Thirsty Thursday Eve - Sky Top's Best Carbonated Hard Cider
I’m not typically a huge fan of cider, but I’ll try just about anything once, and I’m a sucker for limited availability stuff, and I do love supporting small, local businesses. Hence, I had to get some of the hard cider that Sky Top orchard produces.
Let me just point out that Sky Top is awesome. It’s been a fall tradition in my family for the past few years. They have tons of varieties of apples available, and they have awesome apple cider and apple cider donuts. In case you missed it, here it is again: apple cider donuts. One more time. Apple. Cider. Donuts. Anyway, moving on.
We noticed last year that they have a hard apple cider, in addition to their jugs of just normal cider. I’m weird in that I love a good quality non-alcoholic apple cider, but hard cider just isn’t my thing. I can’t place why. My wife, however, loves cider. Hence, we’ll get new ciders for her to try on occasion, and I’ll finish them off if she doesn’t like them. Otherwise, I steer clear.
But again, Sky Top orchard has apple cider donuts. They put apple cider in the batter, and after they come out of the oil, they toss the donuts in cinnamon sugar. These things are heavenly. If you live within an hour or so, you owe it to yourself to come by and get some. These things are amazing. At least, they’re amazing within the first 30 minutes after they’re made. They get soggy real fast, so you have to eat them basically immediately. You can take some home, but you’ll just be disappointed if you eat them hours later or the next day. Fresh, though? Incredible. Alas, back to the alcohol.
The hard cider at Sky Top is a little premium. You can get a gallon jug of the normal stuff for $9 (which is a great deal for that quality), or you can get a single bottle of hard cider for $6. I think the bottle is 500 ml, which is slightly larger than a standard beer or cider, but not much. You’re paying quite near bar premium prices for this cider. But it is local business, and it’s only available seasonally. I’ll give it a pass for that situation.
Donuts. Apple Cider Donuts. You need these things in your life.
During our annual trip to Sky Top this year, we decided to pick up a bottle of the hard cider, in addition to our standard haul of apples, normal cider, and donuts. DONUTS. For all we know, we could be missing out on some grade A, top notch cider. If it’s really, really good, I could see getting a bottle or two each year when they’re open.
We get home, hard cider in tow, and donuts already long gone. Obviously, we toss the cider in the refrigerator to chill. The best beer is free beer, and the second best beer is cold beer. A few days later, we cracked open the bottle and split it into glasses.
The hard cider is very clear, with an amber color typical of ciders. The smell is apple-y, as usual. It’s slightly more carbonated than I notice of most ciders. The flavor, though, is super dry. Like super, super dry. For someone who normally doesn’t care much for ciders anyway, and the ones I do like are ridiculously sweet, the flavor just as not appealing.
If you like dry ciders, this might be your thing. Otherwise, it seems like it would be considered a good cider. I just couldn’t get over how dry it was. And I realize that’s a personal preference. I’d still highly recommend checking out Sky Top, because it’s an awesome place. If you’re a cider drinker, that could just be a worthy add-on.
The donuts, though. Go, get some apple cider donuts, get them immediately. You can thank me later.
Let me just point out that Sky Top is awesome. It’s been a fall tradition in my family for the past few years. They have tons of varieties of apples available, and they have awesome apple cider and apple cider donuts. In case you missed it, here it is again: apple cider donuts. One more time. Apple. Cider. Donuts. Anyway, moving on.
We noticed last year that they have a hard apple cider, in addition to their jugs of just normal cider. I’m weird in that I love a good quality non-alcoholic apple cider, but hard cider just isn’t my thing. I can’t place why. My wife, however, loves cider. Hence, we’ll get new ciders for her to try on occasion, and I’ll finish them off if she doesn’t like them. Otherwise, I steer clear.
But again, Sky Top orchard has apple cider donuts. They put apple cider in the batter, and after they come out of the oil, they toss the donuts in cinnamon sugar. These things are heavenly. If you live within an hour or so, you owe it to yourself to come by and get some. These things are amazing. At least, they’re amazing within the first 30 minutes after they’re made. They get soggy real fast, so you have to eat them basically immediately. You can take some home, but you’ll just be disappointed if you eat them hours later or the next day. Fresh, though? Incredible. Alas, back to the alcohol.
The hard cider at Sky Top is a little premium. You can get a gallon jug of the normal stuff for $9 (which is a great deal for that quality), or you can get a single bottle of hard cider for $6. I think the bottle is 500 ml, which is slightly larger than a standard beer or cider, but not much. You’re paying quite near bar premium prices for this cider. But it is local business, and it’s only available seasonally. I’ll give it a pass for that situation.
Donuts. Apple Cider Donuts. You need these things in your life.
During our annual trip to Sky Top this year, we decided to pick up a bottle of the hard cider, in addition to our standard haul of apples, normal cider, and donuts. DONUTS. For all we know, we could be missing out on some grade A, top notch cider. If it’s really, really good, I could see getting a bottle or two each year when they’re open.
We get home, hard cider in tow, and donuts already long gone. Obviously, we toss the cider in the refrigerator to chill. The best beer is free beer, and the second best beer is cold beer. A few days later, we cracked open the bottle and split it into glasses.
The hard cider is very clear, with an amber color typical of ciders. The smell is apple-y, as usual. It’s slightly more carbonated than I notice of most ciders. The flavor, though, is super dry. Like super, super dry. For someone who normally doesn’t care much for ciders anyway, and the ones I do like are ridiculously sweet, the flavor just as not appealing.
If you like dry ciders, this might be your thing. Otherwise, it seems like it would be considered a good cider. I just couldn’t get over how dry it was. And I realize that’s a personal preference. I’d still highly recommend checking out Sky Top, because it’s an awesome place. If you’re a cider drinker, that could just be a worthy add-on.
The donuts, though. Go, get some apple cider donuts, get them immediately. You can thank me later.
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