Cider Spotlight!

Winchester Ciderworks 522 Blackcurrant

$12.99 for the 16 ounce four-pack cans
Hard Apple Cider with Blackcurrant Berries

As we’ve said before, Winchester Ciderworks, just a few miles north of Winchester on Route 522, is cidermaker Stephen Schuurman’s attempt to replicate the ciders that he had in his native southeast England. No time is this description more true than with his 522 Blackcurrant.

The inspiration for the 522 is a popular pub drink, the “Cider and Black.” A Cider and Black involves mixing dry or off-dry cider with either blackcurrant juice or blackcurrant cordial. Schuurman’s version uses Winchester Ciderworks’ lovely off-dry flagship cider, the Malice as the base to which he adds blackcurrants. Schuurman likes to source his ingredients locally, but he hasn’t found a good source for blackcurrant berries, so he has to go out of state for them. (There are rumors that he’s looking into growing them himself.)

The blackcurrant offers a welcome rich, earthy, tartness that is evenly balanced with the Malice’s crisp, off-dry goodness. This cider actually sticks us with a quandary … the cider half makes us want to throw it down in full swallows, however the blackcurrant side makes us want to sip and savor. All things said, it’s a good problem to have.

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