Amazing Cider Co. Mays Reserve Cider

Moving on... within Herefordshire once again:-), I come to another of the Amazing Cider Company range. They haven't faired that well in my reviews, but I should be fairly safe... after all, if something is reserved then it's going to be for a reason (isn't it?) Surely cider producers don't just chuck out any old cider as a 'reserve' or a 'vintage' but save the very best. I hope so.

I haven't said it for a while, but I do prefer clear bottles for cider. I can see that this is a lovely golden colour cider, although not a trace of bottle conditioning (i.e. yeast). It is also presented nicely with an interesting label. I note that this is 7% too... so it ought to be full juice.

So, getting on to opening and pouring the thing. It has a moderate fizz to it, which gets in the way of the smell a bit. However, it is a full bodied aroma with some leather notes to it - not a great deal but it is there.

The taste is a touch syruppy, which is surprising. There is plenty of sharp in there with some good tannin. It does feel a little too clean, but it has a nice tang to it... mind you, it does feel slightly odd in the mouth.  Full bodied but not really drying, this is a good cider with some straggly ends. It feels sweetened quite a bit, but I can still 'see' the cider beneath it.

It has a medium to long aftertaste with the tannin lasting through it. Not especially fruity though.

I like this cider. and the score of 74/100 gives it a big fat bronze apple.

Mays Cider Number One

A bottle of 'Herefordshires Finest' from the Amazing Cider Company... well, that is what it states on the bottle anyway. Has some big boots to fill if its going to claim that title!

I am trying to remember where I bought this from. It has been sat on my shelf for a while now (as has most things that I am trying at the moment). I am fairly certain that I bought this from Truffles Deli in Ross on Wye. Not that it has much to do with it - I found May's Cider in Asda locally to me!

What do you think is my first comment about this cider? Yup, its another cider that sits at 4.5%! To quote the full monika on the bottle, this is 'Herefordshires Finest Original'... would that be Bulmers Original then? OK, a bit flippant but its becoming a bit of a thing for me now. If this started life naturally - say at 6%, then they will have had to add 25% water to get to that level.

I am not going to bang on about it. It is what it is. The bottle opens wit quite a big fizz and the cider pours out golden and very bright into my glass. There is lots of tannin to the smell and, to be honest, its a bit chemically too. Sounding more like a commodity cider as I go.

I go back to the bottle to double check this cider and, sure enough, find the final piece of the jigsaw. "Made from 100% freshly pressed Bramley". Eh?? So where does the tannic smell come from then?
It also says "best enjoyed chilled or over ice". So, very much pitching to the mainstream commodity cider market then.

So to the taste. This is summed up with two questions. Where has the tannin come from and where has all the acid gone? This cider could well be an objective lesson or testament to what you can achieve with a science kit and chemicals... albeit that this is a harsh thing to say about any cider (if I weren't so puzzled about how they produced a cider like this from Bramley apples!) In all, this is a very good example of a cider which is neither all it seems or a sum of all its parts.

As a cider, it is pretty much as you would expect - fairly safe with a balance of tannin and acid. It feels a bit watery in the mouth and the tastes are fairly limited with nothing dominating. Moderate is probably the best descriptor for the elements of this drink. Not that fruity, neither particularly tannic or acidic.

I guess I realise where this cider is pitched at, and is probably not pitched at someone like me. It didn't do too well in the scores either, achieving 53 out of 100. Mind you, I would say that it is better than many commodity ciders... just not as good as a lot of real, crafted ciders.

Amazing Cider Company, May's Cider

Well, its nice to see another full juice cider donning the shelves of the local Asda. And this one supports 'Help for Hero's' too... well, a little bit of it does anyway. To be honest, I don't really care whether they use this as a gimmick or not, its just nice to see Asda making some kind of effort as far as cider goes.

I have tried cider from the Amazing Cider Company before, but it was a long while ago when I was on holiday in Ross on Wye. Mind you, there are a lot of Herefordshire ciders aren't there!!!

So, on to the drink. It pours out golden and extremely clear. It was also incredibly fizzy... it could have done with a cork and cage almost. My notes comment that it wanted to leave the bottle, so that is definitely fizzy! (the cap all but took off).

The fruity aroma is also pretty light too. I guess this could be due to filtering - it has been fairly well filtered. By that I mean very filtered. Often, this affects the flavour of a cider (to me), but I am guessing on this cider.

To taste, it is very sweet - OK, its a medium. Its an honest medium then and I do wish I could have a choice of a drier version. That aside, there is still room for the tannin to come through during the drink and it is nice and modest (probably contained due to filtering). But its the sweetness that wins through into the aftertaste.

Don't expect a whole lot of acid in Mays cider though. As a Herefordshire cider, I was expecting a balance between sharp and tannin, but I guess I am just trying to pigeon hole ciders too much. Its nice all the same though.

I think it was the sweetness that put me off of this cider a little - though its score just shows that it is a very good cider despite what I think of the sweetening. It scored 71/100, which is a bronze apple.