Devil’s Orchard Apple Cider by Aldi

Devil’s Orchard Apple Cider by Aldi. The German supermarket that has hundreds of its own brands now has a cider to add to that list, but is it a special buy?

So, I don’t really get Aldi, the store’s layouts are odd, the checkout requires double handling to scan items then pack bags and that is just slow. Then the one time that I may actually want to buy an electric lawnmower with my milk and off-brand corn flakes, but I can’t buy extra proprietary own brand batteries to go with it.

Under Aldi’s in house brand undertakings, they have a cider the Devil’s Orchard Apple Cider. It’s hard to know much about it because they don’t tell us much about it. What we do know is that it is “handcrafted in New Zealand”. Cool. But by whom and where? Any quality cider on the market will be shouting about how special their soils and weather conditions are for growing apples and how experienced and creative their cider makers are. But “handcrafted in New Zealand” …. sure.

The Nose

Opening the bottle is when the devil sneaks out with sulphurous eggy smells mixed on top of apple flavour candy making for a rather unpleasant scent. It improves with some time to breathe and being decanted into a glass. This helps to get rid of the egginess, but leaves behind artificial candy apple flavour.

The Taste

The label on the Devil’s Orchard Apple Cider tells us that this is a dry cider. My taste buds beg to differ putting it in the medium to the medium sweet range. There are hints of a sour apple flavour but not enough to get too excited about. No minerally attitude either. The only thing that gives it any bite is the amount of fizz.

Label notes tell me to expect a “clean, crisp apple finish”. Again, I’m struggling to agree with that. The cider is clingy and outstays its welcome. Maybe more acids would help cut through. It just tastes cheap.

Final Thoughts on the Devil’s Orchard Apple Cider

They say the devil is in the detail and they miss all the details that count. The only real positive about this is that it’s cheap but it tastes cheap. So how does Aldi fix this cider? Well, all the clues are on the label. 1) make it dryer, as the label says. 2) give it a crisp finish, bump up the acids and maybe the tannins. 3) when the checkout attendant scans an item, they place it into your reusable bag and increase the throughput of the till.

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