to start on the ciders. I thought about picking us up a couple of bottles of quality cider each on our way to Fog's flat but I had to have a re-think. I wasn't sure quite who would be at Fog's and it seemed a bit anti-social to exclude anyone else who might want to get involved in the appley goodness. So, instead, I went to the corner shop and picked up a two litre bottle of scrumpy.

I was right. As soon as I walked through the door I was greeted with the news that Fog's flatmate Ceri intends to join us in our challenge. He even had a plastic half yard to drink from. Cant fault the enthusiasm! Fine by me, the more the merrier! Although, the rules of the challenge dictate that we all have to sample the ciders together so now there are three of us to organise getting to pubs, buying bottles for etc. Anymore and it could get unmanageable. We are not the most organised bunch at the best of times.

Cider one: Strongbow
Fog had some cans of this in the fridge so we started with something obvious while the scrumpy was chilling in the fridge. I tried to get some analysis from the boys, some critisism or appraisal but Old School was on the DVD player and, 'it's nice,' was about the best I could get out of Fog and Ceri. Not to worry though. It's Strongbow. Anyone with any interest in cider at all had tried one and if you haven't it's easily available everywhere. It's the bog standard mass produced and mass consumed cider. Nothing special but reliable enough. What more can you say?

Cider two: Old Rascal
This bottle of somerset farmhouse cider features a picture of a merry, cider drinking farmer in a smock and Michael Eavis beard. It's a nice drop of scrumpy. "This tastes stronger than the 'Bow," Fog observed, "What is it? About 6%?" It was 6% exactly. An interesting developement. I wasn't aware that Fog had this skill but it could easiy develop into the sort of tedious guessing game that will make the long winter hours just fly by. Fog wasn't a big fan of the Old Rascal, finding it a bit dry. By this point We were watching Boyz In The Hood and it was difficult to get a response out of Ceri.


More to follow...