Urban Farm Fermentory Baby Jimmy

For this review, I'll be moving down the block to Urban Farm Fermentory. They're located just down the street from the producers of the previous two products I've reviewed. (Tandem Coffee Roasters & Rising Tide Brewery). Urban Farm makes many kombuchas, and I'm quite a fan of their ginger one. But I have their cask aged cider in front of me tonight.

It pours like a soda with a quickly rising fizz that sparkles so much that it could make you sneeze if you sip it too soon. But it settles quickly with no sort of 'head' like a beer. The Baby Jimmy's nose reminds me of a chardonnay because it consists of a crisp fruit and oak. Once on your tongue, the oak character becomes more of an oak-vanilla. This matches well to the apples chosen because it's tart, crisp, and slightly acidic like a fresh McIntosh apple. After swallowing a dry reminder of the oak is what's left in your mouth. The dryness and tartness harmonize well, and it's easy to drink unlike other things so dry.

Baby Jimmy is a sipping drink in my opinion, and I recommend pouring this in a wine glass or chalice instead of a pint glass to get a better sense of the smell. Urban Farm has done a fine job on it and I'm grading it a B (good) for bringing the sharply tart apple to the round and dry oak. If you enjoy a nice pinot gris or sauvignon blanc white wine, I'd seek this one out.

CiderMaker: Hard Apple Cider

Honey and apples both seem to have a taste that's exclusive to only a few natural things on earth. A sweetness that can't be found in any candy. Their's even an apple cultivar that has a title that connects the two as well: Honeycrisp. Tonight I'm sipping on a glass of CiderMaker: Hard Apple Cider which is a new release from Maine Mead Works. Apparently it's not a new concoction because it's been served under another's label only on tap. It'll be available on many shelves soon, and here's what you can expect.

The first sip I took of this was quite a surprise, because it's nothing like other hard ciders sold in a 6-pack. It's more like biting into a freshly picked apple. The scent on your nose is light but the happenings in the mouth can be described as zesty, crisp, and with apples of course. What makes this zesty and crisp is the sparkle it gives on your tongue in an almost citrus way without the bitterness. If it was only my tongue sensing this, I could mistake this as carbonated. The crispness matches well with the apple palate that leans towards the lighter kind without much bitter.

I don't believe I'd want to have this on tap because it would add bubbles and make it overly crisp. Brittle and dry perhaps? So shelves in Maine should be stocking half-gallon bottles of this cider, or you can go straight to Maine Mead Works and get a bottle that you can bring back to re-fill. An A (excellent) in my book for thinking outside of the bottles of other hard ciders. Sweet in that natural way.

Samuel Smith's Organic Cider

Before it gets too late into winter, lets visit a nice seasonal hard cider. Samuel Smith's Organic Cider will be my first malt drink, and rightfully so because it was a fine way to get something seasonally different on my tongue. So if you can find any leftovers of this, here's why you should try it.

Pouring this out of the dark bottle shows that this is a pale cider that smells of sour sweet apples like macintosh and granny smith. The aura also reminded me of some crisper white wines like sauvignon blancs. Tasting it showed a continuation of the crisper theme with a carbonation unlike any beer or soda, and its palate leaned more towards the crisp-sour but in no way that made you pucker. It finished very clear with the crisp liquid rolling down your throat, but a light aftertaste of a green apple.

I think this is a nice change from the typical malt drinks you'd find at the store. It's not super sweet, it fits the season, but it's still easy to drink. I give it a B (good). Samuel Smith's cider is something I'd return to once a year in the fall but it would never be the dominant drink of my fall selection.