Lastest Cider Reviews

As Somerset is to the Glastonbury Festival, King Arthur and the Exmoor National Park, but we’re talking cider here so its more like The Wurzels. The Charmer By Orchard Pig is as they say is “Rooted in Somerset”, part of the West Country, the spiritual home of cider as far as most people are concerned. Back in the 18th century, local farm hands were paid in part with around 4 pints of cider for a day’s work, more if they earned it. This meant most farms had a small orchard to make their cider. Out of this the West Country cider tradition was born. Today a few farmhouse style cider houses are still making cider. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to stop by one of these you will know the unique smell of yeast eating the apple juice sugars turning the juice into cider, as well as splashes of last years batch soaking into the woodwork going a bit vinegary. Its a good place to be, so its happy smell for me. Read More

Rochdale Cider has the privilege of being the first Cider I’ve reviewed from across the ditch. New Zealand has a strong apple-growing heritage, particularly developing favourites like the Braeburn, as seen in the Lucky Duck Cider. Rochdale Cider has a lot going on – it may be too much.Rochdale has used some interesting marketing on the label. The abundance of facts about company, the product and what you can expect is a bit over whelming.

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Cold winters and the bright sunshine in Spring and Summer are the key to growing good apples. A little town of Batlow in southern New South Wales has these two essential conditions in abundance. Batlow is an old company by Australian standards, producing apples since the 1920’s and cider since the 1930’s. Today Batlow produce both a clear cider and a cloudy cider. Today I take a look at the Batlow Cloudy Cider.

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Back in 2010 two mates set themselves with a simple goal – to make Australia’s best cider! By keeping it local and keeping it simple, the Hills Cider Company has come up with a cider that is hard to beat and gives you every bang for your buck. Read More

I’m here to chop wood and drink cider, and I’m all out of wood. The Golden Axe Cider is here, but I think this lumberjack has been cutting hay.

Golden Axe Cider caught my eye with some great graphic artistry on the label. Featuring a computer generated caricature of a lumberjack, the Golden Axe really stands out on the shelf. That’s only superficial. The geeks behind the cider sound like my type of people. Read More

I have to be honest I wasn’t expecting much from this Lucky Duck Cider when I picked it up in the shop. I first heard about it on social media. This coupled with a trendy label, I thought it was going to be all show and no go. Boy was I wrong.

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It’s a bloody hot Friday afternoon. It’s been a long week. This is the Reveller, the side of the bottle says its refreshing and I hope its right.  Coming in at 4.5% the Reveller is one of Orchard Pigs lighter offerings. Designed as their “pub product” available in bottles and on tap. Although, it’s only on tap if you lucky enough to be in a quality British pub. My tasting was from the bottle. I paid $8.50 for a 500ml bottle from a specialist bottle shop in the Sydney CBD. It might seem a little dear but is probably a low volume import and its a biggish bottle. Read More