New Year's Eve Thoughts and Portland Cider Company Hard Cider
On this last day of 2013, I'm very happy that I completed over 150 posts for the year. It looked like I might not make it, but a late push helped me get there. That's almost 1 post every other day, which is probably the best I can do, but in 2014 I'd like to try to top that.
I have to admit I have a really terrible sweet tooth. What makes this a royal pain, besides consuming empty calories I don't need, is the fact that I'm hypoglycemic. My body has difficulty metabolizing simple sugars, and when I consume them, I suffer from headaches as well as digestive issues that don't need to be spoken of in detail. Drinking a glass of Mountain Dew, eating a piece of cake, or munching too much caramel corn causes me much suffering soon after eating such sugary sweets.
The reason I bring this up is because my sweet tooth extends to beers and other alcoholic drinks. I'm more partial to hard ciders, fruit beers and cream ales than I am to bitter IPAs, stouts, and porters. I'm calling my reviews of ales and ciders that I try "Reviews for the Sweet Tooth".
Last year you may recall this post where I consumed Mike's Hard Chocolate Cherry and loved it. This year when my dad stopped by for Christmas, he dropped off a couple of large bottles of Portland Cider Company Cider. I had never heard of Portland Cider Company - they've been around since fall of 2012, but there's no entry for them on ratebeer.com or Beer Advocate, and there's not a lot of info on the Portland Cider website. A few days ago I opened the "Kinda Dry" variety and gave it a try. Many people prefer dry cider to sweeter cider, but I'm not one of them. The Kinda Dry was not bad, but I didn't like it as much as Angry Orchard. I actually had trouble finishing it, but I did get it done.
I saved the "Sorta Sweet" variety for New Year's Eve, much to the delight of my sweet tooth. I wasn't disappointed. Sorta Sweet was my kind of cider, balancing sweetness with tartness, and was highly drinkable with the black eyed peas, ham, and honey cornbread dinner I eat every New Year's Eve to bring good luck for the next year. According to Portland Cider's website, they use a blend of Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Gala, Golden and Red Delicious apples. As a resident of Washington State (the "Apple State"), there are some great varieties of apples available in the area...Kelly even has his own orchard and cider press, so I know my apples. I've never been a fan of Jonagolds, Golden Delicious or Red Delicious - these are cheap, mushy textured apples that I feel lack in flavor. I applaud Portland Cider's use of Honeycrisp (my favorite apple, thank you University of Minnesota!), Granny Smith, and Gala. I think Pink Lady (also known as Cripps Pink) and Cameo apples would be better replacements, but they are more expensive.
Overall, Portland Cider Company's Sorta Sweet hard cider was a good drink to spend New Year's Eve with. Hope you all have a great 2014!
Portland Cider Company Official Website
I have to admit I have a really terrible sweet tooth. What makes this a royal pain, besides consuming empty calories I don't need, is the fact that I'm hypoglycemic. My body has difficulty metabolizing simple sugars, and when I consume them, I suffer from headaches as well as digestive issues that don't need to be spoken of in detail. Drinking a glass of Mountain Dew, eating a piece of cake, or munching too much caramel corn causes me much suffering soon after eating such sugary sweets.
The reason I bring this up is because my sweet tooth extends to beers and other alcoholic drinks. I'm more partial to hard ciders, fruit beers and cream ales than I am to bitter IPAs, stouts, and porters. I'm calling my reviews of ales and ciders that I try "Reviews for the Sweet Tooth".Last year you may recall this post where I consumed Mike's Hard Chocolate Cherry and loved it. This year when my dad stopped by for Christmas, he dropped off a couple of large bottles of Portland Cider Company Cider. I had never heard of Portland Cider Company - they've been around since fall of 2012, but there's no entry for them on ratebeer.com or Beer Advocate, and there's not a lot of info on the Portland Cider website. A few days ago I opened the "Kinda Dry" variety and gave it a try. Many people prefer dry cider to sweeter cider, but I'm not one of them. The Kinda Dry was not bad, but I didn't like it as much as Angry Orchard. I actually had trouble finishing it, but I did get it done.
I saved the "Sorta Sweet" variety for New Year's Eve, much to the delight of my sweet tooth. I wasn't disappointed. Sorta Sweet was my kind of cider, balancing sweetness with tartness, and was highly drinkable with the black eyed peas, ham, and honey cornbread dinner I eat every New Year's Eve to bring good luck for the next year. According to Portland Cider's website, they use a blend of Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Gala, Golden and Red Delicious apples. As a resident of Washington State (the "Apple State"), there are some great varieties of apples available in the area...Kelly even has his own orchard and cider press, so I know my apples. I've never been a fan of Jonagolds, Golden Delicious or Red Delicious - these are cheap, mushy textured apples that I feel lack in flavor. I applaud Portland Cider's use of Honeycrisp (my favorite apple, thank you University of Minnesota!), Granny Smith, and Gala. I think Pink Lady (also known as Cripps Pink) and Cameo apples would be better replacements, but they are more expensive.
Overall, Portland Cider Company's Sorta Sweet hard cider was a good drink to spend New Year's Eve with. Hope you all have a great 2014!
Portland Cider Company Official Website
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