Aspall Dry Suffolk Cider Premier Cru Review

Aspall Dry Suffolk Cider Premier Cru (7%) is the 2008 Worlds Best Dry Cider according to "Beers of the World Magazine" and the winner of the "International Beer & Cider Competition" in 2002, 2003 and 2004. It is brewed in Aspall Farm Hall in its current form in Suffolk since 2000 however the history of Aspall cider dates back for 300 years.

The cider looks like any other fizzy cider but you can smell the crispness in the aroma and the drink oozes quality. It has a very dry taste and makes me assume that it uses very good quality apples. Indeed it is a Cru and it lives up to the name.

I am personally not big on ciders at all however having tasted this at a recent visit to the "Taste of Christmas Festival" in London last year I have developed a new found love for the drink.

My main experience of cider (other than white lightning, snakebite and diamond white when I was 18) is the current popularity of Bulmers, Magners and to some extent Koppaburg which I was enjoying to an extent until my first taste of Aspall. I now look at cider as a much more complex drink and relate it more to a wine when trying to guage the quality due to my un-trained taste for beverage.

I can now rule out Magners and Bulmers as quality ciders (in my opinion) when I compare them to Aspall Suffolk Dry Cider. It is a wonderful drink and my favourite cider by far, I would recommend it to anyone. Especially at the prices I see it at in local supermarkets. It almost make me angry when I see almost every pub I go to offering Magners / Bulmers as the only cider offering when there are better and cheaper ciders on the market. No doubt when it does hit the mass market some idiot will want to serve it smothered over half a pint of ice.

I am giving Aspall Dry Suffolk Cider an 4/5 in this review, however if anyone can offer a more concise review of the drink I will happily upload it here as my knowledge of cider is so limited.