Cider Week: Cider # 3 Magners Irish Cider

Magners Irish Cider

HP Bulmers Cider
Clonmel, Tipperary, Republic of Ireland
Owned by C&C Group PLC
Adjunct Hard Apple Cider 5.0 % ABV Aluminium Can 500 ml.
$3.15 (Canadian) At LCBO 
Twitter: @MagnersCanada

Magners is the name of the cider that is marketed outside of Ireland. Inside Ireland this same product is called Bulmers. Naming rights for the product only extended to the borders of the country so a new name had to be chosen. In 1935 the orchard when the company was started was owned by William Magner. He produced Magners cider for 2 years until he sold a half share of the companyy to English cider maker HP. Bulmer. Bulmer bought the remaining 50% after the war and changed the name to Bulmers. Bulmers was eventually sold to Guinness and then to its current owner C&C Group. Magners has been receiving a growing market share in Canada for the last 15 years and is still doing well they currently produce 4 flavours of cider: original, light, berry, and pear..

Enough history... onto the tasting.

Dark orange with hints of a peach colour as it pours. Head disperses quickly leaving no trace. Aroma is candy-like with hints of cinnamon and clove. There is a definite woodiness to it. First sip is tart and very effervescent. Bubbles across the tongue like champagne. Citric acid is very evident. very tart, tangy, slightly chemical. It does not taste like fresh apples, it tastes more like a juice made from concentrate or very processed. This product has has sugar, colour, sulfites, and citric acid added to it, so while we are still in the realm of cider... we are leaning more to the alcoholic beverage side. There is a light smokiness which I think has been added. The draught version of this product was supposed to be oak aged. I think that feeling has been added chemically in the canned version.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 2/6 SO-SO
Cider Style: 3/6 SO-SO
Re-Order:  2/6 SO-SO
Experience:  3/6 SO-SO

Final Thoughts:

Huh. Very disappointed. I remember when I lived in the Beach in Toronto, I used to enjoy a Magners on draught and one of the local bars called Murphy's Law. And I seem to remember this cider being much, much better than this. The colour is unnatural, and the taste is very chemical. I will have to try this on draught again to see if it has changed too. Sadly, chalk this one up to the "Avoid" side.

P.S. I got through the whole post with out making a "Tipperary" joke... uh... almost.

Cheers

CJT


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Cider Week

Cider Week July 13th to 20th

I am very pleased to announce that I am taking the week off from posting about beer! I have wanted to do a few cider blogs for sometime as the rise in number of varieties of hard ciders is increasing in my local LCBO. Cider is gaining popularity again. It used to be the go to drink of our founding fathers, as it was far easier to produce than beer. Most farmers kept an apple tree or two for making cider. It was tasty, and it kept well.

So I have seven ciders lined up for this week. Some common some not. England, Ireland, USA, and Canada are all represented. The format for the tasting will be very similar to the beer. I hope you enjoy reading about them as much as I do tasting and writing!

Cheers

CJT

Thoughts on St. Patrick

Well here it is the day after the most famous Alcholiday of the year. I'm certain there are a few fuzzy heads and upset tummies out there as we resume our work week. I am also sure that may of us are asking ourselves "Why, oh why did I do this to myself again?" Especially this year since it was on a Monday and many of the revelers seemed to take advantage of the "Four Day Drinking Weekend."

But in reality, why do we do this? Who is this old green guy that hates snakes and encourages inebriation? Who is this patron saint of poor decisions, binge drinking and green tinged vomit? Who was St. Patrick and why do we celebrate him March 17th?

What we do know

Surprisingly, not a lot. St. Patrick is quite possibly more mired in myth legend and marketing than his winter compatriot St. Nicholas... (but he is another story.) The most important thing we need to know is that St. Patrick... was not Irish. What he was.... ennnnh we may never know. We have narrowed down a few possibilities. It is generally accepted that he was born sometime in the first half of the 400's CE in Roman occupied England, and that he died on March 17th. He was (by one account) born to an English deacon somewhere in Wales (possibly Scotland) He father was Calpornius (which has led people to believe he was born to a Roman living in England but at the time it was often customary to give Latin names to Britons especially if they had some standing or interaction with occupying forces, so that can't be proven either.) What we do know of this time was written about in Patrick's journals where he speaks of the time, at 16, where he was captured by Irish pirates and taken to Ireland to tend sheep. The time he spent there varies, either 6 or 10 years, in which time he discovered spirituality and when he finally escaped he studied Christianity. Later, after a vision in which St Victoricus came to him and encouraged him to return to Ireland to bring Christianity to the people who had captured him earlier.

St. Patrick was obviously not wanted in Ireland and was robbed and beaten, arrested without charge and generally looked down on. He however baptised "thousands" and  ordained ministers without charging any fees or receiving any gifts.

As for the snakes... Well Ireland has never actually had any snakes... ever. So that is a bit of marketing. But some have pointed out that early Druids used the serpent symbol and that "driving the snakes out of Ireland" may be a symbolic reference to his war on pagans. What about the green? Well that is another bit of ret-conning. St. Patrick's colour is blue. The green was added later in random fits of nationalism.

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Feast day was consecrated by the church in the early 17th century and by the 1700's St. Patrick was widely considered the Patron Saint of Ireland. His Date of death was observed in the church as a holy day and a day of obligation for many years. The first instance of St. Patrick's day being a cultural celebration didn't take place until the mid 19th century... In the United States. Irish Immigrants trying to keep their cultural identities in the new world began to have gatherings on the feast day (which was not observed in the US at the time.) Since St. Patrick's day usually fell in the middle of Lent, the church granted an exception for rich foods to be eaten, and beer to be drunk during this time. starting us on the road to the current forms of celebration. In Ireland, St. Patrick's day was first made a public holiday in 1903. However, the first celebrations got out of hand and drinking was banned on the day all pubs were closed by legislative decree. This remained in effect until 1970. when the law was finally repealed. Guinness has not looked back since.

There are now more Irish, or people who identify themselves as Irish around the world than are actually living in Ireland. And St Patrick's Day celebrations around the globe reflect this. The first Parade were held in New York City USA in 1762 composed of Irish soldiers serving in the Revolutionary War. The largest parade is held in Montreal, Canada. Corned beef and cabbage was invented in New York City. Only the beer and the green are really from Ireland.

Final Thoughts

There is so much more myth and legend. There are accounts of up to four people who may have been St. Patrick. In the end no-one is 100% certain on who he really was. Whatever you believe, is as good as anyone else`s guess. But What I believe is... don`t worry about the myth, grab some friends, grab some beers, eat some good food, and enjoy yourselves, SAFELY.

Cheers
CJT