Hands On Earth Orchard

This was some really good cider. Off-season cider is often juiced with a bit of sugar and other adulterants...but this was just silty and strong apple juice all the way to the bottom. Thank you Hands On earth Orchard. More here.

Oylers Organic Cider

I drank most of a quart of cider today. I could have shared better. It was from Oylers Organic Farms in Biglerville, PA and certified organic by PCO.I'm not a stickler for organic produce or cider for that matter, but this was some good cider. It was sweet, complex and very cloudy giving it a heavy rich taste I'd almost equate with chocolate. Damn fine stuff.

Cider Sampling

Every orchards cider is different .  North Star orchard is sweet but lacks complexity. I would not suppose this is a blend of more than 2 varieties. generally baking apples don't produce a good cider.Cider is generally made from dessert apples and crab apples in an 80/20 mix.

This tastes mostly like Jonathans to me but it could easily be Jonogolds or Jonomacs. Once blended with a little crab apple for extra tartness it's difficult to say for certain. I'm sure a brix measurement woudl help. But what's notably absent here is the astringent taste that you find in crappy commercial brands that shall today remain nameless.