To my knowledge, The Mazer Cup International is the largest annual, mead-only competition in existence. It features both home and commercial competitions with hundreds of entries each in which meadmakers vie for the coveted Mazer Cup trophies. The event also includes the ‘Mead [...]

I recently stumbled upon some videos by the folks at Schilling Cider House of Seattle, WA, which detail some basic aspects of cider tasting, including: types of cider aroma acidity sweetness (brix) tannins mouthfeel Check them out; I think they’re well worth the few minutes each that they [...]

I recently had the opportunity to sample two ciders from Two Rivers Cider of Sacramento, CA. Each features a bright, refreshing apple base and an added fruit–in one case, Blood Orange and in the other, Huckleberry. How were they? Well, I’ll tell you. Read [...]

Some of you may remember my post about a non-commercial community cider operation that I visited last year. If you don’t, check it out–it was an amazing experience for me and a great opportunity to see people coming together to do something they love. That’s why I’m so sad [...]

Cherry Daze is a semi-sweet hard cider from Big B’s Hard Cider of Hotchkiss, CO. Made from organic apple juice produced onsite at their own orchards, the crisp apple character of this cider is also accompanied by ample amounts of tart Montmorency [...]

Some of you may remember the post about my first visit to Scrumpy’s Hard Cider Bar in Fort Collins, Colorado. That was in its early days, before they ramped up their own cidermaking operation, Summit Hard Cider and Perry. This time, there were numerous Summit ciders on hand and I managed to [...]

I’m tempted to say that John Chapman–Johnny Appleseed–would be turning over in his grave if he knew about the quality of the commercial cider that now bears his name, but to be honest, I have no idea how good or bad the cider he had in life was. But one thing I do know: Johnny [...]

Ross-On-Wye’s Medium Dry Still Perry is an uncarbonated, farmhouse Perry from the UK made from Perry pears. It’s slightly funky, complex, and–in this reviewer’s [...]

Savage Bois is a mead by Golden Coast Mead of San Diego. It is a dry, hazy, floral, wildflower mead with plenty of complexity and just a bit of [...]

The Bad Apple is a strong (10.5% abv!), oaked, honey-fortified cider from Two Towns Ciderhouse. Highly carbonated, fairly dark, with a crabby bite and some oak complexity, Bad Apple certainly is bolder than many of the dry, west-coast ciders I’ve [...]