Bottle from New Beer. Hard pour into a shaker pint. Filtered orange/amber brown body. Flash of off-white head. Decided to pay attention on the second pour, & sediment was swirled around as directed. Smell is apple sauce & coco powder. Earthy. Slight banana esters. Different, but so far not ugly. Taste is a lot like a black velvet(cider/stout blend), heavy on the cider. Sharp, bitter sweet start. Ugly buttery middle. Heavy on the molasses. Glue. Stoutly, bitter chocolate & yeasty finish that dries out gradually. Too sweet overall though. Strong carbonation. Slippery feel. An interesting idea that almost worked.

Usually, the phrase "Super Premium Quality" is something to be weary of. Pretty raised label & under $6 for the 22. Baby Duvel glass just because it was within arms reach. More then a quarter inch of sediment on the bottom & I can’t seem to pour slow enough. Screw it, all in. A misty, murky, lightly sulfurous color. Just a bit of fizz. Pineapple juice & banana esters. Apples smell slightly sugary, but sits on the fence for the most part. Very juicy & tropical. Trappist yeast isn’t the first thing that comes to mind, but I like it. Smidgen of caramel that may or may not be the maple syrup at work. Flavor is bitter sweet apple must & generic yeastiness. Dusty. Apple skins. Bigger then expected alcohol, becoming a bit solvent-like. A shot of sharp apricot-like sweetness on the tail. Just a bit chalky. Thicker then average body. Much better then average cider. This was, in fact, better over ice. :P

A much appreciated bottle from ericandersnavy! Pours hazy orange gold with a few transient bubbles. An oaky/smoky aroma. Med body with coarse carbonation. Flavor is apple with a touch of treacle and some smoke and seemingly bourbon. Some sort of whisky anyway. And at 8% there isn’t really any heat. So here’s a cider that can proudly stand beside beer. Good drink.

22 oz bottle. Pours cloudy straw yellow. Aroma is light with mildly sweet green apple. Flavor has green apple with a little bit of some musty and spicy notes, possibly from the yeast. A pretty decent cider.

Single from Good Beer. Wobbly Sam Adam’s PP glass that I still need to get my money back for. Ha! Hard pour down the middle. Half inch of defiant, thin fizz. Pale golden color. Smell is boiled apples skins, sweet florals, iodine & sweat. Taste is a mishmash of bittersweet/tart apples, hard water, & a considerable amount of sweetener. A bit tannic as it warms up, but it also gets a little vegetably. Drying, woody finish. Carbonated & powdery, with a lingering malic tartness on the back end. Alcohol is fine. The additives will give you a headache by the end of the can though. Palatable crap.

Loose bottle, $1.80 @ Binny’s. Nice fizz when pouring, good apple juice smell. Very clear, no sediment in the clear bottle. Nice apple taste. Not much of a cider, I guess, but I can’t find much to complain about. Certainly not dry enough to be called "brut."

Firkin at The Belvidere on 11/10/2010. Slightly hazy red body with no head. Sweet cherry and fruit aroma on a light apple background. Sweet apple flavor with sweet cherry and fruit. Medium body with moderate carbonation.

Bottle from Whole Foods - Short Pump on 10/31/2010. Cloudy dark amber body with a medium fizzy tan head. Huge molassas and brown sugar aroma with some light apple and caramel notes. Sweet molassas flavor, some brown sugar, caramel, light apples, slight nuttiness and a touch of astringency. Medium full body with moderate carbonation.