SaltyGrog (4618) reviewed Ellis Bitter (2023) from Eve's Cidery 1 year ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle from their fall cider club. Cork stamped 02/24. Bit of an error on the abv, as it's listed as 8% in the newsletter & online. Haven't heard back on which is correct. Art is a little... cautionary. Creamy, bold bitter zest, brown fruit, some perky sour funk on the nose. Mojito glass at home. Loud sizzle from within the glass but no eruption. Clear, slightly dusty, mellow gold, quick soda, active pour. Lemon black tea & leather front end, slight creamed floral sweetness that's sort of pear-like, polite bittersweet tannins forming a queue down the middle, a slight bit of astringency to dry out the baking soda back-end. Lingering cured lemon. Deceptive middling acid, initial tartness is hides & that's it. ABV is pleasantly warming. Just a bit of a sulfite headache. Pretty good. More nuance than the Harry Master Jersey from the same farm.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Brown 750ml via their winter cider club. Printed as 7.5%, some places say 8%, the other Black Diamond release is in the same boat. Might be 7.75% & they rounded off. Still waiting on an answer. Pint glass at home during the end of Friday night RB chatz. Clear, honey gold, quick soda head. Veggie, honey syrup, mildly pleasant astringent nose; inviting. Mellow, classic bittersweet, oaky, macerated leaves, slight berry note, spirited acidic bite, dry apple cake, dry cherry, yeasty finish. There's no real delivery here, it sort of just plateaus on a quality but flat note. Dusty, strong pet-nat carb, whatever abv. Decent, if boring. Borrowed fruit, no show. I think our standards are now higher.
SaltyGrog (4618) reviewed CoFerment #5 (2024) from Eve's Cidery 1 year ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Clear 750ml via their winter bottle club. $18 before any discounts. Pretty, clear, raspberry, pomegranate color. Pint glass at home. Sloppy pour, some activity but not much head. Juicy grape jelly nose, boozy, veggy, plastic, waxy freshness. Floral grape bubblegum but not much of a singer. Taste is simple sweet-tart & somewhat oaky cran-apple, grassy, with very astringent & freshly fruity, semi-sweet, easy drinking grape wine. I'm not reading a lot of complexity but it's punchy, thin, has natural carb & goes down well. Fresh & cheap.
SaltyGrog (4618) reviewed Autumn's Gold (2023) from Eve's Cidery 1 year ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 6.5
750 split 4 ways at Shig's cider tasting. Clear, pale medium gold, hyper-carbed. Soft mushy nose of apple sauce, soft floral, honey, cream. Crispy, mellow astringency, apricot dominant, tart apple mix, light leather, newspaper. Not the best blend this year but great texture.
SHIG (13882) reviewed Autumn's Gold (2023) from Eve's Cidery 1 year ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle thanks to MicroGrog: Poured a golden with a fast-dissipating natural white head. Aroma is apple, graham cracker nose I don't care what the great salty says. Taste is apple, tannins, tangy bitter.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Bottle from their summer cider box. Not their own apples for once. Maybe they'll stop watering things down. Stemless at home. Clear, crisp, oil medium gold with a quick soda head. A bit of activity. Oaky, minty, marigold, unsweet tea, wax nose. Taste is unsweet tannic lemon tea, camomile, lots of oak, mineral water, a little cigar ash on the tail. More bitter as it goes. Very fizzy, more so than crispy. Medium acid, low-mid tart. Thin & spent, brut, parching, a little boozy. Great feel but a little vapid & not as complex as Eve's own.
SaltyGrog (4618) reviewed Geneva Tremletts (2023) from Eve's Cidery 1 year ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
750 from their summer bottle club. Two weeks & then into a lowball at home. Clear, pale gold, slightly active pour. Lingering egg white froth. Guava-granny smith nose with some sulfur freshness. Very tart lemon juice, sour green table grapes, slight tropical/guava, fruit pith, lingering white guava on a strong tannic finish. Dry dry to brut, soft & full carbonation, strong acid, wincing tartness, easy-ish abv, super refreshing on long draws. Nice.
SaltyGrog (4618) reviewed Golden Russet (2023) from Eve's Cidery 1 year ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle from their summer cider club. Couple weeks between the basement & the fridge. Mojito glass at home. Clear, bright, medium gold fizzy soda head with a little activity. Raw oak & macerated browned fruit, browned sugary apple nose, mud, rubbing alcohol. Golden Russets already have a natural oakiness of sorts. Taste is bitter & numbing citrus pith, lemon acid, honey off-sweet, green tea/slight veg, minerally & boozy good champagne with a moderate-low tannic finish. Slick, off-sweet, abrasive & constant bubbles, a little hot but welcome. Very good.
SaltyGrog (4618) reviewed Ashmead's Kernel (2023) from Eve's Cidery 1 year ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
750 from their summer edition cider club. Weird, unrelated artwork done by one of their children(maybe I just don't get it). Two weeks in the chiller. Mojito glass at home. Settled, clear, oily, pale to 14k gold, a touch of activity. Grainy, minerally, spent sparkling wine nose. Lemon & rubbing alcohol. Lemon juice, veggy, white onion, granny smith skin without the sweetness, pinch of sour pineapple fruitiness, old wood, minerally, preserved, white wine backend. Dry dry to off-brut. Just a smidge of tannic nature, slightly slick, strong acid, middle high tartness, a bit of boozy belly burn, full fizzy carb but the body is quite thin. Decent, not great.
SaltyGrog (4618) reviewed Dabinett (2024) from Eve's Cidery 1 year ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6.5
First pure Dabinett from Eve's comes when they had to purchase fruit because of last year's frost. Spring bottle club. A month or more fridge time. Pint glass at home. Clear, deep honey gold with an unusual strong & tall soda head. Scent is honey butter & cooked down orange rinds. Slightly pithy, slight damp earth funk. Keeved sort of sweetness, like orange honey drizzle over the expected apple bittersweetness. Very oaky. Earthy, wet leaf mulch funk. Heavy calcium. Middling acidity with a bonus wink of actual tartness we didn't order. A touch of mintiness in the back throat. Maybe too sweet, definitely too tame. Very half-hearted tannins but it does dry out a little. The bubbles are softer then they should be & they die too early. Abv is in mild & doesn't help elevate any of the flavors. Filler year. Is what it is.