Hard Pressed Happiness

Welcome to our first attempt at a blog, the DeCiders - A Hard Cider Blog!

Liz here, writing our pioneering post. Rob and I are from the great state of Wisconsin, born and raised right outside of Milwaukee, home to some pretty great beer breweries. Although there are some delicious beers out there to try, Rob and I find ourselves completely absorbed in the world of ciders.

For the past few months Rob and I have been joking about how cool it would be to start a blog on the amazing, tart, sweet, and fantastic world of ciders. Hard ciders. (Don't get me wrong, I love a nice warm [virgin] apple cider on a fall day with caramel and cinnamon sticks, but put a hard cider on the table in front of me? I can't say no.) Well, in May of this year we went out to visit a friend of ours in Columbus, Ohio. Our friend Sam took us to the North Market and it's there, at a little nook in the wall liquor spot, that we found a hand full of ciders we hadn't come across in our normal grocery store liquor department. Then and there, Rob and I decided we were going to do this. And here it is!

We have a pretty simple system and it goes like this:
1. Find a new cider? Buy it.
2. Open said new cider.
3. Taste it!
4. Write down our thoughts.
5. Give it an apple rating - 1 to 5 apples. 1 being rotten, 5 being a crisp, cool, delicious treat on a hot summer's day.

It really is that simple. We are not wine, beer, cheese, or any other food-type connoisseur. We don't do the whole sniff-and-swish tasting method. We are not being paid for this, and we aren't associated with any of the brewing companies that will be listed. We are straight up drinkers. I want to know what it feels like on my tongue, whether or not it's sweet, tangy, heavy, dry, or downright swampy. We drink straight from the bottle. Call us lazy or blame it on our Milwaukee-raised habits, but once it's opened just give me the can or bottle, and I'll drink it.

If you have any questions, let us know in the comments. And because I feel like I need to say this: please drink responsibly.

Happy Tasting!
-Liz