Cider Reviews Written While Drinking Ciders

Since my 21st birthday (or really, the day after), I have begun an endeavor to become something of a connoisseur of hard ciders. A task that is, I must say, a good bit easier than becoming an expert in beer or wine, really -- the number of ciders on the mainstream American market is quite low, and consumption pretty well parallels access, in this case.

Which is too bad, I say. A beer-like drink made from pressed apples is just what this country needs - and what it had as its unofficial national drink of choice for quite some time, up through the 1800s, apparently. I've read that prohibition struck a hard blow against American ciders, what with apple trees being a much more appealing target for chopping down than, say, a field of wheat.

Much as I like ciders as a concept, I must admit that they can vary considerably in quality, even in my so-far limited experience with the beverage genre. A limited experience that I should now like to catalog, for posterity:

Woodchuck Dark & Dry: A fruit-driven cider, but not in an overly sweet way, Woodchuck D&D has the same hint of apples in its taste that you can detect from the initial odor. Squat little bottles, green label, New England vintage. (Do you say vintage, with ciders?) Would buy again. (5% alcohol by volume.)

Cider Jack: First tried at home when I bought a six-pack of this and the Woodchuck D&D, Cider Jack just didn't compare. Strangely, however, the two are both produced by Green Mountain Beverage of Vermont. The cider is overly cloying and candy-like, and didn't seem to complement well with much of anything by taste. However, if you like your drinks with added carbonation and/or acidity plus overly sweet, this might serve in a pinch. (5.5% ABV)

Hard Core: I am drinking this cider as I write this. Hardcore's label boasts that it is "the world's only crisp hard cider," combining the flavor intensity of American-style ciders with the dry drinkability of their European predecessors. The essence of this claim seems to hold true, as Hardcore's taste comes in a one-two combo of crisp fermented apple flavor and a drier, lightly carbonated taste as I swallow. Hardcore is also the first cider I ever tried, and hence has a special place in my liver. . . I mean, heart. (Vinted in Ohio, bottled in Boston, 5.5% ABV.)

K Draft Cider: The first English cider in my repetoire, K is 6.9% alcohol by volume, and hence comes in little 9.3 oz bottles to make up for it (thereby actually making each less alcohol than you'd get drinking a bottle of Hardcore). Still, the higher alcohol percentage is a boon for people like me who sip their drinks very slowly, then look over and find their boyfriend on the floor mumbling something about whether rooms spin counterclockwise in the Southern hemisphere. As for the taste, K is indeed drier than most ciders you'd find in an American supermarket, and eminently drinkable, though if you're looking for a full bodied apple flavor, this may not be the cider for you. All the same, I recommend it, particularly to anyone looking for an affordable English-style cider. (Vinted in Bristol, bottled in New York, 6.9% ABV)