Morrisons Medium Dry Cider

I think I may have already tried the best of the Morrisons in it's Vintage cider - this one I suspect is much more their mainstream offering. It is packaged in what looks like either a Magners or a Bulmers bottle... so my thinking is that they made it for Morrisons. Wouldn't it be bonkers if it turned out to be the best of the lot?!

It is quite a plain label, and I am keen to get a drink this evening, so I am going straight for the cap! Well, it looks faintly golden, highly carbonated and polished within an inch of it's life. So far, so as expected. I think this is going to turn out to be another cider for the masses: nothing remotely challenging to the taste buds and sweet.

The cider remains quite foamy and this punches the aroma out,,, which has a lot in common with boiled sweets - to be honest it isn't even that appley either. I am not getting much in the way of any distinctive flavour out of the smell... better taste it then.

Oh. Its really quite watery - I don't think I am being too offish by saying that it is a little like apple flavoured water... not cider flavoured but apple flavoured. OK, it is fairly well balanced between sweetness and acid - I am getting a hint of tannin but nothing that really stands out from the rest. It has a short aftertaste which is mainly sweetness.

The redeeming feature of this cider is that it isn't that sweet. However, I must confess that it is a rather forgettable drink. The only redeeming feature of it is that it is quite cheap... which is what I suspect it is meant to be.

Apologies for the short review - there isn't exactly that much more to say. A score of 44/100.

Morrisons Vintage Cider 2012

Now I move on to the second cider from Morrisons – see, I am trying to equalise my supermarket ciders, although I am not sure that many of them have received any kind of apple from me. This either says something about the big store attitudes to what they think cider ought to taste like or (more concerning) it is the attitude of the producers who make the stuff feel that supermarket cider ought to taste like. Hmm, there is a thought there – I guess if I were making cider for the supermarkets AND my own bottles were going to sit alongside them I would make sure that my cider came out as being better. Actually, no, I wouldn’t. Not that I would ever get the chance to do this, I would make sure that I not only made first rate cider for all but would make sure my name was on the bottle.

That being said, I am not going to prejudge this cider. After all, the ‘own brand’ ciders that tend to do best are the Vintage versions, so I am expecting this cider to be pretty good. It had better be – the only other Morrisons cider I have is their standard medium dry… which looks like it was made by either Magners or Bulmers!!

It is moderately sparkling – almost identically so to the last Morrisons cider. It looks quite light gold too, although the smell is much more bittersweet than before. There is still some juice up the nose though. Thinking some more, it is very similar in its composure (in a smelling kind of way). Guess I ought to try it then.

This is less watery than the organic. It is also drier too – a medium dry which has been gently back sweetened with juice. The tannins are quite pleasant, although I do wish they wouldn’t feel that it was so important to adjust the acidity to balance things out – it detracts from the experience of the fruit. Speaking of fruit, I am getting some… which again is more than the organic too. As a bit of a distraction, there is a fairly strong taste of So2 (sulphite) which does affect the tannic taste somewhat.
A moderate length aftertaste is also nice, and ends in a tannic coating of the tongue.

A score of 70/100 - true to form, it is the Vintage ciders that proove to be the best tasting ciders made by/for/whatever supermarkets.

I think I may be now qualified to advise cider fans that, if you must buy supermarket own brand ciders, then the ones that you ought to go for are those that are vintage. Of course, this isn’t straight forward – Morrisons have two that they call ‘Vintage’ – the organic has a vintage tag… but this merely means that it was made from a single years apples. Look for the cider called Vintage.

If I ever crack supermarkets for my own cider, it will be on the basis that it is very different from most of their line up. I can see that there are a few ‘smaller’ producers doing it… although the very nature of the beast is that many are producing something more ubiquitous to sell than they would if you visited them directly…

Morrissons Organic Cider - Vintage 2012

Coming to the end of my current row of ciders on the shelf, I find that there is one other supermarket chain that I have not paid much attention too.

It is important to cover the best offerings from supermarkets - after all, it is the foremost place people will have access to cider unless they are keen enough to seek out specialist shops. I know, it is sad - we really get what we ask for sometimes (isn't the usual supermarket excuse for stuff that "it is what the public demand"). I am not going to get in to a supermarket bashing rant here... though there are a number of things that I have to say about them - not least of all the way they comodify alcohol.

Now, the first thing to say about this bottle of cider is that I like it. The label has a slightly old fashioned feel to it. It also looks quite familiar. Weston's clearly are singularly the largest producers of supermarket own brands in the UK... well, alongside Thatchers. I would have preferred to see this on the bottle though... surely a bit of provenance is in vogue these days eh!

This cider, as expected, pours out golden, brightly clear and moderately sparkling – a standard, recipe based cider or very well judged natural cider… well, I will leave that to your own judgement but would offer that this has been made by Westons…

It smells clean and appley. There is some small amount of bittersweet going up my nose too. I have to say that this fits with a standard, recipe based tailored cider and I would be very surprised to find it is anything other than a ubiquitous taste too.

OK – for once I don’t regret pre-judging something. This is quite watery and back sweetened with (what must be) apple juice. Given these things, the apple juice feels a bit on the heavy side. However, it is also well balanced (did you expect any different?) There is a little acid and a little, non drying tannin. This is put together in a balanced way to give me a juicy, slightly washed out shadow of a cider.

The aftertaste is pretty short – again not very surprising!

Now, I realise I have been a bit glib about this cider. In fact, it is not terrible… just not great at all. Supermarkets seem to specialise in these – if this is a recipe that they took to Westons then surely they should have been advised that it wasn’t that great! However, it has no rough edges – it is safe. It has no challenging or intense flavours to upset the mass of cider drinkers out there. Shame really.

A score of 64/100 is better than I expected but no apple I am afraid.

Morrisons 'The Best' Vintage Cider

Moving on with the supermarkets 'own brand' ciders, I come to one of the supermarkets who I believe have a little catching up to do. Morrisons do have some ciders that are alright, but mostly stock the largest commercial (some would say industrial) producers.

The Morrisons 'The Best' brand is, I suppose, equivalent to Taste the Difference or Finest ranges (not being a regular Morrisons visitor I haven't been exposed to this much before. The bottle looks familiar, although it doesn't state who makes it on the bottle.

Inside, its a normal golden cider, with a moderate fizz which doesn't really interfere too much. If you are trying this cider though, make sure you have a good sniff as the aroma is very faint. What there is is pleasant though.

It has got a pretty nice taste to it, with a moderate tannin and acid behind it. It is a bit on the safe side - I suppose I would call it semi-vintage. It is rather sweetened though - not syruppy or sickly at all, but a bit too sweet for my taste. The aftertaste is nice and the flavour of cider fruit continues on the tongue - the sweetness does too though, but doesn't drown the apples out.

So, its very Herefordshire in style - dare I say very Westons in style (I was already suspicious of the bottle). Without checking, I would put my money on it being a Westons made cider.

I scored this at 63/100.