Sandford Orchards Devon Scrumpy

Moving from Somerset to Devon for the next cider... Devon Scrumpy. Hmmm. I remember Devon scrumpy from when I were a nipper. Summer holidays in Kingsbridge - tasting something that could strip paint... do they still make 'Cripple Cock'?

Interestingly, this idea of 'scrumpy' is a bit of a current topic on-line about cider. No, not scrumpy itself, but that there is a vast difference in quality across the cider industry. Some of this comes from cider makers themselves, bemoaning the surge in new producers (funnily, it is some of the newer entrants to the market that are most vocal about it... which is perhaps a bit ironic). However, as someone who makes it their business to try cider, I can confirm that there is some truth to it.

This variance could be for many reasons - large producers aim at mediocrity with their 'brews'... and some see that as the goal. Trouble is, with full juice cider there is a fine line between good and poor, and what many of these producers end up with is poor to potentially undrinkable. The other problem (as I see it) is that there are some producers that simply cannot be tasting their cider. Or if they are, they cannot be trying others to see that theirs needs improvement. That is, after all, why I started trying other ciders. I just took it one step further... and in all honesty I was doing it to share the bounty - to promote good cider and measure it against what you can expect from the supermarkets.

Anyway, on to this cider: I have a clear idea as to what I expect scrumpy to taste like - dry, flat and rich. If done well it will be a nice 'farmhouse cider'. If not, well, it will be a challenge! On the label, it seems to say the right things too - "for the true scrumpy drinker, nothing else will do" and, probably more telling, "unfiltered" and "long bittersweet finish".

Sure enough, it is not bright (although not cloudy either) and is a light gold colour. Being still I am not expecting a huge smell, but there is bittersweet in the aroma... and it does come across as being sweetened too; this cannot be true if it is the 'true scrumpy drinkers' drink. 

Agh, it is true. It is sweet. Scratch the marketing on the bottle, it is too sweet. Now, to be fair, there is bittersweet in here... it isn't a bad cider (or scrumpy) in it's components - I don't get enough acid in the taste but the sweetening is probably killing it off to be fair. Needless to say the tannins aren't drying - it is a bit narrow in flavour (in my opinion) although what is there is OK. I am getting some fruit tones as well, but nothing complex going on.

The aftertaste is medium in length and mostly sweetening. Overall I think this is scrumpy for beginners - a kind of cross over sweet cider that is a touch rough, but really not that much. As a result it lacks the depth of flavour and any dryness that real scrumpy demonstrates very well.

A score of  67/100 demonstrates that decent scrumpy is hard to do well.

Sandford Orchards Shaky Bridge

Right, last bottle review before the Great British Beer Festival onslaught of reviews. I like this diversion as it often allows me to try ciders that really are not available except for a few choice outlets - but then that generally is of less use to those who seek to actually find a cider and try it!

This review also demonstrates admirably that you can name a cider after just about any old thing that comes to mind. Shaky Bridge is named after... guess what... a shaky old wooden bridge that I presume the cider maker had a bad experience on:-) Ah well, I have heard worse! Checking the list of ciders I have tried it is hard to believe that I have not reviewed any other Sandford Orchards... they are not a tiny company and have been on my radar since before this blog was born. Time to rectify that then.

With a fairly modern label which is vibrant green - and contains one of the more flaky cider naming stories (though Thatchers 'Old Rascal' is nearly impossible to beat... well, Weston's have a good attempt with a couple of theirs) the bottle is clear and you can see without opening that this cider is both golden and brightly clear. At the top of the bottle, in its very own tiny label it says 'Proper Cider'. Eh... OK. Bearing in mind that I bought this in a Tesco in Salisbury, I always worry whenever I see anything stating it is 'proper' or 'real'... supermarkets go for 'cheap' and 'easy' over 'proper' or 'authentic' (unless you are in their 'specialist' isle - which this isn't). Sorry supermarkets - though you are responsible for many of the woes of things like high streets, alcohol pre-loading, ever cheaper and badly cared for meat, cutting farmers margins leading to short cuts and such like... just don't ask me for a solution to all of this.

Sandford Orchards are based in Devon - so right in the heart of the South West. Going by past experience and by others reports (in both 'Cider' and in 'Ciderland' books for example), Devon cider differs from Somerset mainly by the choice of apples. When you are looking at full juice ciders from different parts of the country - all looking and tasting totally different from each other, do bear in mind that it is often only the choice of apples (and perhaps some of the processes) that make them taste different. Amazing, isn't it!

The cider has a low fizz, and once in the glass actually looks quite a light golden colour. It has a rich smell to it too - apple and bittersweet coming off of it. Good start!

The taste is rather sweet and, whilst it doesn't state what it is on the bottle I would put it down as either a medium or medium dry.  It is very clean too - filtered clean no doubt. There are some nice tannins in the drink, though these are not at all drying. To boot, there is only a very little acid so the filtering must have taken care of this too. It is a shame - I have spoken to several producers who don't think filtering changes the profile of their drinks at all. Sadly, this cannot be true - some of the flavour component 'cells' within a cider are larger than the yeast cells - so clearing out the yeast cells by filtration must clear out flavour and colour too.

I am enjoying this cider - it has a pleasant flavour to it. It is rather more sweet than I like per se. I am sitting here wondering whether there is Yarlington Mill and/or Dabinet - so things cannot be bad at all!

This is nice. Much different from the 'Cripple Cock' my dad used to get on the way to our camping holidays each year in Kingsbridge (Devon). Standards have raised tenfold! Mind you, I say that having no idea whether you can still stop off (somewhere near the river Dart I believe) and buy a plastic imitation stonewear jug of nasty cider... or if indeed that cider is no longer nasty. Must get down there sometime!!

There is a moderate aftertaste to it, which continues with the good body of the cider... and sweetness.

I think the score may be a little harsh on it, although it still gets a bronze apple. 70/100.