Blackthorn Cider

Brewed by Matthew Clark Cider (C&C Group)
Style: Cider
Bristol, England

Serve in Flute, Lager glass

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Bottle (Dry Blackthorn)... Clear, light golden cider with no head. White wine and fresh red apple aroma. Tastes a bit like a dry Brut Champagne. Minimal residual sweetness and good acidity. Medium-bodied with modest carbonation. Tangy, bone-dry finish. I look at all the other descriptions of this cider, written by folks I know and whose judgments I trust... and am surprised and confused. Something doesn’t jive regarding all the sweetness others are encountering. Hmmm? The bottle even states that it’s brewed and bottled in Somerset England by Taunton Cider. Must be an old bottle!

Keg. Yellow, highly carbonated. Poor quality sweet cider with little fruit flavour. Oversweetened.

Bottle. Poured golden color with a minimal white head that diminished quickly with no lacing. Moderate tart apple aroma. Light body. Light sweet cider flavor with a light sweet finish of short duration.

Used to be called Dry Blackthorn, but I see they now dumb it down (nor that it was too smart before) by sweetening, so they’ve dropped the "dry". Thin and bland, with very little aroma. OK (and quite inoffensive) chilled own to quench a thirst on a hot day (which this was), otherwise best avoided. Bottled, from Tesco at 5.5%.

Pale yellow straw colour, gassy carbonation. Thin cidery aroma, lactic sourness and a bit plasticy. Flavour is semi-sweet, apple, but lacking any interesting character. Boring.

Draught at the pub near the Travel Inn near Kings Lynn. An orangey green coloured cider. The aroma is nasty and sweet with chemicals aplenty. The taste is the same. Crap really.

Pours with a clear yellow body, no head. A slight haze. Aroma of sulfur, cardboard, and vinegar. Taste is vinegar with a hint of dry apples. Lightish carbonation, water like to dry mouthfeel. Not a great cider. Could have sworn that I rated this before I had it again tonight...

Looks too much like a fantasy cider - as if it has colouring in it. Real cider isn’t this bronze. The aromas are equally artificial, sweet apples and some chemical sweetners. Flavours are thin apple with lots of harsh chemicals, especially on the finish - which is also dire.

Pours pale straw color with a thin white head. Smells of sugar and boozy. Tastes of apple juice and boozines.

Pours canary yellow, not much head. Aroma of apple and chardonnay. Tastes very tart and dry, with an apple/chardonnay finish. Not bad.