A fruity cider trying to be a wine (Strongbow Jacques Orchard Fruits Cider)

Member Name: nixtee

Product:	Strongbow Jacques Orchard Fruits Cider
Date:	24/05/09 (144 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fruity, tasty, refreshing

Disadvantages: May be a bit posh for your average cider drinker!

Hi, I'm Nixtee and I like cider!

I don't tend to go for the big brands like Strongbow, instead preferring to try what's termed as "Real" cider... Basically, cider made at farms from around the UK (usually Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Somerset), however I must admit to liking Bulmers Pear Cider. Our local supermarket sells a selection of farm ciders as does the Ludlow Food Centre, and I'll sometimes pick some cider up add a local food fair.

I've often seen Strongbow's Jacques Orchard Fruits Cider at my local supermarket, but had never made more than a passing glance at it. It doesn't resemble the usual colour of cider, so I guess that's why I'd never really bothered with it. That was until they had it on offer last week. There are currently two varieties of Jacques Cider... Jacques Orchards Fruit Cider and Jacques Fruits Des Bois Cider. I decided to go with the Orchards Fruit Cider - a light coloured cider which had more of a wine look about it than cider.

Actually, Jacques Orchard Fruits Cider doesn't just look like a wine, but I think it tastes halfway between a cider and a wine. In fact, the Jacques website even suggests the perfect way to serve it is in a large wine glass! I, of course, ignored that and poured it in my freebie Grolsch 2/3 pint glass and shared the rest out. I must admit, that I did like the taste of it, even if I thought it didn't taste wholly like cider. It tastes fruity and that's what you want out of this type of drink, in my opinion. In fact, I liked it so much that I bought another bottle of it today!

Jacques Cider comes in 750ml bottles (so it's one to share or drown your sorrows with) and has an alcoholic volume of 5.5%. It's recommended (as with most ciders) that it's served over ice. It's usually priced around £3.99, but our local supermarket has recently had it on offer at £2.45 a bottle.

So while Jacques Orchard Fruits Cider likes to pretend to be a wine and posher than your average cider (you've just got to look at the bottle), it is a lovely refreshing drink and certainly worth trying.

Summary: A refreshing fruity cider from Strongbow.