OK. Its a cider from... Tesco's (I think), although I am sure I have seen something similar in Budgens! Oakleys is not made by Tesco (made for them) although its a name I am not familiar with. I do have a suspicion or two: Its in a pint bottle; it looks like a Magners bottle. Its called 'original cider'; its has to be served over ice (and plenty of it, reading the back label). Hold on though, its not 'Irish' cider. And yet, there is the dichotomy of it being 'crafted premium quality'. Now, I do like the term crafted - I would use that myself. Not so the word premium as its abused to hell. And at 4.5% I suspect it is more than a little moderated down the slippery slope.
It also says that it is free from artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners. I have to confess that I am sat here trying to think how hard that would be for a commodity cider (of which this clearly is).
And so, its no surprise when out pops a lightly golden, moderately sparkling and brightly clear liquid. It does have a bit of a cidery smell, although a bleached one... yup, it smells cleaned (please note - I do not think there is any bleach in it, and it doesn't actually smell of bleach. The use of the word was simply to emphasise that it is very clean... sulphited may be a better way of describing it. OK?)
Making a break from the recent high end full juice ciders, this one is pretty syruppy. And, as with the majority of commodity ciders both tannin and acid are moderate and controlled. I would say it pays respect to the west country well, but this is a sweet and safe cider that is aimed at those who want something that looks like Magners but is a little cheaper. I don't think its awful, I just don't have much more to say about it.
Oakleys is sweetened with apple juice. Either I am becoming hyper sensitive to that or else its being done an awful lot at the moment. I don't think this is bad, but it saddens me that it actually detracts quite significantly from the overall finish of a cider.
OK - if you are still reading this then you will want a score. That score would be 52/100.
Tried it yesterday and it's true, that it is better than Magners, being 2 times cheaper. Good party drink, but not much more.
ReplyDeleteTried this cider because it was really cheap. Luckily, I'd read the review on this page so was clear about expectations. If you keep the cheap price in mind, actually not a bad drop. Was surprised that I found it more appealing than a magners...
ReplyDeleteThis is a great product for the price.
ReplyDeleteI picked it up as I was looking for a vegan tipple (for my wife).
Tastes pretty good, refreshing, vegan and £1 a pint. What's not to like?
I think you will find the majority of full juice cider is 'vegan', in that it only contains apples or pears.
ReplyDeleteHowever, cider is many things to many people so I am glad that you have found something you like. Saying that, why not try something Weston's - which has a little more character whilst still being refreshing (or Thatchers/Sheppy's for that matter - all are a step towards a more 'full juice' cider)
Cheers