♫ Cider Man, Cider Man, does whatever a Cider Can ♫ (Magners Irish Cider)

Member Name: JJJJ

Product:	Magners Irish Cider
Date:	10/08/09 (165 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Crisp Taste

Disadvantages: A little too gassy

After years of being seen as a drink of ill-repute, consumed by vagrants and groups of chavs in bus stations across the country, cider is now considered a trendy and respectable tipple which transcends all class barriers. At the forefront of this apple-based renaissance is Magners, which claims to be "the number one packed cider brand in Britain".

I assumed that Magners had been around for ages, and was surprised when I found out that it was only launched at the beginning of 2003, alongside a multi-million pound advertising campaign. Personally, I'm not a massive cider fan, and only drink it on an infrequent basis - but there are certain brands I prefer, and Magners is definitely one of them.

Although you can obtain Magners in can, bottle, and draught form, the latter can be hard to come by, as many pubs only sell it by the bottle - occasionally having the nerve to charge over £4 for the 568ml size. Therefore if you're a real fan, it's probably best to buy your Magners cheaply from a supermarket, and the 4 x 330ml multipack can be currently purchased for £4.40 from Tesco.

Although this review focusses on the apple variety, Magners also make a rather tasty pear version - but i've only ever seen it sold in one pub, with most drinking establishments preferring to stock the ever popular rival brand 'Kopparberg'.

The Magners bottle is dark brown in colour, featuring a yellow green and black label which is fairly eye-catching. The top section is covered by gold foil, and the cap is of the metal variety, meaning it has to be opened by bottle opener - unless you've got incredibly robust teeth! (please don't try).

Taste
- - - - -
Said to be crafted from seventeen varieties of apple which are sourced from orchards in County Tipperary, the amber coloured Magners has a fairly sweet and crisp flavour. It's also a very fizzy drink, more so than Strongbow, meaning that it can be difficult to consume quickly as it can make you feel quite bloated.

At 4.5% volume, Magners isn't the strongest of ciders, and as a result it has a fairly mellow flavour without a strongly alcoholic aftertaste. That said, the overall palette is very appley minus the overly acidic overtones which can be prevalent in some of the cheaper ciders.

It is considered the norm to consume Magners with ice, although doing so is obviously down to individual preference. Personally, I used to hate drinking cider with ice, and pretty much refused to do so for a couple of years I did however allow myself to try it 'on the rocks' a few years back, and now it's my preferred way to drink the stuff. Cider is definitely best enjoyed cold, and warm cider is no good for anyone, except perhaps wasps.

The main drawback of Magners for me is the fact that it will often result in a really nasty hangover which can take hours to disperse. This is even more prevalent if you combine your Magners drinking with an intermittent pint of Fosters or Guinness... I can promise that the resultant throbbing headache is certainly not pleasant.

In conclusion, I would recommend Magners as a summery and refreshing alternative to beer, which has a pleasant and crisp flavour. It is a little too gassy to drink in large doses, which is why it isn't a common choice for me during a night out - however, for a cheeky afternoon pint on a hot day, you can go too far wrong here.

For more info, see www.magnerscider.com

Summary: Summery Cooling Cider