Category: beverages

Cider Varieties

Ashley Bischoff4 Comments

In my commentary on the DFWBlogs Cocktail Event for September, Josh Baugher asks about other cider varieties:

I like cider, but haven't tried that many varieties. I've had Hornsby's, Cider Jack, Strongbow, and all the Woodchucks.

What brand names should I be on the lookout for (Besides Kelly's and Savanna Dry?

Sadly, there just aren’t that many varieties of cider in this country. So, he may have already named about 90% of the cider varieties sold in this country.

One distinction is that there are “two” Horsby’s varieties. There’s the red-label and the yellow-label. I believe that the yellow-label Hornsby’s is their Draft Cider, while red label may be called their Dark & Dry variety.

At any rate, the difference is that the yellow-label (draft) has more added sugar. So, it’s sweeter. But, if you’re looking for the dryer, more flavorful of the two, go for the red-label Hornsby’s.

Another cider is K Cider, which I talk more about in that entry. The K Cider was definitely an above-average cider, though maybe not to the level of my aforementioned favorites.

I’ve seen Ace Cider in the beer stores around here, though I haven’t tried it yet (primarily because it tends to be priced at about $7.50 for a six-pack). Through a Google search, reviews were hard to find, though I did come across this article on Ace Cider:

Ace Honey, which has been available for only a few months, is the driest of the three, and appeals to more experienced palates, says House. It collected the gold medal for cider at last fall’s Sonoma County Harvest Fair. [&hellip]

When it comes to cider, I like mine the dryer the better :). So, I may just keep an eye out for their Ace Honey.

I tried Woodpecker Cider long ago, back when I lived in Alexandria, VA. Of all places, I actually first found it in a Safeway. However, it’s brewed in Britain (the homeplace of so many great ciders). It’s been too long since tasting it to give any meaninful commentary on Woodpecker. I do recall, though, that it wasn’t oversweetened as some American ciders can be.

In contrast to Ace Cider, I found quite a few reviews for Woodpecker Cider. This one in particular interested me, and now I’m wondering just what blackcurrant is ;).

One cider that Josh mentioned was Strongbow. However, I haven’t tried that one — how does it compare to some of the other ciders that you’ve tasted?

Lastly, does anyone know where I can buy beer and/or cider by the case (24 bottles) in Dallas? I generally drink a beer with dinner each night, for the health benefits (in addition to its general deliciousness). However, I don’t want to have to go to the store every week, so I prefer to buy by the case (at Sam’s Club, so far).

However, Sam’s Club, as with everything else that they sell, doesn’t have an extensive variety. I find that I’m lucky if I can find cider there at all (I bought K Cider there once, but I haven’t seen it there since then). So, I’m hoping that I can find some other vendors in the area that sell by the case.

DFWBlogs Cocktail Event – September

Ashley Bischoff4 Comments

The DFWBlogs Cocktail Event for August was held at the Tipperary Inn on Live Oak St. It’s an Irish-style pub, and the interior bars were even made in Dublin and shipped over (!).

Being that it was a Wednesday evening, it wasn’t very crowded — which I thought was a good thing. With fewer people, it’s easiler to have conversations with other people. Still, the sound still easily reflected off the many flat surfaces such as all the polished wood. But, that was only a minor issue (especially comapred to sitting next to the large glass windows at The Hurricane Grill).

I ordered a bacon-cheddar burger and a Kelly’s Cider. The burger had a good amount of meat to it, probably 1/3 lb or more. Pleasantly, it also had that char-taste that comes from a properly flame-grilled burger (mmm). The burger was $8. And, it was very good. But, was it $8-good? I don’t know about that. Maybe $7-good ;).

The fries were “very warm” but not quite “hot”. And, they were crispy-style fries with almost a crunch to the outer skin. I don’t see that fry-style much these days, and it was a nice change of pace.

Before I ordered the burger, I selected my drink. When I asked our waitress what they had on tap, she rattled off an impressively long list of beverages. I heard “Newcastle” among them — definitely one of my favorites — but my ears perked up at the mention of “cider”. I didn’t even hear what brand of cider it was, but I knew that it was one that I hadn’t previously tried.

It turns out that the cider was Kelly’s Irish Hard Cider (an Irish brand, no surprise there). As I write this, I’m having difficulty putting into words the delicousness of Kelly’s Cider… It was full of distinct apple flavor, but not oversweetened, so it remained very dry and crisp. It was fantastically delicious and highly refreshing.

