The Cider Diaries-14/1/09
Last night me and Fog were off to a gig at Cardiff Barfly but beforehand there was time to squeeze in a couple of ciders at a Weatherspoons. So, I'll get straight to the point.
23. Gwynt Y Ddraig(Gold Medal Medium Cider)
This Welsh cider is 7%, comes in a bottle with a picture of a dragon holding a tankard and won an award from Camra the real ale people in 2004. I was a little worried, I thought this might mean it would taste strong and rough. I'm not really a real ale kinda guy. When I do drink beer, which is seldom, it'll be a lager and lime made with Fosters or Carling or something.
So I was pleasantly surprised when I took a sip of this cider that was pleasantly bubbly and sweet with a strong apple flavour. It tasted very light for a 7% cider. I really liked it. Fog was unconvinced. "Initially the taste is very nice on the top of your tongue but the aftertaste releases juices in the side of your mouth which take away from it a bit." Which was a bad thing apparently. Fog's really beginning to fancy himself as a bit of an expert. Nevermind, I'll be going back for another of those sometime. But not for a while yet. There are plenty of other ciders to try first.
It was my round and when I asked Fog what he fancied trying next he said it was up to me. I had to double check, "You're sure your happy for me to pick the next one?"
"Yeah, fine." he replied casually, so I headed for the bar with a smirk. The regret was written all over Fog's face when I returned from the bar holding two bottles of...
24. Kopparberg Winter Fruits
Like its cousin Kopparberg Pear, the bottle for Kopparberg Winter Fruits comes in a bottle that bears the legend, 'Genuine Swedish Cider'. I think this. It suggests that somewhere out there people are going to the trouble of counterfeiting Swedish cider. Why they would do this is beyond me but good luck to them I say.
"I can smell the pink from here," Fog complained. Like the Brother's Strawberry Mixed Pear Cider this stuff tasted more like a soft drink than a cider, although it was more like a Robinson's fruit squash than cherryade. Even Fog had to admit, "It's about twenty times better than that stuff we had on Sunday." I like making Fog drink weird, sweet, fruit based ciders but it's not as much fun as discovering something really lovely.
I was hoping we'd be able to add to our list in the Barfly because the last few times we visited the place in 2008 we had a pear cider I'd never seen anywhere else. Sadly however the obscure cider had been forced out by Bulmers pear(or was it Magners Pear?) so we were out of luck. They had a couple more in Dempsey's after the gig but by that time I'd partaken of a few vodka and cokes and I didn't think I could do any new cider justice. Still, it's another two for the list and more to come later in the week unless things go very badly wrong!
23. Gwynt Y Ddraig(Gold Medal Medium Cider)
This Welsh cider is 7%, comes in a bottle with a picture of a dragon holding a tankard and won an award from Camra the real ale people in 2004. I was a little worried, I thought this might mean it would taste strong and rough. I'm not really a real ale kinda guy. When I do drink beer, which is seldom, it'll be a lager and lime made with Fosters or Carling or something.
So I was pleasantly surprised when I took a sip of this cider that was pleasantly bubbly and sweet with a strong apple flavour. It tasted very light for a 7% cider. I really liked it. Fog was unconvinced. "Initially the taste is very nice on the top of your tongue but the aftertaste releases juices in the side of your mouth which take away from it a bit." Which was a bad thing apparently. Fog's really beginning to fancy himself as a bit of an expert. Nevermind, I'll be going back for another of those sometime. But not for a while yet. There are plenty of other ciders to try first.
It was my round and when I asked Fog what he fancied trying next he said it was up to me. I had to double check, "You're sure your happy for me to pick the next one?"
"Yeah, fine." he replied casually, so I headed for the bar with a smirk. The regret was written all over Fog's face when I returned from the bar holding two bottles of...
24. Kopparberg Winter Fruits
Like its cousin Kopparberg Pear, the bottle for Kopparberg Winter Fruits comes in a bottle that bears the legend, 'Genuine Swedish Cider'. I think this. It suggests that somewhere out there people are going to the trouble of counterfeiting Swedish cider. Why they would do this is beyond me but good luck to them I say.
"I can smell the pink from here," Fog complained. Like the Brother's Strawberry Mixed Pear Cider this stuff tasted more like a soft drink than a cider, although it was more like a Robinson's fruit squash than cherryade. Even Fog had to admit, "It's about twenty times better than that stuff we had on Sunday." I like making Fog drink weird, sweet, fruit based ciders but it's not as much fun as discovering something really lovely.
I was hoping we'd be able to add to our list in the Barfly because the last few times we visited the place in 2008 we had a pear cider I'd never seen anywhere else. Sadly however the obscure cider had been forced out by Bulmers pear(or was it Magners Pear?) so we were out of luck. They had a couple more in Dempsey's after the gig but by that time I'd partaken of a few vodka and cokes and I didn't think I could do any new cider justice. Still, it's another two for the list and more to come later in the week unless things go very badly wrong!
posted by Chris Chopping @ 2:15 PM
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