It's not until you try the various ciders alongside each other that you appreciate their different qualities, so last week we held a cider tasting evening here at Orchard Gites.
We sampled a range of ciders; both sweet and dry, those made by local 'farm' producers and those off the supermarket shelves; cider that costs less than 2 Euros and some that was priced at nearly 5 Euros.
We looked at the appearance of each cider - colour, clarity etc. All of the ciders we tasted were sparkling but in some cases the 'fizz' lasted longer than others. We also thought about the taste and whether or not the cider had body and it was quite noticeable how although some ciders tasted fine initially the flavour quickly disappeared.
Surprisingly everyone really enjoyed an 'off-the-shelf' cider best. The Reflets de France label, which can be found in the local supermarkets was really fruity and with a delicious toffee-apple flavour. Of course this may not be to everyone's taste so it is really worth trying a few different ciders to find one that you prefer!
The good thing is that cider is not expensive but it makes a nice gift to take back home with you so that your friends and family can enjoy a taste of Normandy too!
