Bar on Buena/Uncle John's Cider

This being summer time in Chicago, it is a good time to get out and explore what the city has to offer. After being couped up for awhile due to an injury, Bailey and Hawke decided to go down to an eatery that they had both heard about. That night was also important because Uncle John's Cider was also there with some of their signature ciders. For this event Hawke and Bailey elected to try a different cider each and give a review on that one.

The Bar On Buena is a small eatery just off of Broadway that offers a fine selection of foods. If you are just going for an appetizer and a beer, their bruschesta is highly recommended by both Hawke and Bailey. Their burgers are also worth the trip. But, that's not why were here, on to the ciders!

Uncle John's Cider Mill is a cidery out of St. Johns Michigan that offers several different types of cider to choose from. Seasonal ciders include a Cinnamon Apple, Cranberry Apple, and Apple Blueberry, as well as several others.

Bailey elected to get a Apple Apricot cider. It comes in at 6.7% ABV.

Color: Bailey found this cider to have a dark gold with some carbonation, which she liked. Not exactly what she was expected though, but very pleasing to the eye.  Bailey: 5/5

Smell: Bringing it to her nose she detected a mostly overwhelmingly sweet smell which seemed to cover most of the other smells. She also detected some apple, but even less apricot. Bailey: 4/5

Taste: Bailey said the flavor of this cider was that of sweet alcohol, which again seemed to overwhelm the other flavors that were in the cider. She said that apricot is a background flavor in this cider, while the apple was a little heavier. Bailey: 3/5

Aftertaste: The aftertaste on this cider mostly consisted of a sour apple flavor. Bailey found this to be a good aftertaste as she found it to be boldly sour, while not being overwhelmingly sour as we've seen with other cider brands. Bailey: 4/5

Overall: Bailey found this to be a good cider, as the flavors were present while not being overwhelming. She does wish that the apricot flavor was more at the forefront of the cider rather than a background player.
Bailey's total: 17/20 or a green apple.

Hawke opted to try Uncle John's Apple Cranberry Cider.

Color: Hawke was pleased to find that this cider comes out a deep red, with little or no carbonation present. Hawke: 5/5

Smell: Upon smelling, Hawke detected a little alcohol smell that was at the front of the cider, beyond that, there was some cranberry and some very slight apple smell present. 4/5

Taste: The initial taste was very sharp and sour, as expected with a cranberry cider, but the cranberry flavor was very light. There was some apple flavor as well, but it was almost undetectable. Hawke: 4/5

Aftertaste: The final lingering flavors were subtle, with nothing particularly overwhelming. The main flavor that stuck around was the sour flavor, with the cranberry and apple almost nonexistent. Hawke: 3/5

Overall: This cider was about what Hawke expected it to be. It was decent, but lacking a little in the flavors of apple and cranberry. Hawke's Total: 16/20 or a green apple.

Note: As Hawke and Bailey were at a bar, they did not take price into consideration. A Search at their local liquor store puts the prices between 10-13 dollars which they both found a little high.