Cider Boys Cranberry Road

With the fall season upon us, we start to look at some of the more seasonal ciders that appear. Last time we reviewed a cider that brought the spices of the season. This time we review a cider that promises some of the flavors of the season: cranberries. Hawke has confessed that he has a love-hate relationship with cranberries. He generally cannot drink their juice by itself as it is too bitter for him. Cider Boys brings us their cider as part of the expanding line up. This cider promised to tone down the bitterness and merge it with a good apple flavor.

Color: Upon pouring the glass, Bailey had noticed that it was a very golden cider. It has a pleasant color to it, that it quite clear. Conversely, Hawke noted that the cider did not appear to have even the slightest tinge of red to it. Both were disappointed as cranberries are a main ingredient. This aside, there was not much to take away from its color and clarity. Hawke: 4/5 Bailey: 5/5

Smell: Bringing the glass up to her nose, Bailey inhaled a sweet almost citrus flavor. There was no cranberry smell, but there was still a little bit of apple that she detected. Hawke smelled a decidedly sweet smell, with some bitterness accompanying. He surmises that the bitterness is from the cranberries. However, he could not detect them or the apples in the smell. Hawke: 3/5 Bailey: 3/5

Taste: Trying out the cider, Hawke tasted a sweet flavor, with the slightest hint of cranberry. Along with the cranberry flavor, there was also some bitterness. Hawke expected this, but it was not as strong as he expected it. Upon drinking the cider, Bailey enjoyed the sweet apple flavor. She also felt some bitter flavors, and a small hint of cranberry. Both were expecting more cranberry flavor to be present in the cider. Hawke: 3/5 Bailey: 3/5

Aftertaste: Hawke felt that the aftertaste was very short. It was mostly sweet, was a slight bitterness and really no flavors carried over to the cider. Bailey however got mostly bitter flavor, with a little sweetness. She also felt that the aftertaste was very short. This was overall, slightly disappointing as our two had thought that the cranberry flavor might appear more present here, but it sadly did not. Hawke: 4/5 Bailey 3/5

Price: 8-10. Bailey feels that this cider is good for its price, as the quality is good and there is only one main detractor from the cider. Hawke likewise felt that the cider was decent, but that there is still room for improvement. Hawke: 5/5 Bailey: 4/5

Overall: Both agreed that this cider is a decent cider. Bailey liked it, but was disappointed that there was not more cranberry flavor. Especially considering that this cider is marked as having such. She thinks that this would be a good cider for holiday dinners. Bailey does admit that she feels that this is more a sweet or seasonal cider rather than a cranberry specific cider, and that if there was more cranberry flavor present she would of rated this cider higher. Hawke feels that this cider is good, but really lacking the flavors it should have. The cider does seem to balance the sweet and bitter flavors very well however.
Hawke: 19/25 or a yellow apple

 Bailey: 19/25 or a yellow apple

CiderBoys: Peach Country

Greetings readers! We hope that you have been enjoying your summer and taking advantage of all the festivals this year. Bailey and Hawke headed up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for Summerfest this past weekend and decided to make a special stop to pick up CiderBoys hard cider. We have heard a lot of good things about this cider, but we have not been able to purchase it in the Chicago area yet. Slowly but surely it seems to be trickling down to some places in the Illinois market now.

This cider is produced locally in Wisconsin and mixes the flavors of apple with peach! It has a ABV of 5% and comes in a six pack of bottles. You can find all of their exciting varieties here: http://www.ciderboys.com/

Color:
Bailey liked the golden yellow coloration of this cider and thought it was very clear with slight carbonation. She rates it with a 5/5 apples.
Hawke also liked the light yellow hue of this cider and thought that it was very well filtered with some bubbles. He also gives it 5/5 apples.

Smell:
Bailey fell in love with the great peach smell of this cider. The aroma was a very powerful sweet peach with the slightest hint of apple. Just smelling this cider made Bailey want to buy some peaches to bite into. She easily gives this cider a 5/5 for smell.
Hawke was a little apprehensive after taking a whiff. He couldn't deny the sweet peach smell, but was afraid that the taste would be way too sweet for him. He rates the smell with a 4/5 apples.

Taste / Complexity:
Bailey thought the flavor of this cider was amazing! The powerful sweet peach flavor was not too overwhelming for her, and the overall mouth feel was very light. She also felt a slight fizzy feeling on her tongue after taking a sip. This cider was very crisp and refreshing. Usually, Bailey would have been disappointed with the lack of apple flavor, but the quality of the peach flavor was so good, she can't say anything bad about it. She rates it with a 5/5 apples.
Hawke also enjoyed the strong peach flavor and was surprised that it was not too sweet for his liking. He also commented on the lack of apple flavor, but agreed that the quality was very good. He also rates this cider with 5/5 apples for flavor.

Aftertaste:
Bailiey detected that the sweet peach flavor lingered, but not very long. It was hard to discern if there was any apple flavor in the aftertaste because it could have mixed in with the sweetness. Bailey gives this cider a 4/5 apples for aftertaste.
Hawke agreed that he tasted the sweet peach flavor but not for very long. There was also a lasting sweetness, but he couldn't detect the apple flavor either. He also rates it with a 4/5 apples.

Price:
$7-10 for a six pack of bottles. This cider is currently mostly available in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin and northern Illinois areas. With the quality of this cider, Bailey feels this price is very reasonable and hopes that CiderBoys will spread to the rest of the country. She rates this cider with a 5/5 apples for price.
Hawke was very impressed with this cider and feels that the price is very reasonable for the six pack. He would definitely buy this cider again and gives it a 5/5 apples.

Overall:
Bailey believes that even though this cider is a little lacking in apple flavor, the quality is very good and it is delicious. Peach lovers will instantly love this cider. It is not too sweet and the alcohol doesn't even play a part in the flavor. Overall, Bailey rates this cider with a 24/25 apples, or a green apple.

Hawke was very surprised at how much he liked this cider, as he is not a huge fan of peaches. He admitted that of all the fruit flavored ciders we have tried, this was probably his favorite. The quality is great, the flavor is delicious, and this cider is great for summer. Overall, Hawke rates this cider with a 23/25 apples, or a green apple. 

Keep on a lookout for our review of CiderBoys First Press hard cider. Keep enjoying your summer and thanks for reading!