Cider tasting event at The Stable

*AD – press event* After their pizza making event, a cosy pub in Bournemouth called The Stable invited the Bournemouth Bloggers again. This time it was for a cider tasting run by the biggest cider expert in the area – Ross Duncan. We had the chance to taste 10 different ciders which are nominated for the Cider of the Year award. The evening was fantastic and I found out a lot of interesting and fun facts about cider.

I have to admit, and please excuse my ignorance, before the event I was convinced that cider was an alcoholic drink made only from apples. While it’s true for the majority of ciders, there are other fruits like apricots, cherries, pears and rhubarb used to make cider and I strongly encourage you to try them as they are truly delicious.

Ross guided us through ten different flavours of cider, asking us about the sensations we could feel in different parts of our mouth. I realised after a while that I had to be careful – some ciders tasted like juice so it was easy to forget I was drinking alcohol! After tasting the third cider, I started to feel a bit tipsy! We were also offered some nibbles like crackers and cheese and had a short break for some mouth-watering pizzas and salads.

Some of the the ciders were more traditional-tasting, which I would describe as sharp and bitter, and probably they would appeal more to men than women. One of the ciders actually smelt of a farm…yes, you read correctly, it smelt like the countryside, and that is apparently a sign of a good cider!

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My favourite ciders were the fruitier ones, and my ultimate winner was one with rhubarb juice called No.8 from Crafty Nectar (the name sounds like Chanel No. 5…well, almost! 😉 ). I would also recommend a sparkling cider from Kent called Nightingale, which has got a light colour and is similar in taste to prosecco. You can read the description of all 10 ciders nominated for the awards here, but you should obviously go to The Stable and taste them yourself! Other bloggers chose their winning ciders too and it was interesting to see how different our taste buds are!

I really enjoyed the event thanks to the outstanding expertise in ciders of Ross Duncan, a great atmosphere, and delicious food provided by The Stable’s chefs. If you are looking for an original present for someone, or an idea of how to spend an evening with friends in a social, but also educational way, go to the Stable for a cider tasting evening. You can choose different cider experiences which you can check out on their website here. Highly recommended!