Ciderniks Kingston Black Cider

I spent a fun night at a folk session at The Shoulder of Mutton pub in Wantage with nor and her folks drinking this stuff. It was just one of the 6 ciders in boxes that were perched atop the bar. I resisted the urge to try any others. And I promised, perhaps somewhat slurry, that I would review Kingston Black as soon as ever I could.

You might remember that I reviewed Cidernik’s Combe Raider back in 2011 after something of a cider review hiatus. It was wonderful stuff and relatively speaking local. Kintbury is just over the border from Oxfordshire in West Berks. Ciderniks ciders are all naturally fermented, without adding anything other than a bit of yeast to helf the process along.

The Kingston Black arrived shortly after I ordered it from The Cider Orchard. It comes in a simple, unpretentious 750ml bottle, capped with a screw top that is hidden under a wine-bottle type of thingummy. You know, like they have on the corks of wine. The label is nicely designed but not fussy. I go for those low x-height, slightly distressed fonts.

The colour is a nice, slightly cloudy straw yellow. Sort of like Old Rosie There’s a little bit of sediment at the bottom. Which is almost always a good sign. It pours with a slight hiss and a few bubbles. The thin head dissipates almost immediately as do the bubbles, leaving a still cloudy drink with a nice oaky smell to it.

It smells like leather and it tastes like a farm! Awesome.

Actually the smell is more than oaky. It’s like leather or something. Really strong. In a good way. Taking a sip, its full bodied dry and muscular. And farmy (that probably isn’t a word, but it should be). Its dry and tannin and, well, farmy on the palatte. With an almost smoky finish.

At 6.5% abv you want to be a little careful about drinking too much of this. It is so relaxing and warm and pleasant that it would be easy to drink too much. All in all a cracking cider, I shall certainly be drinking more in the future.

2013-08-24 by Charlie Harvey