Thatchers single varieties, Coxs and Spartan.

Back from holiday and desperately in need of a drink, another two ciders take the test.

From the same Thatchers set of single variety ciders, similar to the previously reviewed Katy variety, these drinks are made purely from Coxs and Spartan apples.

First, Coxs.

A simple and stylish. yet rather boring label is only let down further by an extremely pale, watery looking drink.

Not the best of starts but in fairness the actual taste of the drink more than makes up for a poor appearance. Bags of appley flavour and quite a refreshing summery texture make a very enjoyable cider.

Name: Thatcher's Coxs, (5.3%)
Label: 2/5
Looks: 1/5
Flavour: 4/5
Texture: 3/5
Total: 10/20

For obvious reasons there are a lot of similarities with this next cider, the Spartan apple variety from Thatchers.

A similarly straightforward bottle and label, coupled with a very pale, colourless liquid, do no favours at all to its' overall score - particularly as the taste is one of the best.

An even more enjoyable flavour and texture to the Cox variety and, whilst I'm not sure I've ever eaten a Spartan apple, they certainly give this cider a real, full fruity depth.

Name: Thatcher's Spartan, (5.2%)
Label: 2/5
Looks: 1/5
Flavour: 5/5
Texture: 4/5
Total: 12/20

The overall league table now looks like this.

Two more for the road

You know what it's like... you spend ages waiting for a bus and then two come along at once.

Judging by the number of people that reach this blog via cider related google searches there'll be at least 2, if not 3, very happy people that the cider survey is back on track with another 2 varieties.

Up for review tonight are Golden Valley Scrumpy from Gwatkin Cider and Sheppy's Dabinett Apple.

The scrumpy was hotly anticipated after Gwatkin's previous entry in this section, the Yarlington Mill variety, scored an impressive 17 out of 20.

It was not going to disappoint either. A solid dry taste and texture, coupled with the perfect solid gold colour and backed up with an interesting pictorial label, ensured for a high scoring bottle.

It was ever so slightly fizzy and a bit thin in texture but, nevertheless, another fantastic effort from Gwatkin and one that leaves it heading for the top of the table.

Name: Golden Valley Scrumpy, (6%)
Label: 4/5
Looks: 5/5
Flavour: 5/5
Texture: 4/5
Total: 18/20

Sadly, after such a strong effort from Gwatkin Sheppy's were about to let the side down. Dabinett Apple, although a strong, alcoholic cider, had neither the flavour nor texture to win many friends.

It was extremely wet and thin to taste with far too much fiz, something which is quite common for ciders over 7% in alcohol volume.

The main let down was the flavour. Far too flat and with little appleyness, almost like flat appletize. It was actually surprisingly easy to drink, in the way that water can be easy to drink, and given the high alcohol volume could be quite dangerously boring in many ways.

Name: Sheppy's Dabinett Apple, (7.2%)
Label: 2/5
Looks: 3/5
Flavour: 1/5
Texture: 2/5
Total: 8/20

The overall league table currently looks like this.

Blakeney Red Perry

Another variety from Gwatkin Cider, Herefordshire - and this time one that is going to seriously confuse the scoring system.

It's a perry, otherwise known as pear cider. Yep, that's right, it's made from pears, not apples.

Worst of all, I didn't actually realise this until after I had initially scored the drink thinking it was an apple cider, and it scored 10 out of 20 for having a too sweet, slightly strange taste. Now I understand why.

So, fair's fair, I decided to re-taste and re-score the Blakeney Red Perry bearing in mind that it quite rightly should taste different to an apple cider.

The label is clearly up there with the best (horse, farmer, old fashioned machinery, etc etc), and the rest is kind of ok... not bad, but not great. Far too sweet for my own tastes, although once you remember it's produced from pears then the taste does explain itself, the texture is also a bit light and fizzy.

Still, an easy to drink beverage for those who prefer something sweet, and let's not forget that it is 7.5% so you won't need many! (Um, drink responsibly ok course)

Name: Blakeney Red Perry, (7.5%)
Label: 4/5
Looks: 3/5
Flavour: 3/5
Texture: 3/5
Total: 13/20

So, the league table now looks like this.

Taffy Apples and Twareg the Marsh Warrior

This is more like it, a cider with a properly stupid name and a ridiculous label to boot.

Sadly I couldn't understand what the picture on the front was about until someone explained to me the story of William Tell. Later, on looking at the rear label on the bottle, it became even clearer... I quote ""William Flippin Who" laughed Twareg the Marsh Warrior snatching the apple from the kids head, I'll have that for my Taffy Apples."

(Punctutation and grammar was taken straight from the bottle so don't go pointing out the mistakes to me!)

This imaginative medieval tale made me increase my label score from 2 to 3 and, quite frankly, the label was the only thing holding this cider back. Fabulous in all other areas (albeit a tad orangey in colour) this is definitely worthy of a high place on the leaderboard.

Name: Taffy Apples, (6%)
Label: 3/5
Looks: 4/5
Flavour: 5/5
Texture: 4/5
Total: 16/20

Here's the league table of full results so far.

Incidentally, the only mention I could find of Twareg elsewhere on the web was a car called the Twareg Special... definitely no marsh warriors in sight.

Westons Medium Sweet

Another variety from Westons who've been scoring pretty well on the survey so far. Now, normally I prefer my cider dry rather than sweet so I was quite interested to see how this would compare to the others.

As is the way with sweet ciders the alcohol content is also slightly lower than the dry varieties and this usually gives the taste a quite refreshing but, for my liking, rather too bland flavour.

