Ginger Perry – Sea Cider (Saanichton, BC, Canada)

• My Rating: [B-],  I gave it a (3.3 of 5) on Ratebeer.com

Ginger Perry – Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse, 5.5% ABV, 750ml, (Saanichton, BC, Canada) (*local BC craft cider*)

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(no longer available on their website, checked 2/2017)

on the back label:

“Ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg were prized by European explorers. Finding new routes to source these spices led to Cabot’s voyage of discovery in 1497 and Victoria’s early tea culture. Sea Cider pays homage to the history with Ginger Perry, made from the pears of early British Colonialists and the spices traded by our seafaring ancestors. Raise a glass of Sea Cider to the voyage of discovery!”

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• Style: (flavoured – ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon) Pear Cider
• Taste: Sour vinegary soft puckery acidic ginger/nutmeg pear wine tart sticky gums
  
• Where I got it : Firefly / Vancouver
• How much: $16 CAD (after 10% off) – 750ml., December 2011
• Do I love this enough to drink it again: no
• Would I recommend this to cider aficionados: discontinued, but worthy
  

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Visual: (cellared for 5 years). Bailer top re-sealable bottle. Pours crystal clear light yellow with quickly disappearing fizz, a few singular streams, no head, thin spotty-ringed retention.

Nose: nutmeg, slight cinnamon, apple-pear wine (lvl-5)-pungency

Attack: sour-vinegary, crisp light fizzy, slightly thicker

Mid-palate: (lvl-2-sweetness), mild tart-medium sour acidic, medium puckery, benign ginger notes, pear wine

Finish: persistent puckery acidity, nutmeg and pear juice exhale, sticky gums.

Summary: Good body, robust and noticeable advertised spices, complete with a sour-puckery-vinegary backbone that engages the palate nicely. Lightly carbonated, but sufficient.

Rest Easy Dry Pear – Naramata Cider Co. (Naramata, BC, Canada)

• My Rating: [B-],  I gave it a (3.4 of 5) on Ratebeer.com

Rest Easy Dry Pear Hard Cider – Naramata Cider Company (@Elephant Island Winery), 6% ABV, 750 ml., (Naramata, BC, Canada) (*local BC craft cider*)

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on the back label:

“This tantalizingly dry cider was produced with only the finest locally grown pears. JUST PEARS. The hard work is done. Shrug off your pack, kick back and REST EASY.”

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• Style: (dry) Pear Cider
• Taste: Natural-tasting tangy/sour white wine pear-muscat
• Where I got it : Bottle Jockey / N. Bby
• How much: $15 (after 7.5% off) – 750 ml., September 2015
• Do I love this enough to drink it again: no
• Would I recommend this to cider aficionados: yes, quite different from local BC ciders
  

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Visual: Hefty bottle, quality cap. Pours clear straw yellow with very lively dissipating head, very active large CO clusters and singular champagne streams.

Nose: juicy muscat, white wine tangy acidic. (lvl-5)-pungency

Attack: crisp, BIG-fizzy CO2

Mid-palate: yeasty tangy-sour, half-bright juicy pear-muscat, (lvl-1-sweetness), pear peel

Finish: burpy, residual sour acidity, dry fruity

Summary: Big full mouthfeel and a solid pear-muscat body. You can be confident of the inherent quality by the weight of the bottle and the vigor the CO2 pour. Quite drinkable, not terribly complex but worth my $$$.

Rekorderlig Passionfruit Cider (Sweden)

• My Rating: [C+]

Rekorderlig Passionfruit Cider – produced by Åbro Bryggeri, 4.5% ABV, 50cl., (Vimmerby, Sweden)

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Ingredients: Carbonated water, pear- and apple wine, sugar, flavors, acid: citric acid, preservatives: potassium sorbate, sulphor dioxide, acidity regulator: sodium citrate, colour: caramel colouring.

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• Style: (flavoured – passionfruit) Apple & Pear Cider
• Taste: Moscato d’asti white grape-pear partially cloying candylike
  
• Where I got it : BC Liquor Stores
• How much: $3.80 CAD – 50cl., April 2016
• Do I love this enough to drink it again: no
  
• Would I recommend this to cider aficionados: not really
  

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Visual: Pours very light white wine yellow with only a few barely steady large bubble streams.

Nose: moscato without the acidity (lvl-5)-pungency

Attack: crisp-soda fizzy, burpy

Mid-palate: (lvl-7-sweetness), moscato d’asti-like grape/pear, dissipating cloying sugar hit, background apple,

Finish: artificial candy-like passionfruit, subtle alcohol bitterness

Summary: Drinks something like a Moscato d’asti but more sugar and less acidity. Quite basic, but enjoyable if you like sweet and fruity cider/frizzantes. No real depth.

