Gaymers Cider review

I've always loved a lovely crisp glass of cider, so cold there's condensation running down the side of the glass, especially on a warm summer's evening, so when Gaymers offered to send me through some of their fruity ciders to try out, it didn't take me long to rattle off an email saying yes please. Then I got to thinking - I haven't drunk cider for absolutely ages which is a shame, especially as I don't really know why. I used to drink cider all the time in my student days, then I guess I just drifted into the more grown-up world of drinking wine. I was therefore really looking forward to trying out the ciders from Gaymers to see if they would be as nice as I remembered.

I enrolled Madhouse Nanny - another cider drinker who hasn't drunk any for years - to help with the testing and we lined up the bottles to decide which one to start one. We decided to try the original Crisp Apple Cider first. A 500ml bottle contains just enough for two glasses so we made short work of the bottle ! It was actually quite funny because we both took a sip at the same time and simultaneously said "oooh that's really nice" ! The taste is incredibly crisp, clean and refreshing, with the perfect balance of sweetness and sharpness. We both said that the flavour reminded us of the Strongbow cider we both used to drink. Absolute cider heaven.

The next one we decided to try was the Juicy Pear Cider, which again got a unanimous thumbs up. It's got a lovely fresh, fruity taste and makes a really refreshing drink.

 Now, I think we must both be cider purists because, although we absolutely loved the apple and pear varieties, we weren't so keen on the ones with added fruity flavours. We tried both the Pear Cider with Raspberry Flavour and Pear Cider with Cherry & Apple Flavour and weren't overly keen on either of them. The initial taste of the Pear Cider is lovely but when the extra fruitiness came through, we felt that the flavours didn't really go together and created a bit of a strange background taste. It was drinkable but we definitely preferred the regular Apple and Pear Ciders.

I drank the final bottle over two nights, having one glass (half a bottle) on two consecutive nights, and it kept perfectly (with the fizz intact) in the fridge with a cork stuffed in the top of the bottle. It's actually a really nice drink to start off the evening when you want a long refreshing drink and the 500ml bottles are the perfect size.

Although I wasn't keen on the flavoured ciders, I will definitely be buying the Pear and Apple ones again. They taste delicious, they're extremely refreshing and they're not too strong (4 - 4.5% Abv depending on the flavour) so there's no hangover the next day, especially if you share the bottle with a friend !

star rating : apple 5/5, pear 4.5/5, pear with raspberry/cherry 3/5 but obviously, this depends on personal taste

RRP : £1.69 - £1.89 for 500ml

for more information : http://www.gaymers.co.uk/

Disclosure : I received 4 bottles of Gaymers Cider in order to write an honest review.

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