After an amazingly long work week, Sean and I were excited to see a box from Angry Orchard on the doorstep. Inside were two of Angry Orchard’s Winter Seasonal Ciders – Tapped Maple and Spiced Apple.

Tapped Maple

The Tapped Maple is made from a dry cider base of Braeburn, Fuji, Granny Smith, Gala and Pink Lady apples. The sweetness primarily comes from the addition of maple syrup. Straight out of the bottle (and into the wine glass) this light bodied cider hit us as being semi-sweet, with light apple and maple aromas, reminiscent of a dutch baby pancake (sans the eggy flavor). However, when we swirled the cider – either in the glass or our mouths – the sweetness broke down, and the fresh, tart flavors of green apple came through. The cider is reminiscent of a less tart Riesling. Like most Rieslings, this cider is semi-sweet and very aromatic with clean apple flavors.

Score: 7/10 – Very Good

Spiced Apple 

The Spiced Apple uses most of the same culinary apples as the Tapped Maple, but also added some bittersweet apples, such as Amere de Berthecourt, Beden, Madaille d‘Or, Michelin, and Binet Rouge. These bittersweets, which are typically inedible, are high in tannins and adds a bit of dryness and body to the cider. This sweet cider has pleasant apple aromas, and the warming spices add to the flavor making it slightly reminiscent of apple pie. This cider is similar to a sweet Gewürztraminer which has fruitier flavors (typically stone fruit and berries), but the wine’s aromas of ginger, honey, and warming spices are similar to this cider.

Score: 6.5/10 – Good

*Disclaimer: We typically buy most of the ciders we review, however, these were graciously provided to us by Angry Orchard. Their generosity in no way affects our review process.