Real Cider in Toronto?

[Gumbril]

I'm not often a beer drinker so in the summer when my usual red wine or gin and tonic doesn't feel very seasonal, I'm partial to hard cider. I don't mind the regularly available English/Irish varieties--Strongbow, Gaymers, Bulmers, Blackthorn, etc--as well as Grower's and the Swedish berry-flavoured stuff I've seen lately at the LCBO that's sort of like an alcoholized fruit punch. All the same, I'd rather have the real stuff.

I've had the good fortune of having "real cider" a few times, the stuff made from fermented pressed apples, rather than the standard sort that's chock-full of added glucose/fructose and filled with carbonated water. Does anyone have brand recommendations or know of branches of the LCBO that carry what I'm looking for? I've tried a few LCBOs in the west end and have only seen the same old brands.

I don't claim to be very knowledgeable about the stuff, but I'd like to broaden my knowledge of it and taste some of the best of what's available in this province. I'd prefer to get varieties I can drink at home throughout the summer but if anyone knows of some bars that have a fair variety available, let me know about those too! Thanks everyone!

[darlingclementine]

i realize this is an ancient thread, but if anyone comes across it looking for a wonderful dry cider, try William Cider. It's organic, Canadian, sulphite-free, no added sugar. As far as I can tell, nothing but organic apples and whatever makes it fizzy. No cloying taste, no "battery acid" aftertaste like some ciders give me, no sugary teeth. It's crisp, light and subtle. It's so fantastic. Really well-priced, too, on par or cheaper than Strongbow, Bulmer's and good ol' Sir Perry. Happy drinking!

[estufarian]

This jogged my memory about some French ciders I used to enjoy from DUCHÉ DE LONGUEVILLE.
I've contacted the agent to see if these are still brought in (the product code is no longer recognised).

[Gumbril]

I just tried William Cider, which is Canadian and comes in a grey-silver tin and has only very recently appeared at my nearest LCBO. It's got added sugar but its only other ingredient is fermented apple stuff--no carbonated water or caramel colouring or anything.

It has a good beery-apple taste with a bit of acidity and while it could be drier, it's pretty good.

[munchieHK]

I have to agree. I was really craving some cider while watching the world cup matches today, so I trekked off to the nearest LCBO on the less glamourous stretch of the Danforth. They had Waupoos, Bulmer, Blackthorn and Strongbow. They also had William and another cider from Picton in a 1 litre bottle. when I looked closely, the 1 litre was $7.75, whereas William in 473ml cans was only $2.75. I also noticed that William is certified organic and has no artificial additives. I grabbed a couple of cans and chilled them. It turned out to be the best version of cider I have had outside of the UK. It is a lot better than the UK imports and I think it is far superior to Waupoos and Growers. It is fairly dry, but with a touch of sweetness, crisp, appley and has no chemical aftertaste. It was the perfect accompaniment to watching Oz get its ass handed to it by Deutschland. I might need 3 cans for the next England game!

[Gumbril]

Glad you liked it too! I was really pleasantly surprised. And if Spain's luck doesn't improve I'm going to have to keep drinking it.

[currycue]

Ahh, if only they could import some cider from Casa Mingo in Madrid. Miss that place!

[jjmellon]

Archibald's Estate Winery east of Oshawa is an apple orchard that produces hard cider and apple wines. Their website is www.archibaldswinery.com. Their listings for cider are:

Hard Cider (3) $10.95 750ml
Hard Cider Blends(Apple Raspberry; Apple Cranberry & Apple Black Currant (3-4) $11.95

They also produce a number of apple wines, which are generally less sweet and have a higher alcohol content.

Personally, I like some of the Quebec ciders a bit better than these, and in general I think the price is too high for all cider in 750ml bottles.

[froglegs]

I agree with your choice of the Quebec ciders. Some are great. had a few from LCBO that were excellent. Hard to get though.
Cafe du Lac charges a whopping $8 a glass for a Quebec cider that tastes like apple juice. Very disappointing.

-----
Cafe du Lac
2350 Lake Shore Blvd W, Toronto, ON M8V, CA

[theSmangela]

I really enjoy Archibald's Ida Red Oak Aged wine, but I find their ciders are sickly sweet. Mind you, I've only had the regular cider; I imagine the Apple Cran would be more tart and dry.

[tickmouse]

I absolutely love waupoos and it is available all over the city, I have also had the pleasure of trying pomdor which will be available at the LCBO at the end of June - I can hardly wait!

[1sweetpea]

I've taken to mixing UK ciders 50/50 with beer, because they are simply too cloyingly sweet for me to drink straight. I always thought Growers ciders are inferior to Okanagan, which is also on the sweeter side. I don't feel the same way about Waupoos cider, though, which is definitely drier and less sweet. It reminds me more of a sparkling wine than a cider. I really like it. I'm looking forward to seeking out some of the ciders mentioned by Dean Tudor that I've never heard of before now.

[Paulustrious]

Odd. There used to a number of bone-dry ciders in the UK. The sweet ones were for the ladies.

Cider and lager is known as snakebite in the UK and had a reputation for destroying reputations.

[Gumbril]

The problem is with the limited variety of UK ciders you see here. I routinely see Strongbow, Gaymers, and Bulmers (the latter two are made by the same company, I think?); the second ingredient in all of those is some kind of sugar.

I found Stone's Ginger Wine in an LCBO, which is much more obscure; I should be able to find more than 3 or 4 kinds of cider!

[gregclow]

It's actually Gaymers and Mangers that are owned by the same company - although Mangers is known as Bulmers in Ireland (where it's made), even though it's completely unrelated to the Bulmers we get here, which is from England.

One other mass-produced UK cider available here is Blackthorn, but it's not much better than the ones you mention.

