Ciderboys First Press

Before we get started, sorry this is so late. I, Liz, have had a bit of a difficult week and needed a girls night with a close friend. Poor Rob was left to fend for himself tonight, and I waited until the last possible minute to finish my thoughts on Ciderboys First Press. I've made you wait long enough by slacking, so let's get down to it!

Ciderboys First Press is our second cider by Ciderboys. Our first was an adventure with their Magic Apple, which was a strawberry cider, that got middle-of-the-road scores from both Rob and I. How does First Press match up? Well, this one is claimed to be a "Traditional Hard Cider," per the bottle's label, and hits at 5% alcohol by volume The bottle is much like the one for Magic Apple.

Since I made Rob wait all night for this, let's see what he has to say first! Rob said:
When I first opened the bottle, this cider had a very strong presence. Unlike the Magic Apple which we previously tasted, this has just one flavor, apple. And it's very true to it's name, First Press. The flavor is very strong and bold. It tastes very much like a freshly squeezed red apple and it's rather thick as well. However, the drink does seem to be loaded with sugar which would leave you feeling ill the next day if you had a few the night before. Also, the aftertaste lingers around a bit longer than I would want from something so sweet. This one also falls at 3 apples, like it's sister-cider.

As for little ol' me? Well, First press is about what I had expected it would be. It is quite tart at the beginning, and warms up and gets a bit heavy tasting before the slight sweetness at the end. My first sip reminded me of something along the lines of Jolly-Rancher-Meets-Hot-Cider. Non-alcoholic hot cider, that is. I really didn't fall head over heels for this one, but I would definitely get it for a girls night, or if I wanted something sweet. I don't think I could drink this all the time, though. I struggled on the scoring for this one, because it's not my favorite, but it's definitely not bad. I settled on 3 apples for this first press.

It looks like Ciderboys have given themselves a steady feel, with 3 apples a piece, both times! A steady 3 apple rating is much better than being up and down the board, don't you think?

Have you tried anything by Ciderboys? What did you think of it? We'd love to hear from you! Comments, emails, carrier pigeon, owl, it doesn't matter. Let us know what you think!

Always remember to drink responsibly, and until next time...

Happy Tasting!
-Rob & Liz