Carlton United Breweries’ low carb beer brand Pure Blonde has released the “Pure Blonde Crisp Apple Cider” low carb cider. Claiming 60% sugar and 50% fewer carbohydrates than regular cider. Wait what? What the hell is a regular cider? And exactly how much sugar is in Pure Blonde’s Cider?

Full credit to Carlton United Breweries (CUB) they list some of the nutritional facts for all their products on their website. This includes sugar and carbs. Sadly no actual ingredients list. Hey CUB, I challenge you to list a full ingredients list to the same standard as any food you buy in the supermarket. 
 
Anyway, they tell us that the Pure Blonde Crisp Apple Cider has 2.0g/100ml or 20g/litres. Plug that into VinoCalc and we get a standard gravity of 1.008SG. So if Pure Blonde Crisp Apple Cider were to be entered into this year’s Australian Cider Awards it would slot neatly into the New World Medium Cider (1.004 -1019SG). The key word here is Medium. Not sweet cider, not dry sweet but right in the middle of the market spectrum. Would a medium be a regular cider? This was the biggest category at this year’s awards. To me, that’s a “regular cider”. So the claim that the  Pure Blonde Crisp Apple Cider is 60% less sugar than regular cider is, well, crap.

Maybe then, CUB mean something from their own range? I looked up and down the list to find a cider approximately 60% higher in sugar than the  Pure Blonde Crisp Apple Cider. Congratulation Bulmer’s, you’re a regular cider!The Pure Blonde Crisp Apple Cider

The Nose

Sulphur and chalkboard dust. The only thing that is remotely apple-ish is a stale old fruit bowl stink. Not good.

The Taste 

What the hell is this? It tastes like a rotten apple that was sucked up by a vacuum cleaner and left there for a week. I’m expecting to get a hair in my mouth at any moment.  It’s watery yet, overpoweringly horrid. You can tell it’s made by a low carb beer brand it has that same apathy to good taste. The Pure Blonde Crisp Apple Cider is slightly beery, mildly fizzy, medium sweetness and not enough apple flavour to comment on if its real, concentrate or artificial. I’m not finishing this rubbish. 

Final Thoughts The Pure Blonde Crisp Apple Cider

If you want a low sugar cider there are some truly fantastic option on the market, I found one last week that has even less sugar.

In all honesty, this is one of the most undrinkable “ciders” I’ve ever tried. Carlton United Breweries can not be serious about this crap. They have recently sacked a large number of staff mainly electricians and fitters then tried to hire them back at lower wages.

Don’t bother. Between the way they treat staff and the quality of this drink Just don’t bother.

Product Pure Blonde Crisp Apple Cider
Company Pure Blonde, Carlton United Breweries
Sweetness Medium
Alc/Vol  4.5%
Website pureblonde.com.au
Country of Origin Australia
Region Made in Australia from imported and local ingredients.

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