3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
(tap@Ravensbourne Arms, SE London) Fuzzy amber with nearly no head and very little carbonation. Clear apple aroma, taste is interesting with a mix of sour sweetness on the palate before a dry finish. Good cider over all (to my inexperienced cider palate)
2.3 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 8/20
Plastic keg (or something) at the Cider Tap, London. Pours a faintly hazy gold. Musty apple in the nose. Flavor is pretty wretched, very dry with faint dusty apples, basement and must (not in a good way), no sweetness. There’s just very little flavor to speak of. Impressively bland. Light bodied with fine carbonation. Dry finish with almost no sugar and mild dankness. Not enjoyable at all. Could be poor condition, but this was bad.
3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 16/20
On tap at Cider Tap, London. Pours a clear yellow straw colour with no head or carbonation. Aroma is a nice mix of must, white wine and apples. Taste is again white wine, apples and dust, farmhouse. More on the winey dry side. Body is thin with no carbonation. Very nice indeed.
3.4 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 13/20
50cl bottle thanks to Tom. Pours an amazing damson colour - reddish-orange with shades of yellow and it’s definitely opaque. No bubble and no head. When the remainder of the glass was poured, it was a muddy colour and it didn’t clear. The nose is very much sour apple, not quite cider vinegar but there are hints of it. The taste has more extreme sourness, definitely into cider vinegar this time, then it delivers some sweet apple at the end. The palate is very much like a good lambic beer - tight and concentrated but very long. Overall, this appears to be genuine traditional scrumpy, so sour you have to be in the mood for it.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bottle from the Real Food Store, Exeter. Cloudy amber with slight carbonation. Dry apple aroma with a hint of cheese and vinegar. Refreshing yet tart, with some pleasant juice, a slight hint of sweetness and then a mouth puckering dry finish. Not quite the driest, but getting close. Very good.
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