Perry – Sea Cider (Saanichton, BC, Canada)

• My Rating: [C+],  I gave it a (3.1 of 5) on Ratebeer.com

Perry – Sea Cider., 6.0% ABV, 750ml, (Saanichton, BC, Canada) (*local BC craft cider*)

from the seacider.ca website:

“A rare drink from a secret orchard. Vancouver Island perry pears have produced this exquisitely dry sparkler, combining classic English style with Vancouver Island’s pioneering roots. Raise a glass of Sea Cider to the perry of our past!

The Story:

Sea Cider’s Perry is made with true perry pears – a type of pear grown only for crafting Perry – a drink found only in northern France and Britain. Several years ago a heritage perry orchard was discovered a few miles from Sea Cider. A few dozen fifty-foot pear trees stand majestically and are all that remain on what was once acres of farmland. Since then Sea Cider has picked these heritage pears every year to produce a small batch of perry in the traditional Herefordshire style. Fermented with champagne yeast, the hard tannins soften during fermentation to produce this delicately nuanced drink.

Tasting Notes: 

• Appearance: Clear, light straw in colour, gently effervescent, bright
• Aromas/Flavours: Pear drops, pear juice
• Acid/Sweetness: Dry but with hint of perry’s natural unfermentable sugars to balance the acidity
• Mouth feel: Lightly tannic, sharp

Suggested Food Pairings:

Grilled salmon, shellfish, creamy pasta, Thai green curry, samosas, fried foods (fish & chips, spring rolls, french fries), fresh salads, mild cheeses.”

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• Style: Pear Cider
• Taste: Acidic apple vinegar sour red apple hint of pear mild tannic
  
• Where I got it : ??
• How much: $16 CAD? (after 10% off) – 750ml., sometime in 2012
• Do I love this enough to drink it again: no
• Would I recommend this to cider aficionados: if you like dry ciders
  

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Visual: (old labeling prior to 2015). Pours clear medium golden yellow with close clusters of activity.

Nose: funk, red apple, pear juice (lvl-7)-pungency

Attack: incoming fruity acidity

Mid-palate: big sour apple vinegar acidity, dry (lvl-2)-sweetness, dense fruity red apple, champagne

Finish: light tannic, sticky gums, subtle pear exhale.

Summary: To be honest it tastes more like red apple than any pear you’ve ever had from the supermarket. Perhaps perry pears just taste that way. In any case, the acidity and dryness are too aggressive for me to enjoy as a sipper; this probably goes best with a meal. Decent clean flavours with structured acidity.

Rekorderlig Apple-Blackcurrant Cider (Sweden)

• My Rating: [C+]

Rekorderlig Apple-Blackcurrant flavored Pear Cider – Åbro Bryggeri, 4.5% ABV, 50cl., (Vimmerby, Sweden)

Ingredients: Carbonated water, pear- and apple wines, sugar, flavours, acid: citric, regulators, preservative, etc etc.

• Style: (apple, blackcurrant) Flavoured Pear Cider
• Taste Profile: Sweet blackcurrant liquid candy
• Where I got it : BC Liquor Stores
• How much: $3.20, April 2015
• Do I love this enough to drink it again: no
  
• Would I recommend this to cider aficionados: for the casual drinker
  

Visual: apple, blackcurrant, and pear in a can, sounds good right? Pours clear light ruby red with a large dissipating bubbly head, ringed retention, lots of fast spread out streams.

Nose: mostly Ribena blackcurrant juice, some apple juice (5/10)-pungency

Attack: sweet blackcurrant candy

Mid-palate: tangy acidity, alcohol detection, light sour, (lvl-7)-thick sweetness, (MAIN) fruity blackcurrant, blackberry, apple backbone

Finish: blackcurrant exhale, fruity finish.

Summary: Tastes like blackcurrant, the candied version from start to finish. No necessarily bad, but very one note. Zero blackcurrant listed in the ingredients so quite a feat. Check out my reviews of their Elderflower [C+] and Wild Berries Ciders [C]

Sir Perry Berry – William’s Orchards (England)

• My Rating: C+
  

Sir Perry Berry (flavoured Pear Cider) – William’s Orchards, 6% ABV – 500ml, (Bristol, UK)\

Ingredients: Fermented Pear Juice, Strawberry flavour, colour, yeast, ascorbic acid, carbon dioxide.

