Kopparberg Rose cider review (5.5/10) – “Didn’t taste of apple. Sickly, with harsh acidity”.
The Good
“Appealing bottle design”.
“Practical alcohol level”.
“Fruity smell and taste”.
“Moderate acidity level”.
The Bad
“Lacking clear brand identity”.
“No cider-related backstory”.
“Expensive for a session”.
“Tastes of black currant … ugh”.
“Harsh acidity and sweetness”.
“Sickly aftertaste”.
“Weak carbonation”.
“No dryness”.
“No pleasant character”.
“Not session-able”.
“I didn’t enjoy it”.
Packaging
Rose ciders took the USA market by storm in 2019. Rob Salvesen supports this by stating Rose ciders are now almost twice as popular as other fruit ciders.
He goes on to suggest, this upward trend may be replicated in the UK.
Clearly with Kopparbergs’ Rose stock in both Asda and Tesco, this shows how leading supermarkets in the UK share this vote of confidence.
Other brands can be found in English stores too. These include Thatchers Rose and Angry Orchard Rose, both can also be found in Tesco. (My reviews of both of these can be seen on the related products section below).
What is the price-tag for these in vogue Rose’s then ?
Today’s drink was bought from Tesco for £2.20. This bottle provides 2 units, from 500ml, of 4% ABV fluid. 2 of these would provide a 4-unit session, for £4.40. Angry Orchard Rose is even more costly though, costing £6 for 3.9 units.
Thatchers Rose costs £3.52 for 2 bottles, which makes it slightly cheaper than todays Kopparberg offering. The Thatchers offering also provides 4 units.
All of these Rose offerings seem expensive therefore, partly due to low ABV, but secondly due to significant bottle price. Relatively though, today’s offering sits centrally in cost amongst fellow Rose offerings.
Today’s Offering is Kopparberg Rose. As noted in my first Kopparberg review, “Kopparberg is a town in the north of Sweden with approximately 4000 residents. The main employer is the cider producer, which was established in 1882”.
So Kopparberg is a Swedish cider, proud of its roots. Kopparberg Rose has various words in Swedish to support this fact, printed onto its rather colourful bottle label.
Sadly, the bottle doesn’t possess a backstory. After delving into the website though, that adds the assertion of “Copper mountain”, as the background to the town name, Kopparberg. Since the Kopparberg brewery was established in this Swedish town, it seems only reasonable to assume it was the suspicion of copper reserves, that gave this cider it’s name.
The Kopparberg brand to me, can only be associated with ciders made with fruits other than apple. These fruity flavours are abundant in many supermarket stores, and seem readily stocked. Since other fruits to flavour an apple-based drink appears an odd concept, I’m happy they have branched out into the world of keeping cider tasting purely of apple. This does mean brand identity is quite unclear, though.
Perhaps todays’ Rose offering will improve on my last Kopparberg review, one which also focused on the humble apple ?
My 2017 review entitled “Naked apple”, only scored 7/10, suggesting there is room for improvement in Kopparbergs’ strictly apple offerings.
Today’s expectations are somewhat difficult to establish. For one thing, the official Kopparberg website, appears fully devoid of the Rose offering. Secondly, the bottle adds nothing but “Fruity”, and “Refreshing”, assertions. These are traits present in 99.9% of all cider.
The Tesco website reiterates the bottle caption, only echoing the pretty useless words mentioned above.
Thankfully though, our “Naked apple” review, provides the potentially relevant knowledge of: Lacking dryness, sweetness, acidity, and body. Whilst those were all negative, the flavour was also listed as smooth and interesting, suggesting all isn’t lost.
At least with these minimal expectations, todays’ cider didn’t have much to live up to …
Smell
The smell was very subtle, yet light and somewhat sweet. It emerged from a thin film of white froth. This was barely noticeable from the word go. No puff was made on bottle-top release during opening, suggesting very light carbonation. The scent persevered for a significant amount of time, becoming a little more sickly, during subsequent inhalations. Whilst sickly, it became distinctively fruity.
Taste
On first sip, the taste reminded me of blackcurrant. It appeared very different from apple in taste, appearing to heavily feature other fruits. The taste was a little watery, not helped by the particularly thin mouthfeel. It didn’t take long for things to become sickly sweet either.
After this sweetness built up, it lingered for a considerable length of time on the aftertaste. Fortunately, this was cut through with a moderate level of acidity. One that took a while to become apparent. Carbonation was slightly more noticeable than expected, yet was a little light for me. It was light to moderate, in fairness.
As for dryness, this was totally lacking.
The taste was too sickly to be session-able. It was anything but smooth. All flavours seemed quite artificial and harsh. Bit of a shame really.
Summary
Didn’t taste of apple. Sickly, with harsh acidity.
Follow OUR Socials
Blog Homepage: (reasea.org)
Instagram: Reaseaorg (@reaseaorg) • Instagram photos and videos
Facebook: (1) Reaseaorg | Facebook
YouTube: Reaseaorg Reaseaorg – YouTube
Redbubble cards: → Ben Hattrell Shop | Redbubble ←
Buy your Greetings, Christmas and Postcards to support us:)
Podcast: https://anchor.fm/reaseaorg/subscribe <– Subscribe for £0.99/mo
Related products
Angry orchard Rose
Thatchers Rose
Kopperberg naked Apple
https://reasea.org/2017/07/18/kopperberg-naked-apple-cider-quirky-and-peary-if-a-tad-weak-710/
Sources
Asda.com
https://kopparberg.co.uk/our-story/
Tags Rose cider, kopperberg Rose, strongbow Rose, thatchers Rose, angry orchard rose, red apples, red fleshed apples, weak cider, reaseaorg, lowabv, reasonedandseasoned, kopparberg, Kopparberg rose, Swedish cider, est 1882, 2019 cider trend, naked apple, copper, copper mountain, blogging
Reasonedandseasoned 