This Westons cider does a good job and is a lot better than most with plenty of apple coming through to the taste buds - a good choice for those of you who do prefer a sweet tasting cider - but not really my ideal.

The texture is good - only a very light sparkle which means the cider doesn't suffer from tasting the same as Apple Tango. However, it's further let down by a very weak, watery colour.

Cider should be a dark, cloudy, rather suspicious looking yellowy/greeny colour if possible please!

Name: Westons Medium Sweet, (4.5%)
Label: 3/5
Looks: 2/5
Flavour: 3/5
Texture: 4/5
Total: 12/20

Here's the league table of full results so far.

Thatchers Katy

This is "... the most popular cider in Thatchers single varietal cider range." according to the dedicated Katy website.

Thatchers Cider have produced a clever concept of creating cider from a single variety of apples, their Cox and Spartan varieties are coming up later in this survey.

As for Katy, she's not half bad when it comes to taste, but badly let down in this scoring system by very pale, almost water-like, colour and a very fizzy texture.

However, despite an eventual low score in total, the flavour itself is full of magnificent, full, rich appley-ness and my preferred flavour so far in this survey. If your tastes are for a fizzy, refreshing cool cider on a hot summer day (seems a long way off at the moment!) then a bottle of this would be a very good choice.

Shame about the rather dull label on the bottle but all things considered I can't wait to try the other single variety options now.

Name: Thatcher's Katy, (7.4%)
Label: 2/5
Looks: 1/5
Flavour: 5/5
Texture: 2/5
Total: 10/20

Here's the league table of full results so far.

Westons 1880 Anniversary Cider

Having just seen the Westons Cider website I think they deserve bonus marks - you can even adopt a tree! ...and go visit your tree at any time, Wow!

Anyway, back to the cider. According to the bottle, "'1880' is a premium, pale amber cider blending a number of selected ciders. Rich and fruity with a long lingering finish."

Henry Weston began his cider making business in 1880 you see, and this variety was launched in 2005 to mark the 125th anniversary.

For my money it certainly marks the occassion in fine style. A colourful label that not only includes a picture of the old man himself (I presume) but a selection of very rosy apples. The cider itself is more amber than pale and looks very inviting.

As for the flavour and texture, almost perfect. A delightfuly strong, fruity apple flavour assaults the taste buds while the lightest of fizz adds a refreshingness to the experience.

A deserved leader at this point.

Name: Westons 1880, (8.2%)
Label: 4/5
Looks: 5/5
Flavour: 5/5
Texture: 4/5
Total: 18/20

Here's the league table of full results so far.

Thatchers Gold doesn't live up to its' name

"Gold is a crisp, refreshing cider with a smooth appley taste and bright sparkle", it says on the bottle.

Thatchers Gold, from Somerset, is labelled as a medium dry cider and, whilst it does everything it says on the bottle (see above) I think maybe it's just not my cup of tea (or cider).

In fact the gold colour is just about the best thing with the extremely fizzy and crisp nature of the juice inside making it taste more like a glass of apple Britvic 55 then a 5.3% glass of cider.

Name: Thatchers Gold, (5.3%)
Label: 1/5
Looks: 3/5
Flavour: 2/5
Texture: 1/5
Total: 7/20

Here's the league table of full results so far.

Current standings

For anyone following this exciting and informative survey you can now access the current standings, with links back to each individual review, from this league table page.

Cider number 3, Gaymers Original

The new brand was launched in February this year with the aim to promote a "a contemporary and confident cider brand with unisex appeal that has authenticity and taste appeal at its heart." according to Brand Republic.

The outcome of this work is a dull, boring label and, sadly, the cider within is not much better. It has the orange colour and fizzy texture of a glass of lucozade, although even lucozade has more flavour than this.

It is easily drinkable and I imagine would be very refreshing to drink chilled on a hot summer day but for now I'd be happier with a can of Strongbow from the local off-license.

Name: Gaymers Original, (4.5%)
Label: 2/5
Looks: 3/5
Flavour: 1/5
Texture: 2/5
Total: 8/20

#2: Yarlington Mill Cider

Second up is a variety called Yarlington Mill Cider from Gwatkin Cider, Herefordshire. They say "The Yarlington Mill apple is a favourite with traditional cider makers because of its outstanding taste. The juice is slow to ferment, which produces a rich, red, medium cider."

And quite frankly it tastes gorgeous, losing out minor marks with a slight fizz (cider should be completely fizz-less in my book) and a good, but not perfect, label.

Name: Yarlington Mill Cider, (7.5%)
Label: 4/5
Looks: 4/5
Flavour: 5/5
Texture: 4/5
Total: 17/20

Cider survey, take 1

So, what do you do when someone gives you a presentation box set consisting of twelve different varieties of cider? Answer, well... drink them, obviously.

In the interests of science and increased public awareness, and to prevent me from drinking them all in the same evening, I thought I would consume bottle by bottle, posting my expert insight on this site. A suitable scoring system is obviously required to rate each variety.

So, first up, Westons Oak Conditioned Extra Dry. According to the bottle "This cider is crafted from the juice of many varieties of traditional cider apples. It has been allowed to mature and condition in old oak vats for up to six months, where it develops its premium full, rich and fruity character."

Tasted good to me. Scores and scoring system as follows:

Name: Westons Extra Dry, (6.0%)
Label: 3/5
Looks: 4/5
Flavour: 3/5
Texture: 3/5
Total: 13/20

Looked good in the glass but let down by an un-imaginative name and label and taste that was good, but not outstanding in either its' flavour or texture.

Still, a solid 13 out of 20 to get things going. More soon.

And remember kids, respect alcohol, respect yourself.