Fosseway Cider Somerset Glory

The second choice of cider at Southampton Arms was Somerset Glory (I only found out afterwards that it was a Fosseway cider). I did have a third cider produced by a maker I respect, but this was in such bad condition that I felt obliged not to include it - something must have happened to it on its way to London as there were bits floating in it!

A few words more on Southampton Arms. I have already espoused the feel of the place. Very nice with a large, studenty clientele. They say they have a great choice of cider on too - which I confess wasn't what I found initially (they did put on a couple more ciders later). There was Burrow Hill on tap though, and space for four or five bag in boxes along the back wall, with little chalk plaques declaring what was on offer.

The pub is quite neat - they offer wholesome snack like scotch eggs, pork pies and pulled pork and apple in a roll. Definitely pitching to a particular type of punter:-) In all though, it is a gem in the forest of corporate and chain pubs that are littered around London.

Lets get on to this cider though. It comes to me bright and golden and still. Again, this is pitched as a dry cider (can you spot a trend?). The smell is quite faint, but what there is is quite rich and clean. I am getting the fruit, cider apples and a bit of earth thrown in - hedgerow fruits too.

The taste is delicious although I cannot help thinking that something is missing. For me this is usually a sign of over filtering. It is clean with a gentle tannin and a tiny bit of acid thrown in as well. It is a touch watery too... drinking on, the acid is definitely there alongside the bitter apples - a well rounded cider... and dry too (this time:-)

Not bad at all. The aftertaste is medium length of the same profile as the cider - not too drying and a little watery at the end.

Somerset Glory scores  76, which is a nice bronze apple for Fosseway.

Fosseway Cider

Another new producer for me this evening; Fosseway Cider. As is clear from the name, they are situated on or near the Fosse Way, a Roman road that runs through the west country towards Londonium (I am not even sure that is what London use to be called!) Needless to say, they make something of this on the bottle - although I am not at all certain that the Romans were the first to plant orchards in the UK... but lets not let that get in the way of a decent cider eh!

Coming in a 750ml bottle, this cider is golden and exceedingly bright. It looks attractive in the bottle too - simple design and, although I must admit to being jaded with 'traditional messages' at the moment (and, as someone who really appreciates full juice cider, I struggle to work out how craft cider producers can differentiate themselves in an honest way from the bullshit that comes out of the mouths of larger companies who can employ PR firms to spin a traditional message!)

Into the glass, this cider pours with quite a fizz; which carries on right through the glass and has to be force carbonation. The smell is a fairly funky fruit flavour, with cider fruit popping up the nose. Its quite unusual, but also rather pleasant too. I wonder how it will taste though as it is crystal clear.

To be honest, this is another cider where I just feel the filtering has stripped a lot of character out of it. I am not sure whether this is actually what the public want, or whether the filtering people have persuaded many west country cider makers that this is a good thing for the cider. From one drinkers opinion, it is not a good thing for cider. I don't believe it needs it, cider isn't wine, and producing an unfiltered cider which is clear and retains all the character is actually do-able without being cloudy scrumpy!

In actual fact, there is still plenty of taste left in the cider (though I do wish it were unfiltered). It is rather fruity, as per the smell and is a nice blend of both tannin and a slightly sour acid. Both compete for pole position in the mouth. The acid wins... just. Its by no means a safe cider, although it has been tamed quite a lot.

It has quite a short aftertaste, although it is acidic, tannic and pleasant. It does leave a bit of a presence in the mouth (though I quickly fill it with more cider:-)

I do like this cider, though I do think my overall score has been affected by the filtering going on. I do hope that producers quickly realise that they need to be a lot more gentle with filtering. I know the big producers do it, but who says that the big producers are making the best cider (apart from their own media and PR firms).

A deserved bronze medal from me with a score of 70/100.