• Style: (strawberry) Flavoured Pear Cider (perry)
• Taste Profile: fading sharp sweetness -> fizzy/fake strawberry/yeast/pear -> crisp/light cloying/tangy fake strawberry finish.
• Where I got it : W.16th
• How much: ~$12 for a 4pack, Sometime in 2011
• Do I love this enough to drink it again: no
  
• Would I recommend this to cider aficionados: no
  

Visual: had this laying around, finished 3 of the 4pack without reviewing, might as well since I’ve had this can for awhile. Pours pale red/orange with no head, very thin ringed retention, some activity.

Nose: half-candy/half decent strawberry aroma (but we know it’s artificial because of the ingredients list), pleasant and inviting.

Attack: 8/10-gentle fading sweetness

Mid-palate: fizzy, candy strawberry, yeast, fleeting pear flavour,

Finish: crisp, mild residual cloying sugars (chilled glass), light tangy fake strawberry finish.

Summary: It’s half-decent and okay. Nothing to rave about but decent compared to say Growers (BC cider) ciders.

Rekorderlig flavoured Pear Ciders (Sweden)

Rekorderlig flavoured Pear Ciders (Vimmerby, Sweden)

1. Elderflower flavoured Pear Cider: Rating = C+
2. Wild Berries flavoured Pear Cider: Rating = C

1.) Elderflower flavoured Pear Cider, 7.0% ABV, 500ml

• Style: (elderflower) Flavoured Pear Cider
• Taste Profile: sweet floral fizzy -> elderflower/pear/green apple -> tangy/floral/cloying finish.
• Where I got it : BC Liquor Stores
• How much: ~$4, Sometime in 2012
• Do I love this enough to drink it again: no
  
• Would I recommend this to cider aficionados: not fully
  

Visual: aluminum cans of anything usual suck imo, but hey elderflower + sweden could be a win. Also noted in the ingredients, “elderflower” is nowhere to be found. Pours almost colourless but just a hint of yellow, soda-like CO2, lots of activity.

Nose: light elderflower, gentle hints of apple and pear. Pleasant.

Attack: 7/10-controlled sweetness, fizzy

Mid-palate: cloying, elderflower, sugary pear, hints of green apple, sourness

Finish: tangy, decent lingering elderflower, but still cloying apple/lime-citrus finish.

Summary: While the elderflower aroma and apple/pear flavours are decent, the sugars are just too heavy and gradually overwhelm the palate.

2.) Wild Berries flavoured Pear Cider, 7.0% ABV, 500ml

• Style: (wild berries) Flavoured Pear Cider
• Taste Profile: aggressive sweetness -> artificial strawberry/raspberry -> cloying/tangy crisp finish.
• Where I got it : BC Liquor Stores
• How much: ~$4, Sometime in 2012
• Do I love this enough to drink it again: no
  
• Would I recommend this to cider aficionados: no
  

Visual: again with this one, no wild berries are found in the ingredients. Pours crystal clear pink with no head and a few countable streams.

Nose: faint strawberry-raspberry on the nose

Attack: aggressive 9/10-sweetness

Mid-palate: faint apple/pear, predominantly sweet candy-like (artificial) strawberry and raspberry

Finish: medium cloying sugars, light-medium tangy crisp finish.

Summary: Not much here in terms of pear flavour; it’s mainly fake red berry flavour that is decent and barely counterbalances out the aggressive sugars. Still nothing here that I particularly like.

Magners Pear Cider (Ireland)

• My Rating: C
  

Magners Pear Cider, 4.5% ABV – 500ml, (Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland)

Ingredients: pear juice from concentrate, glucose, sugar, citric acid, pear flavour, sulphites, colour.

• Style: Pear Cider
• Taste Profile: sweet fizzy yeast -> light pear/light apple -> burpy/med-sweet/light rough finish
• Where I got it : W. 16th Liquor
• How much: $4 (after 10% off), Jan 2013
• Do I love this enough to drink it again: no
  
• Would I recommend this to cider aficionados: no
  

Tasting notes: pours clear light  white wine yellow with almost no head, no retention, but lots of activity. Bright, sugary pear juice on the nose.

Attack: 9/10-sugary sweetness, fizzy yeast

Mid-palate: light pear, light apple, crispness

Finish: burpy, light-bodied, med-sweet/light rough finish.

Super-drinkable yet overly simplistic. Not much depth of flavour nor complexity of taste. This is more for the non-drinker/casual drinker crowd. Decent with a meal.