About
Botanist & Barrel crafts real southern ciders, sours, and dry fruit wines. We are the South's only natural cidery focused on spontaneous and wild cultures. We craft healthy adult lifestyle beverages for any occasion. We support our local farmers using only locally, sustainably and organically sourced fruits, including blueberries, apples and more from our organic estate farm. Only tree ripened apples are used in our ciders with a focus on traditional southern heritage cider apples.
All of our ciders and wines contain little to no residual sugar and are low calorie. As an experimental winery we have almost no rules with the exceptions being we never add additives like sulfites and we do not fine, filter or pasteurize any of our ciders or wines.
All of our ciders and wines contain little to no residual sugar and are low calorie. As an experimental winery we have almost no rules with the exceptions being we never add additives like sulfites and we do not fine, filter or pasteurize any of our ciders or wines.
6.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
375ml bottle from the now defunct Tasty Beverage of Asheville. Long cellar sleep, 3 month fridge settling. Rounded pint glass @home. Clear, pale cherry red on pink color. Smells of dry raspberry, watery apples, gum, celery, saltwater. Taste is bitter apples, lots of creamy yeast, dry & tart raspberry seltzer that lingers to the finish. Solidly bitter. Raspberry isn't dominate. Good, seltzer-ish carbonation, feels thin despite all the yeasties. Hidden booze. Faded fruit, but somewhat okay.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jul 2021
at 23:31
6.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Vintage 375ml corked bottle from the late & great Tasty Beverage in Asheville. Cellar sleep for 1yr+, fridge storage 3 months. Rounded pint glass @home. Color of faded, pale rosé wine. Lots of unstable sediment at the bottom, waiting for their time to strike. Smells of tart apples, sour grape & earthy skin. Taste is light to moderate sour apple & acidic table grapes, red grape skins & a bit of vinegar. Is rhubarb sort of like unripe strawberries? Maybe some of that. Barely a note of maple way in the back, which is all I wanted anyway. Finishes with a boozy white wine note. Overall, way more solid than I was expecting. Thin, light, acidic, intentionally flat, strong. Okay to good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Jul 2021
at 23:15
7.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 8.5
12oz can from Appalachian Vinter. Pint glass @ home. Cloudy straw body, ample head. Smell is a big whiff of wildflowers, nutmeg & anise. Sweet & sour apples, bitter orange, strong clove, bubblegum, gum, dry & very carbonated. Lingering pucker. Minimum Sidra qualities that in a little tired of. Surprised. Low perceived abv. Drinks nicely & doesn't come off as Christmas-y. Good.
Tried
from Can
on 28 Jun 2021
at 19:18
6.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 7.5
Bottle from Appalachian Vinter. Pint glass @home. Clear, pale straw, active pour. Potent Sauerkraut, apple core, pineapple & gum nose. Cleaner taste of bitter apple, funky hay, pineapple fruitiness, saltwater & a lingering lemon tart finish with just a hint of sweetness. Creeping acid that might hurt later. Carbonation could be stronger, thin with a little residual yeast in the body. Alcohol warmth on the way down, but very little detected initially. Missing a touch of cheesy Basq funk, but that makes it easier to drink without a plate of food in front of you. Okay.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Apr 2021
at 22:26
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Rhubarb make for a nice variation here. Tart apple. Ruby red pour. Light tart sweet end. Guest tap at Wye Hill.
Tried
from Draft
on 21 Jan 2021
at 16:20
4.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 3
Flavor 4
Texture 6
Overall 5
Can from Appalachian. Lowball @home. Settled, mostly clear, pale straw body. Stuffy. All I get is yogurt & very faint pear. Seemingly dry, yeasty, salty, faint pear, apple, banana. Tart finish. More phenolic & sweet as it warms. Faintly carbed, thin, dry as I said. No thanks.
Tried
from Can
on 02 Jan 2021
at 22:27
3.5/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 3
Texture 2
Overall 2
Can from Appalachian. Lowball @home. Flat, cloudy, pale straw, gluggy pour. Perfumey wildflower, clay, yeast. Taste is vinegar sour, sour mix, yeast slurry. Congested, flat, syrupy & slightly sweet despite the name. Pass.
Tried
from Can
on 02 Jan 2021
at 22:11
8.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 10
Texture 10
Overall 8.5
Bottle from the defunct Tasty Beverage in AVL. Unintended year of cellar time in between this Mojito glass @ home. So I love lavender. It's so beautiful & rarely done right. I'll whine like a child if this isn't good. Honey's in Brooklyn does/did an amazing gray lavender martini sort of cocktail that I can't replicate. Clear, settled, still, pale gold. Smell in the present is lemon verbena, apple cinnamon & very light lavender flowers(no soap). Taste is moderately acidic apples, cream, light squeeze of lemon, white tea bitterness, delicate lavender florals. Thin, fainty tart, just tannic enough, yeast is staying put for the most part, can't notice the alcohol. Love it.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Dec 2020
at 00:28
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 4
Flavor 9
Texture 6
Overall 10
Can from Appalachian. Mojito glass @home. Cloudy, pink grapefruit, bubbly. Second pour is more of a plum color. Smells of yeast, wet dog, mushy apples. Stuffy. Flavor is bright grapes & sour apples, lactic acid, less prominent but earthy blueberries on the flush. Big, natural carbonation. Thin, if slightly too yeasty. Dry, but slick on the finish. Drinks like a good fruit sour more than cider, but doesn't lose itself in the additives. No real complaints. Good.
Tried
from Can
on 29 Dec 2020
at 00:00
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Can from Appalachian. NB goblet @home. Cloudy, pale, dusty melon brew. Strong Jasmine, sour apple & baby powder nose. Twangy apple, jasmine, bold citrus, slight vinegar, residual yeast. Slightly sweet, but great acidity & strong bubbles. Good.
Tried
from Can
on 27 Dec 2020
at 22:37