Fox Barrel: Ginger and Blackcurrant Pear Cider

This week Bailey and Hawke wanted to try something a little exotic. Fox Barrel's Ginger and Blackcurrant Pear Cider with Organic honey is what we chose. This cider is unfiltered, and contains 6.5% ABV. You can find this cider and all the Fox Barrel products at: http://foxbarrel.com/cider/

Color:

The color of this cider is a very rich berry red. It is a tiny bit cloudy because it is an unfiltered cider, but it is very bold. Hawke remarked that it reminds him of a very rich cranberry juice. Bailey rates this with a 4/5 apples. Hawke gives it a 4/5 apples also.

Smell:
The aroma of this cider is very fruity and enticing. Bailey said that it brought back memories of her adolescent  days when she had a love affair with wine coolers. Hawke also enjoyed the smell, but added that the fruit smells all mixed together and you couldn't really determine one from another. Bailey rates this with a 3/5 apples. Hawke also gives it a 3/5.

Flavor / Complexity:
Bailey was very impressed with this cider after she sampled it. There is a very pungent ginger taste right away, and a little spicy kick to it from the blackcurrant. The pear and any other fruit juices, take a back seat to the spices. Hawke thought that it tasted like a mix of pear and grapefruit juice with a lot of ginger mixed in. He did not detect the spicy kick that Bailey did. Bailey rates this cider with a 4/5 apples. Hawke gives it a 3/5 apples.

Aftertaste:
Bailey enjoyed this aftertaste. It was very fizzy and tickled her tongue a bit. She mostly tasted the strong ginger in the aftertaste. Hawke agreed, not tasting anything but ginger and lots of it. Bailey rates it with a 4/5 apples. Hawke also gives it a 4/5 apples.

Price:
$6-8 Bailey thinks that this cider has a lot of flavor and is totally worth the price. She rates it with a 5/5 apples. Hawke thinks this is very reasonable and rates it with a 4/5 apples.

Overall:
We both feel that this cider has a lot of kick and pizzazz! If you are looking for something new and different this would be a great cider to try. Usually Hawke and Bailey are not big on pear ciders, but this one has won us over. The only area of improvement we have for this cider would be to lessen the amount of ginger in this cider, and allow the great flavors of the fruit juice to come forward a little bit.
Bailey gives this cider a 20/25 apples, or a Green Apple!

Hawke gives this cider an 18/25 apples, or a Yellow Apple!