Why you should read …Ever wondered how good Sainsbury’s festive cider is? Read on to find out …
The Good
“Festive bottle design”.
“Light carbonation”.
“Quite practical”.
“Good value”.
“Warming and spicy character”.
“Natural flavour”.
“Full flavoured”.
“Thin to moderate mouthfeel”.
“Natural feel”.
“Lasting aftertaste”.
The Bad
“Bottle colours clash”.
“No dryness”.
“Weak smell”.
“Weak tang”.
“Not session-able”.
“Harsh flavour”.
“Unbalanced”.
Introduction
The bottle appeared similar to a cider I reviewed some time ago, called Heston’s spiced mulled cider. I purchased this in August 2017, from Waitrose (see below review #48). I found that bottle was far cleaner in appearance, with colours blending, rather than clashing. Unfortunately, today’s bottle colours of green on orange, with a backdrop of yellow fluid, simply did not work well together. Today’s bottle highlighted it’s origin as Worcestershire, which neighbours the county of Herefordshire. That county produces over 50% of UK cider. This suggests some tradition and expertise may have fed into its creation, however there was no website to confirm this. It also stated taste-tested by customers, however, unless this provides feedback into improving the product, it’s rather pointless. In fact, the details of how this process enhances quality, aren’t evident from the bottle.
Brand message
The bottle front sang of Christmas. With Christmas seasonal ingredients such as Ginger, Clove, and Clementine, used to provide a festive feel. Consistent with this, the label presented the image of Santa, holding up a glass of what appears to be the cider, with a cinnamon stick dipped in.
The back label highlighted how the cider, is “English”, and “Warming”, due to its spice blend. Sweet, and citrus, were used as descriptors of the drinks’ flavour.
A few festive recipe suggestions were given, such as using some of the fluid to infuse pulled pork.
The label added how it can be served warm or chilled, highlighting an option to make you feel more comfortable on a cold winters day.
The bottle then reminded me of it’s energy content, and the U.K. chief medical officers drinking limit recommendations of 14 units per week, for both male and female adults.
Taste expectations
Warming, sweet, citrusy, were my 3 expectations, although I wouldn’t give extra marks for citrus, since this isn’t an aspect of pure apple cider.
The bottle design was appropriate for the winter season, and was visually entertaining, despite colour clashes.
Price and practicality
It was purchased in January 2023, for £2.10 per bottle.
The drink was quite practical, in terms of alcohol content being sufficient for an enjoyable evening from just one bottle, and the 750ml volume meant I got quite a lot to sip for the price. This was at 5.5% ABV, providing 4.1 U.K. units.
Smell
A slight fizz emerged from the bottle, suggesting potentially light carbonation. The smell emerged as a relatively weak, spicy tang. This remained at low level, on subsequent inhalations, for a prolonged time period.
Taste
Carbonation level remained light throughout. Whilst the taste was a little sweet and spicy, acidity wasn’t initially noticeable. Dryness wasn’t noticeable throughout. Since spices came through, at least to moderate flavour strength, this prevented sweetness from dominating, although moderate sweetness was also present. The drinks’ spicy nature, perhaps due to the cloves, provided a unique trait to mulled ciders, providing some identity level. It reminded me of my previous mulled cider I’d sampled however. No bitterness was present. The flavour was full, natural, and spicy. Too much fluid was present, and flavour was too strong to be session-able.
Mouthfeel was thin to moderate. Spices dominated too much. Sweetness and tang were overshadowed, making the drink unbalanced.
Whilst the physical texture was smooth, the flavour was rather harsh. The drink felt natural, primarily due to the spices. A low level fizzy, and spicy impression, lingered on the tongue.
Summary
Warming and spicy, yet clashing and unbalanced.
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Tags: #Sainsbury’s #Mulled #Ginger #Clove #Clementine #Reaseaorg #reasonedandseasoned #ciderreview #cider #drinks
Tags 2: #Sainsbury’s #Mulled #Ginger #Clove #Clementine #Reaseaorg #reasonedandseasoned #ciderreview #cider #drinks
Word count: 1793 words
Reasonedandseasoned 
My other half is a cider fan, but it seems as if this one might not hit the spot. I only drink wine….
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Yes, this wasn’t the best, although quite distinctive …
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Cloves, ooohhh.
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That does sound very Christmas-y, but not meeting its full potential. Interesting! I’m not a drinker but you enjoy 😊
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Very sensible and I did “quite” enjoy. As you recognised 🙂
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Not a fan of the colour scheme either. I don’t drink much cider but this one sounds like it wasn’t great.
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Yes indeed, pretty poor … Everyone has their own drink, either soft or alcoholic they prefer I think. No, it wasn’t great lol
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“Warming and spicy, yet clashing and unbalanced” – I feel like this could be used to describe me at times, too. 😂 I’d definitely try it!
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Hahaha 🙂
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Oh, what delicacies can be made from apples, wonderful pies, sweets, jam and various fillings, but for lovers of strong drinks, one of the greatest “treats” is surely apple brandy. Brandy made from apples is known as apple cider, and lately the production of brandy from this fruit has been growing intensively, although brandy made from plums, apricots and viljamovka is still leading the market.
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I didn’t know this so is interesting. Never actually tried apple brandy. Hope you are having a great day 🙂
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