Enough Sheppy's for now (don't they make a lot of different varieties!!!). Back to Tesco's and time to try one of their own. Well, when I say one of their own what I mean is the one that is made for them by Thatchers. Its hard to decide whether to tag this as Thatchers or Tesco... maybe it should be both.
The dead give away with the Tesco 'own brand' ciders (apart from the fact that they are honest enough to state who made it on the label), is that they use the producers bottles - hence this one comes in a bottle that is essentially a Thatchers type bottle. Another thing that is worth noting is that this cider came from a different Tesco; and the range is still pretty poor.
Never mind. Moving on to this cider, I expected it to be like another Thatchers cider - though the one it was most like was the Vintage which scored pretty well here. Its a golden cider with a moderate carbonation - so not over the top at all. It also has a nice cidery smell to it, which makes me want to take a great big gulp... but hey, I am trying to be sophisticated (had to look up that word:-).
There is a good full measure of tannin in this drink, with little acidity to haul it back. The sweetness does though, so it isn't at all mouth puckering. There is some good bittersweet flavour to this cider, although this doesn't really last very long (on the finish, I believe it is called). In fact, it does suffer a little from a lack of distinctive character about it - no one bittersweet rules or defines it - which is a shame as the vintage scored well on aftertaste. Maybe the comparison is a bad one then.
Overall, I found nothing to dislike about this cider, although I found nothing to rave about either (if I am going to be negative about it). Its worth trying, and with a score of 65/100, I reckon it won't disappoint too much,
I'm just trying it now, and must say, that I actually am disappointed with this one. Tastes like more alcoholic version of "Gold" and for me it's nowhere near "Vintage" or "Green Goblin". I even liked "Katy" better I think! I haven't noticed the tannins. It feels very watery to me. The other one from Tesco is far better.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I find Green Goblin tastes like a lot of other Thatchers... but then, as Weston's explained to me, the supermarkets do get some say in the design of own brand ciders.
ReplyDeleteGoes to show how tastes differ though, albeit that I would just as soon buy this as Green Goblin or Gold. Mind you, I agree that the Vintage isn't bad.
I would try to get my hands on Green Goblin this month and will see, if it is different from what I remembered. It's quite possible that you are right, but then again, I tried Green Goblin only twice - I bought two bottles of it while being in Malta on a holiday, because it's impossible to find Green Goblin in Poland! Now I don't have this problem while living in Scotland:)
ReplyDeleteI'm still drinking this Tesco's cider and I do feel a little acid in it, maybe more than in Gold, but still not very much tannins. Yep, tastes differ, but that's a good thing, cause the discussion is more interesting:)