Healeys Pear Rattler

I am enjoying this foray into the new. Well, it is new for me anyway. Incidentally, by request I have tagged these as 'perry' to make it easier to find. Mind you, if I can find as many perries as I have ciders then that could grow into a rather long list!

OK. In front of me I have a bottle of Healey's Cornish Pear Rattler. Checking back, I am not sure that I went all that mad over the cider version of Rattler - though I was confidently informed by a publican last year that it is all very popular and 'real'. Now there is a term that I can sit alongside 'premium':-)

Bearing the standard image of surfer and snake, Healey's leans on the Cornish surfing reputation. In fact, the last time I went surfing in Cornwall it was in just about every pub in Newquay so I would say that they have captured their target marketplace with this design. Mind you, having spent my entire 20's surfing the coasts of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset, it is a fairly new thing.

Opening the bottle, this perry is crystal clear and moderately sparkling. That is about right for Healey's - Rattler cider is the same kind of thing if I remember rightly.

Lets start with the smell of this thing. Well, it smells of pears. Honestly, I have to say - as a beginner in regards to perry - that of the two high quality perries neither smelt of pears in the same way that full juice traditional cider rarely smells just of apples.

Oh my god, it is insanely sweet! Its like pear flavoured lemonade! Trying to be objective and getting underneath all that sweetening, it isn't a complex perry at all... there is a fair amount of sharpness - something that isn't that common in pears. Certainly dessert pears don't have much acid at all... and let's face it, there aren't that many perry pears to fuel the largest producers of perry/pear cider.

I am going to have to say that I prefer the Magners to this if I am honest. The aftertaste is very sweet and lingering. Sorry Healey's - I can see why you call it pear cider! A score of 48/100.

Healey's Cornish Rattler

"I'ts cloudy, it's cyder, it bites!" Well, a bottle with an image of a surfer looking over a sunset with a clean, unbroken wave coming in to shore would have probably meant that I would have bought some without even thinking about it 20 years ago... maybe that's the point.

This is my first Cornish cider... sorry, cyder for a while. And I don't know that much about Healey's either (other than you can get it in Sainsbury's just outside of Bridgwater in Somerset. It also instructs you to "just chill" - so no ice cubes then:-) Well, I guess its just the packaging... or maybe I really am a cider snob after all. The taste will decide.

I have to admit, when I was young I thought that cider came from Devon and Cornwall - after all, that is where we always ended up on holiday. My father always used to stop off for some 'Cripple Cock' or something like that near to Dart Meet on our way to Kingsbridge with family sized tent, trailer and (usually by that time) squabbling family. He always used to moan about the cider too if I recall. But it was the tradition that mattered

Doing a little more research, Healey's is Cornwall's largest cyder producer, with their main brand being Cornish Rattler cyder and perry (or should that be pear cyder??). The pictures on their website are of a large scale production, with tankers and great big stainless steel vats on their farm. OK, so you need to have a bit of capacity to be able to supply such a large area as the south west of England.

Opening the bottle, its more hazy than cloudy - not a problem. If I am honest, I prefer a clear or hazy cyder to a sparkling bright or cloudy one. Carbonation is moderate and dies off fairly quickly too. There isn't a whole lot to smell though (I know, you don't buy drins for their smell, but this is meant to be a review so I have to stick my nose into it eh!).

And... it doesn't exactly bite either. I expected some bittersharp to come through, but all I get it a balanced taste with not a huge aftertaste. After the first couple of tastes, I fear it is another safe one. Though there is more acid in this than my first impression, its not a whole lot of it. Definitely western in style (well its a Cornish cyder after all), its a little watery - which is surprising given the tannin in it.

In summary, having finished the bottle, I would say its not bad - I didn't think it would be. However, if it is a snake that bites, its had its teeth removed first.

A score of 61.