Aston Manor Knights Cider

Another Aston Manor for tonight. It doesnt say whether it is dry, sweet etc. It does say, however, that there are no added sweeteners, colours or added flavours. Also says its made from apples from their Crumpton Oaks Farm... could Ston Manor be getting a bad press generally. Mind, seeing their operation in Aston, Birmingham (which looks like a small chemical works) there is definitely no chance of an orchard next door!!


So its back to the old philosophy: don't judge before you have tried. And this seems to be the right approach - at pouring it has a light scent/aroma to it. Also a light golden colour - looks appetising enough.

Moderate cider taste - a bit watery though. Nothing really odd about this cider at all. It has a little tannin to it, although this is washed away fairly quickly. There is a very light acid behind it too, although again, its quite faint and disappates pretty fast.

Aftertaste is really short, and while I can accept that this cider hasn't had too much added, I do wonder if its been cut a bit too far. Having said that, its not a terrible cider at all, and does have some character to it. It doesn't taste particularly dry, although I suspect that if it hasn't been sweetened then the reduction in tannins (and I must say I am hazarding a guess about it being cut!) is due to the wateriness of the cider - hence it doesn't particularly feel that dry.

Not a bad cider from Aston Manor. As I found it in a Morrisons (where variety of cider is often fairly limited) I would probably go for this over many of the other offerings. It scored 64/100. So not the best, but definitely not the worst! If I had to write a list of 10 ciders for a WKD drinker to try in order to move them to a more traditional apple based drink, I am still unsure whether I would include it - it just isn't 'heritage' enough for me.