[Why you should read … Looking for a good value stronger supermarket cider? Not sure if the quality of cheaper cider is up to fussy taste-buds? Then read on for discovery]
The Good
“Fairly practical”.
“Good value”.
“Pleasant medium dryness”.
“Noticeable bitterness”.
“Distinctive character”.
“Session-able”.
“Quite smooth”.
“Natural taste”.
“Developing dry aftertaste”.
The Bad
“Weak branding”.
“No clear backstory”.
“Sad looking bottle”.
“Unpleasantly harsh smell”.
“Carbonation too light”.
“Weak tang”.
“Lacking sweetness”.
“No woodiness”.
“Bitterness too strong”.
“Not full flavoured”.
“Thin mouthfeel”.
“Unbalanced”.
Introduction
A) Price and practicality
In terms of cost, “Orchard English Vintage Cider 2021” is priced at £1.49 per 500ml bottle.
This is quite a bit more than “Woodgate reserve 2019 West Country vintage Cider”, a similar product that I purchased from Lidl in May 2021 for £1.15, which provided only slightly less in terms of alcohol (3.7 vs 4.1 units) (see review below under sources).
Despite this, in general for a stronger bottled cider of good quality the drink is well below average in terms of cost so I must class it as cheap still. For example, a bottle of Thatchers vintage 2020 cost me just £2 from Tesco, back in April 2021, and I described that as good value due to its strength (see review below under sources).
Regarding practicality here, with ABV of 8.2%, since (Volume times ABV) / 1000 = units = (500*8.2)/1000= 4.1 units per bottle.
The drink is fairly practical since 4.1 units per bottle is only just over the governments “do not regularly exceed” limit for adult males of 3-4 units.
Energy content is listed as 269 calories per 500ml bottle.
B Brand message
Overall the brand message was rather weak.
In terms of the branding, the bottle front font colours, clashed a bit, and failed to complement the image of a gentleman picking apples. This resulted in a pretty sad looking bottle design. The whole idea of a “classic” cider having no specified history, on bottle or online, made this feel like more of an impersonation, than a true brand message. It looked like it was trying to copy a cider with tradition and sophisticated branding, using the signature and the word “classic”, but in the respects outlined above, it clearly fell short of the mark.
The bottle highlighted how the drink has been slowly matured from a single years harvest, accompanied by the Jonathan Blair signature which suggests the brand identity is primarily one of tradition and quality. It shouted “we know what we are doing and have this signature to prove that”. Additionally, the slow maturation process was highlighted, again implying there is a reason behind that steady speed of the process.
In reality however, other than the Aldi supermarket website, there was no real data source which provided any information on the product, and the Aldi page dedicated to the drink also didn’t clarify anything in terms of history, or development of the drink.
I therefore resorted to the back of the drink bottle, in search of any guidance on the drinks history, as to establish taste expectations.
C Taste expectations
This highlighted how it was English vintage cider from 2021. The terms “Classic”, and “West Country cider” were used. The reason for slow maturated was highlighted as ensuring the beverage is “bursting” with flavour. No further comment was made.
The West Country cider description didn’t really clarify much. Some ciders from the west of England I have tried, have been tangy and woody. These include Henry Weston’s medium dry cloudy vintage cider, so I may be inclined to expect that, however some Suffolk-based ciders also possess good levels of tang, namely Aspall’s “red label” draught cyder, and Suffolk for those folk unfamiliar with England geography, is well and truly the other side of the country in the east. Therefore, I shall not speculate any further concerning that statement. I would expect “Bursting” to suggest confident and strong flavour however, and “classic” to suggest some degree of complexity, character, and uniqueness.
Smell
The smell was immediately quite harshly tangy, reminding me of a vinegar style scent. It cut off quickly and therefore didn’t appear natural, so felt rather artificial. Quite unpleasant.
Taste
On pouring, some low level bubbles emerged, however this was minimal so therefore the drink only seemed lightly carbonated.
Despite the artificial smell, the taste was fairly natural. The taste started off not acidic or tangy, yet held a slight tang on the aftertaste. It was quite smooth though … Unfortunately, there was hardly any sweetness at all, and if so it was barely noticeable, which was a shame considering the high energy content, and limitation to enjoyment because of this lack.
Fortunately, it did possess some noticeable bitterness, which is fairly rare amongst ciders. This provided some distinctive character. No woodiness or other USP’s were evident.
However, the flavour was far too strongly bitter, since there was nothing to balance it out. The drink was unbalanced therefore. Flavour strength overall was just moderate, so it could have possessed greater levels of taste.
This lack of strength may have been as a result of the thin mouthfeel and lack of body. Fortunately however, it was session-able, perhaps partly due to the fluid thinness, and the medium, rather than full, flavour strength.
Some low level dryness emerged after the first few sips, however this developed well into a good moderate dry on the aftertaste throughout consumption. This wasn’t too strong or unpleasant.
Summary
Overall, the taste was distinctive, yet bitter, and lacking balance. It didn’t appeal to my taste, but had some interesting elements to it- (6.0/10).
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Sources
https://groceries.aldi.co.uk/en-GB/p-orchard-english-vintage-cider-500ml/4088600461519
Food for thought
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5) What is your favourite drink and why?
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Closing statement
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Tags: Aldi, English, Vintage, Cider, 2021, 8.2%, ABV, 4.1 units, Jonathan, Blair, Thatchers, vintage, 2020, practicality, price, brand, message, smell, taste, summary, west, country, classic, medium, dryness, bitterness, Aspalls, red label, draught, cyder, 500ml, £1.49, bursting, impersonation, bitter, cider, dry, cider, character, apple, picker, image, reasonedandseasoned, reaseaorg, alcohol, reviews, blogging, 2022,
Tags: Aldi, English, Vintage, Cider, 2021, 8.2%, ABV, 4.1 units, Jonathan, Blair, Thatchers, vintage, 2020, practicality, price, brand, message, smell, taste, summary, west, country, classic, medium, dryness, bitterness, Aspalls, red label, draught, cyder, 500ml, £1.49, bursting, impersonation, bitter, cider, dry, cider, character, apple, picker, image, reasonedandseasoned, reaseaorg, alcohol, reviews, blogging, 2022,
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