Cranberry

Having this on draft with dinner. To be honest, it looks and tastes to me like watered down, low sugar cranberry juice. It’s tart, strong cranberry flavor, no hint of apple. If you told me it was a ‘hard seltzer’ cranberry drink, I’d believe it. A disappointment, as their earlier incarnation of cranberry cider, now discontinued, got five stars from me back in 2015.

Nice and tart with no extra sugar added…just like a cider should be!

The pour is a clear light red with light carbonation. The aroma is cranberry and cinnamon. The taste is a semi-sweet and slightly tart cranberry but mostly cinnamon and pie spices. The mouthfeel is light. The finish is long slightly bitter and acidic ending on cranberry. It has some astringency but not as much as many cranberry ciders. It’s good.

This is the latest version of a cranberry cider from Tieton, this time sweeter and heavier on the cranberry than previously. I personally preferred the dryer recipe. The cranberry is very prominent, almost to the exclusion of tasting any of the cider. It also ends up being noticeably tart and acidic. It does have that festive, holiday feel, which makes good a nice seasonal cider.

A cranberry & spice punch to the jugular. Not much apple.