What's your favorite cider?
 

1) Bulmers
2) Mercury

Westons
my friend's homemade brew
Gaymers
Dunkertons
some of the smaller local ones from Herefordshire, Somerset and Brittany
Strongbow, Woodpecker, Magners, Mercury and the other "proper" mass-produced ones are okay too.
The cheapies are generally sulphurous and disgusting.
BTW cider should be served in earthenware or stoineware mugs, NOT glass, and should NEVER (Magner ad makers etc please note) be served over ice!
Good Wurzels fare.

I think cider varies a lot and can be a very local product. My fave is Merridale Cidery here on Vancouver Island, in Canada, but they don't pasteurize it, so it has to be kept refrigerated and it has a shorter shelf life than a lot of booze. They grow their own apples and they produce a varied range of ciders and I love their bistro as well as their location in the Cow(ichan) Valley.

http://www.merridalecider.com/ciderhouse/products

I will have to try some of these when I get back up to the UK next year. Interesting point about serving in earthenware. I tend to drink it in class and love it over ice on a hot summer Sydney day but I will try drinking it out of clay next time!

Will concede the ice for Sydney and other hot places!
You will notice a difference with the earthenware. Herefordshire friends drink it in mugs and my sister brought me some special earthernware cider bowls over from France - it shoudln't make any difference to the taste but it does!

Bulmers which is now Magners and if I'm in the West Country whatever sort of Scrumpy Jack can be had. :) I love ciders.

Robinetts in Grand Rapids Michigan or GRR for you cold hearted flyers!

Bartlett's in Pittsfield, MA - fresh off the press. Haven't had it in 15-20 years and no idea if they're still there.

Original Woodchuck

Woodpecker - I had this at the Soho Kitchen in NYC - delicious!

http://www.woodpeckercider.us/

There was a little place up in Oak Glen, California that made the most exquisite Apple Wine... Not a syrupy sweet cider, but a dry wine with essentially *no* residual sugar...lik a zinfandel but a big apple nose. I haven't been back up there in years, so I have no idea if they still exist.

Boones Farm? :D

Here in Ireland they call cider " Knacker's Champagne. " - a knacker being a derogatory term for gypsies !
Incidentally even though it's often cold and wet over here cider has been served from a bottle over ice for some time.
Personally I like cider to be very dry.

I do, too. Some of the large-scale commercial stuff is way too sweet. I like that Merridale (mentioned above) has a range of ciders that they make, and you can find the one that suits your taste best.

Try some of these:


http://www.dunkertons.co.uk/
http://www.westons-cider.co.uk/
http://www.vintageroots.co.uk/list.asp?product=16
http://www.ukcider.co.uk/recomm.htm

A dry, still cider is a completely different drink from the normal sweet sparkling one, and can be a bit of an acquired taste.

I'm a girlie wimp - I like my cider sweet and strong. I like wines sweet as well - plum wine, mead, Reislings, etc.

I really liked Red C cider I had in Yorkshire a couple years ago, though Bulmers is always fine.

I had Somerset Cider my first time ever trying cider, in 1996 - yum! And then I stood up :)

I'm looking forward to sampling some next summer in Scotland. Any idea on good sweet ciders to try in the Highlands?

Some of my favorite ciders include:
Westons Organic Cider
Addlestone Cider
Magners
Stowford Press English Export Cider

From Prince Edward County in Ontario, Waupoos Cider http://www.countycider.com/products.html

A useful website to learn about U.K. ciders is:
http://www.ukcider.co.uk/goodciderguide.htm

No entry on cider is complete with a clip of the Wurzels!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbIeacTahks

Bartlett's in Pittsfield, MA - fresh off the press. Haven't had it in 15-20 years and no idea if they're still there

Is there an echo in here? Fellow Berkshirite?

The cider thread
 

The only cider really worth a damn is JK Scrumpy cider. It's organic, made in Michigan, and comes in a 22oz bottle. It tastes like delicious apple juice and is 6% abv.

Their winter cider is also very good.

I like Strongbow too.

My current favorite is Eric Bordelet Poiré Granit. Had it at Maze and then ordered a couple of cases online. Good stuff. It's a pear cider

Any cider bought from a farm in Somerset or Herefordshire will do ........

As long as it is murky .....:)

Unless you've tried all the ciders that the British Isles, France, and Germany have to offer, those are some big words. What you meant to say is "Of all the ciders I have tried, the cider really worth a damn is JK Scrumpy cider."

And Strongbow is the [American] Budweiser of the cider world.

Yes, yes, I tend to overstate my case. Sue me. :)

A couple of weekends ago we picked up some Crispin natural Honey Crisp cider that is the new favorite. 6.5%

I'm glad to see this thread revived, because learning about and trying cider is a new thing for me. A little while ago, a neighbor gave us a couple of bottles of JK Scrumpy. I've also tried the natural honey (orange label) Crispin and liked it a lot, so I'm eager to try the other Crispin varieties next.

Bulmers

and more locally ... Tieton Cider Works particularly their cherry cider

Recently had some Savana Dry in S. Africa, which was not bad at all (and much better than the other option, a Smirnoff product, which was like cider with Sprite, very sweet).

Different Strongbows in the last several years have had significantly different flavors, some bold and some bland, which may be more a result of how they are transported then handled in the store/restaurant rather than differences at the factory.

Some of the varieties of Woodchuck have been good, including its Winter variation, which seemed to have a hint of nutmeg (at least in the formulation last year).

But I do seem to recall some very good cider from English pubs in small towns from 10-15 years ago, but so I won't try to prioritize.

After having good cider, the "apple wine" in Germany (at least around Frankfurt) tastes IMO like watered down cider (a subject that has caused some heated discussions with my German colleagues and friends who revere the stuff).

Bottoms up!