Midford cider

Golden colour, moderate fizz and moderate cloudiness the first time I had one (Oct 20) and clear the second time (Jan 23). Slightly unpleasant farmyard aroma first time around and sweet apples the second. Flavour has peat with a little honey and is unchanged.

Bland cider. I appreciate it is a "real" cider but this cider has very little going for it. Slight dry fruit aroma. Tastes are very light too of sweeter cider.

Ooh now this is different from the ‘unrefined’ version. Much different - which is great as it shows how ‘real’ their ciders are. The aroma on this one has lively citrus notes and earthy hints with faint ginger and floral essence. The taste? Sharp. And quite fizzy, tasting more like a decent supermarket cider. It’s quite dry, acidic and astringent and isn’t anywhere near as good as its ‘unrefined’ brother and any sweetness is certainly natural. The best thing about this cider is the nose - and that’s so unusual. The taste is dry, sharp, tart and quite bitter in the immediate length. It’s fairly light bodied and short in length but still weighs in at 5.9%ABV. The colour is a light, straw hue with plenty of fizz and I think if the carbonation was toned down a bit they may be onto more of a winner here. It claimed a Silver award in the ‘Taste of the West’ whereas the ‘unrefined’ achieved gold - and you can tell. Given the choice I’d go ‘unrefined’ every time and leave this to this review - and leave it there. It’s unremarkable, which is a shame, but the taste has enough to kick it along and it’s strong in apple flavour and peel. One of the best aromas I’ve come across, it’s just a shame this cider didn’t match up in the taste satisfaction department. Despite all this, it’s a fairly solid entry and I’d give it 3.5/5 if I could, but it’s not quite a 4 for my palate and therefore rocks in a a solid and very decent 3/5. (Bought in the Independent Spirit of Bath shop in Bath city centre with a right grumpy git with a beard at the till).