Charlie Harvey

Review — Once upon a tree kingston redstreak cider

Written by Charlie on

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Nor and I recently had a little daytrip out to Milletts Farm, which is a sort of strange family-friendly theme-farm/garden centre/petting zoo near Frilford, Oxfordshire where Nor used to go as a kid.

Like any self-respecting farm shop, the one at Milletts had a good selection of ciders and I picked up a bottle of Once upon a tree’s 2013 Kingston Redstreak cider

Bottle of kingston redstreak cider by once-upon-a-tree

Apparently Herefordshire Cider is now a PGI (that is ‘Protected Geographical Indication’, like Champagne) product. And this is clearly aimed at the premium end of the market. Indeed it is a little pricey at about a fiver for a 750ml bottle.

The bottle is clear glass with a screwtop and a pleasant enough label which mentions that Once upon a tree won Best Drinks Producer in Radio 4’s Food and Farming awards in 2012-2013.

The cider is a deep reddish amber. Its flat with just a touch of carbonation when I pour. Kingston Black can be a pretty sharp apple, but this is nicely blended out with the bittersweet SomerSet redstreaks to make a nice rounded medium dry cider. It has a bit of a kick at 7% ABV. On the palate it starts out like a typical medium dry, but after that there is a bit of Kingston Black astringency, which develops into a mellow, slightly spicy aftertaste with a bit of acidity.

Drinking a glass of this on a warm day was refreshing, but I think the full body and slightly spicy taste would be just as well suited to warming one up on a cold autumn evening.

2015-07-12 by Charlie Harvey


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