I don't mind the Weston's Stowford Press Export Cider which is fairly widely available. And I recently picked up a can of a new cider from Quebec called William Premium Cider - haven't tried it yet, so I can't offer any opinion.

[mariecollins]

Personally, I find Blackthorn superior to the other imports, and drier. Although it is certainly still mass produced, it is widely drank in the West Country of the UK, where they love their cider. When it first came to Canada I had to stockpile it for when my dad came to visit from Bristol.

They recently changed the formula in the UK, to make it sweeter to appeal more to women. After lots of outrage and lobbying, they now have two versions - the original and the sweet. I briefly saw the new in Canada - beware of a different can with improved taste written on it.

Real scrumpy (or rough, as it's called by the locals) can certainly be evil, and is not to everyone's taste. My husband (who is a chemist at the LCBO) wanted to get it back to Toronto and test it - he thought it was undrinkable.

Marie

[Paulustrious]

Now I like scrumpy. It is the West Country equivalent of moonshine. It does have the appearance of an aged urine sample, but the flavour id distinctly apple. There are a number of ciders in the UK at over 9% so you can end up overdoing it quite easily. That happened on my last day of high-school.

[Whats_For_Dinner]

Had Waupoos for the first time recently and loved it. Highly recommended.

[currycue]

I'm a Waupoos fan too. I found that too many of the Quebec Ciders were too sweet. Must be the variety of apple they're using. Waupoos is nice and dry. Another good cider I bought at the SAQ in Quebec (seems unavailable in Ontario) is Kerisac from Brittany. Give it a try if you're ever in Quebec or across the pond.

http://www.cidre-kerisac.com/nos-cidr...

[bytepusher]

There's a place in Niagara-on-the-Lake called Sunnybrook Farms that makes fruit wines and a hard cider but you have to go there, no sales in Toronto.

[crawfish]

I've been making cider at Fermentations and it's excellent. They really do everything, all you have to do is bottle it. They have 4 different kinds, I like the English one.

http://www.fermentations.ca/others.php

[Dean Tudor]

Crawfish -- do you know how many of the cider juices are from Ontario apples? Concentrates? Thx

[precia]

I've got an appointment Saturday to bottle my first batch of cider at Fermentations. They actually have about 10 varieties of cider (no idea why their website is incomplete). I'm getting the cherry cider, which I expect will be delicious.

I'm fairly certain they don't use concentrates - they don't for their beers. Only their organic cider specifies Ontario apples, but that doesn't rule out local apples for the rest. It takes about 4 weeks to do a batch.

[crawfish]

Sorry, Dean, I haven't logged on for a while. I'll check the ciders at Fermentations this weekend.

Of the LCBO commonly available offerings, I like Weston's Stowford Press Export Cider. Might just be the bottle though - I hate cans.

[Gumbril]

I haven't seen that. Which locations do you routinely see it at?

[crawfish]

Liberty Village always seems to have it but now that I am not in that neighborhood I am having a harder time finding it.

[precia]

The organic cider is made from Ontario apples (around St. Catharines), but the rest of their apples are from BC.

The cherry cider is pretty crisp and tasty, though the cherry flavour is very subtle.

[Tatai]

There's a new cidery in Caledon -- Spirit Tree Estate Cidery -- that is putting out a hard cider any day now. They're very serious about what they're doing. http://spirittreecider.com/

[Gumbril]

Thanks for the replies!

I'm hoping to try some of the fancier ciders--the sort that come in wine bottles rather than cans or plastic containers--and I'll start with the Clos Saint-Denis. Frankly, I'm primarily looking for kinda "beer-equivalent ciders" that I can drink from a can or pint bottle but aren't crap loaded with sugar.

I've had Waupoos at bars; it's not bad, so thanks for the reminder. I'll seek some out.

[Paulustrious]

A link you may well have seen...
http://www.countycider.com/products.html

So you have never had scrumpy from the barrel?

[munchieHK]

I don't think the Waupoos cider is a patch on several kinds I tried in Quebec. I find it too fizzy and too cloying. The Clos Saint-Denis is superb.

[youdonut]

you can check for waupoos here http://www.countycider.com/products.html

[Dean Tudor]

These are worthwhile Ontario, BC, and Quebec ciders at the LCBO. They come in a variety of styles and prices, so you'll have to try them all (no hardship by me). OR -- check with a Product Consultant at a larger LCBO store.

1. 09POM'OR TRADIT. SPARKLING CIDER (CIDRERIE ST-NIC
Canada | Ciderie St Nicholas
VINTAGES | 179473 | 750 mL | $ 12.95
4. CLOS SAINT-DENIS BOURG SAINT-DENIS CIDER 2007
Canada | Mondia Alliance
VINTAGES | 89490 | 750 mL | $ 12.80
5. COUNTY CIDER PET
Canada | County Cider Company
| 459370 | 1000 mL | $ 7.75
7. CREMANT CIDRERIE ST-NICOLAS
Canada | Ciderie St Nicholas
| 61671 | 750 mL | $ 10.50
13. GROWERS GRANNY SMITH CIDER
Canada | Vincor International Inc.
| 384800 | 6x341 mL | $ 10.95
18. PEELER PREMIUM LIGHT CIDER
Canada | Thornbury Village Cidery Inc.
Limited Time Offer | 146043 | 4x341 mL | $ 10.95
28. WAUPOOS PREMIUM CIDER
Canada | County Cider Company
| 612804 | 4x341 mL | $ 13.25
30. WILLIAM PREMIUM CIDER
Canada | Cidrerie Solar
| 173039 | 473 mL | $ 2.75

[jlunar]

I'm no expert either, but I see Waupoos cider on the lists everywhere as the cider of choice. I don't usually see more than one choice for cider on the menus.