Though Savanna Dry (only available in South Africa, as far as I know) is still officially my favorite cider, Kelly’s now takes the crown as my favorite-cider-actually-available-in-North-America.

“Snake Bite”

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I went for drinks with some guys from the office, after work. I ordered a glass of Speckled Hen Ale (which was on special: $2 / 20oz). It was on the bitter side, as beers go, but not in a bad way. However, it didn’t have as much flavor as, say, a Newcastle might.

I’m not one to “drink for the sake of drinking” so, after the Speckled Hen, I hadn’t planned on necessarily ordering another. However, my boss was nice enough to buy a “snake bite” for me. He was previously aware of my penchant for cider and he assured me that I’d enjoy it ;).

A snake bite is 1/2 pint Lager and 1/2 pint Cider (sweet or dry). They’re layered in a glass much in the same way that a black & tan would be.

Anyhow, I tasted the snake bite, and it was delicious. It had the creaminess of the lager mixed with the sweetness of the cider. And, the bitterness of the lager just pokes through. Ooh, that was one tasty beverage. And, I may just have to order them from time to time :).

Microwaving Water for Tea?

Ashley Bischoff4 Comments

I have an electric kettle that I use for tea. Typically, I would take it to work, and then I could make tea there. At prior jobs, it wouldn’t be unusual for me to go through two to three pots a day (only the first of which would be caffeinated).

However, if I were to take my kettle to work, then I wouldn’t be able to use it at home. And, because I get up so early, it can be handy to have some tea first-thing in the morning :).

So, are there any disadvantages, taste-wise, to microwaving water for tea? I had figured on using the microwave it, but I woulnd’t want to do so if that would lead to inferior tea.

Slashdot Meetup Tonight

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The Slashdot Meetup for Dallas is this evening. And, since I hadn’t had a chance to write about last month’s Slashdot Meetup, this may be a good time to do so.

Last month’s Meetup was scheduled for Jupiter Lanes. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to that location, as bowling isn’t very conducive to conversation (especially since this was the first Slashdot Meetup, and none of us had met before). But, I went anyhow. I figured — if nothing else — the Meetup may offer some opportunities to mention my portfolio to some of the local geeks.

I arrived there right on time, and found the other Meetup people. And, even though there are apparently 92 Slashdot Meetup people in Dallas, there were just five people there (including myself).

Some people enjoy large crowds… I am not one of those people. So, I was actually pleased that a small number of people made it. And, after a short discussion, we all agreed that bowling wasn’t the best idea for conversation. So, we drove in caravan to a Chili’s down the street. Many of the guys (yeah, it was all guys) hadn’t eaten dinner yet, anyway, so Chili’s was a welcome suggestion.

At the Chili’s, we looked over the drinks menu before deciding on our entrees. I remarked that, according to the menu, they only had Bud, Bud Light, and Coors Light on top. One guy was talking to another and didn’t hear my remark about the beer selection, so another fellow clarified:

“They don't have any beer on tap.”

[ puzzled look ]

“They only have Bud, Bud Light, and Coors Light on tap. Ergo, they have no beer on tap.”

We had a good chuckle about that ;). When the server came around, we asked him about what was on tap, just to be sure. He rattled off a few names, resulting in a beer-on-tap list much longer than the menu implied. In particular, Sam Adams caught my eye (“caught my ear”?), so I quickly decided on that. Most of us ordered a 22oz Sam Adams (or around that size, I can’t remember the exact volume), except for one poor guy that was under 21.

One guy ordered one of those fried-onion sea urchin things. Another had chicken tenders, and I can’t remember what the other two had. Of course, I had already eaten dinner before coming, so I just went straight for dessert. I decided on their “Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie”. Basically, it’s a warm walnut-based bar topped with ice cream and chocolate & caramel sauces. It was very delicious, and went strangely well with my Sam Adams; I wouldn’t hesitate in ordering one again.

There may be some stereotypes about the “Slashdot crowd”, but the people at the Slashdot Meetup didn’t fit into the typical nerd stereotype. Sure, one guy had a salt-n-pepper beard with long hair tied into a ponytail, but he managed to do so fashionably. Another guy had stylishly-short hair (with gel, even). And none of them were introverted, though one or two guys may have been on the borderline between introverted and extroverted.

The conversation was good, the food was good, and I had a great time. I look forward to the next one which, of course, happens to be tonight.