Biddenden

Canterbury: One of the first holidays after the first Covid lockdown and boy were we so grateful to drink in pubs, even if it was outside and all the good pubs were shut...

Anyway:

Very pale greeny yellow (the photos don't show that sorry), clear and Slightly sparkling (looks like a wine to be honest)

Very gentle slightly sour crisp fresh apple skin nose.

Straight smooth apple flavour with a very slight soureness but plenty of cooking apple flavour. Very slight hint of pear there from somewhere as well. Very little tannin and has a long lingering aftertaste leaving a nice sherbet mouth feel.

Would be brilliant on a hot summer's day as it's very refreshing and easy to drink as all good session ciders should be.

It's rare you get a totally unique cider but this is one as it's made from a Red Love® apple and Biddenden currently are the only ones that can use this apple. It's a red fleshed as well as red skinned apple (hence the colour), so let's see what it's like:

Peachy pink (think light Rose wine), clear and lightly sparkling.

Red skin nose but not much else. As it's such a delicate smell the sulphite comes through, but not too badly.

Taste wise though, it's sharp and quite tart initially with a good tingle on the tongue. Mellows quickly to a soft red apple flavour. Not quite desert apple but still nice and soft. Slight tannin which is taken out by the tinglyness and leaves a nice long apple aftertaste. Listed as medium sweet but it's very well balanced and more towards the medium end in my opinion.

Yup, it is an unique flavour all right and quite different for a Kentish cider. Very refreshing and well worth a go.

Not yet reviewed, watch this space

Straw yellow, clear and sparkling

Big fresh apple nose, Plenty of pulp and slightly floral. High in esters so you get the Pear drop smell. Lovely.

An interesting flavour. Quite sharp in the back of the throat but you also get a soft buttery flavour in the front ion the mouth. Flavour is strong but simple. Fresh but with a slightest floral hint. You get a long sweetish refreshing aftertaste that's a bit wine like but without the tannin.

Not a bad cider. It would make a good session cider flavour wise but not at that strength

A blend of apple, pears and infused with elderflower. What can go wrong?

Slightly greeny yellow clear and very sparkling.

Huge nose, you get the pear and elderflower a good 2 foot away. Yup that smells like real elderflower, not the slightly sickly sweet nose you get with some. Real Elderflower has a slightly woody nose to me (well I've pruned back enough Elder bushes in my time)

Oh that is good, very good. Soft flavour as in you don't get a huge bite from it, but there is a lot of pear and elderflower in there initially but neither over dominate. Swill it round your mouth and you get a big explosion of flower but again it's not over dominant. The elderflower drops off in the aftertaste and the apple finally comes out leaving a nice clean palette.

Despite the pear and elderflower it is very much a medium, ok possibly slightly sweet medium but in no way sickly.

A blinder in my opinion for the medium sweet type. This is a cider that would work perfectly as a palette cleanser at the start of a meal or before desert. At only 4% would be a perfect lower alcohol version of a Prosecco

Light peachy pink colour, clear and slightly sparkling

Very faint nose more like homemade wine than cider to me

Much stronger flavour though. Sherebety texture and a slight strawberry flavour to the cider. Not unpleasant but doesn’t stand out. Soft powdery aftertaste but it is nice and refreshing. Reminds me a little bit of weak fizzy pop

Made from apples with a red flesh hence the colour. Nothing wrong with it as a cider but not a session one for me. Might work as a pallet cleanser.

Dark golden, clear and sparkling.

Sweet nose. Hard to pin down exactly the smell but it's not unpleasant.

Lovely smooth rich apple flavour. The sweetness from the Spartan apple is cut through nicely by a slight tartness from the Russet. Small amount of herby wood in the background, but otherwise just a very differently flavoured straight cider. Very little tannin and the carbonation helps to lift the flavour. Long lingering and refreshing aftertaste.

If you like the medium sweet ciders then this is a corker. A bit sweeter than I'd prefer but it's still very very drinkable and well worth trying.