Hard Way - Renegade

A relative newcomer, Hard Way Cider is a small cidery in Bath, Ontario. They specialize in very dry ciders — what they refer to as "bone dry." They have many varieties of flavoured ciders, but I prefer the plain cider.
The taste is light and, as expected, very dry, so dry that the taste seems to vanish quickly. It makes a nice light drink that would go well with food.

Currently, only available for purchase at the cidery.

Lonetree

A cider from B.C. that they refer to as "dry", but is more off-dry. It has an okay first taste but a slightly artificial after taste. The ingredients list shows the addition of "natural flavours", whatever that is. Not to my liking.

Queen Street 501

An Ontario cider from Brickworks Ciderhouse in Toronto. Is is labelled "semi-sweet" but tastes drier — more an off-dry, but it has a very light apple taste. Nice easy drinking cider.

Galipette Cidre

From France, a nice off-dry cider (cidre in French) with a more intense apple flavour than most. A very French apple taste — similar to the apple flavour in a good Calvados. The apple varieties Galipette uses are Kermerrien, Marie Ménard, and Judor apples — very different from Canadian apple varieties. 8.5/10

Coffin Ridge Forbidden Dry Cider

A nice, full-fruit, just off-dry cider from Coffin Ridge Winery in Ontario.

Ardiel

A medium strength cider from Ardiel Cider House of Blue Mountains, Ontario. Made from local apples, it is light in colour almost like a perry with a very light bouquet. A very light dry apple but not astringent. A good crisp light refreshing drink. 8/10

They also make a perry, a hopped cider and a sparkling perry, none of which I've yet tried.

Sparkling Pear Cider

Big John Hopped Cider

Victoria Pear Cider

Eden Grove - Perfect Pear Cider

From Winonna County, Ontario, a nice light, slightly sweet perry with lots of pear flavour. Made with Bosc and Bartlett pears. Similar in taste to William's Sir Perry. 8/10

Sarah Cole Whip

A dry Quebec cider that has won a world cider award. It has an alcohol content of 6.3%, and is nice and dry with full flavour. They also make a semi-dry regular cider and a semi-dry non-alcoholic cider.

Book - The Cider Insider

A new book by cider expert Susanna Forbes on the top 100 craft ciders to try. She catalogues the best current ciders and cider makers.
The book covers not only the ciders of Britain but also France, Spain, Germany, Italy, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Tawse Cider (25)

From the well known Niagara winery, this cider is just off-dry with a light refreshing taste.6.5/10

Great Cider Organic

From Collingwood, Ontario is a dry light cider that has an unusual aftertaste — something like tannins or a yeasty taste.

Duxbury Original Sideroad

This is a pure apple cider made on an longstanding family farm near Meaford, Ontario. Off dry with a good sweet/tart balance. Very good. 7/10

Ernest Rubee Cranberry and Cherry

A flavoured cider with hints of cranberry and cherry. Only a faint hint of the fruit in the cider, very dry and with an off aftertaste. An Ontario cider.

Blackthorn

A good, just off dry British cider. Very good.

D'ont Poke the Bear

A new Ontario cider that has a nice light apple flavour and is off-dry, slightly sweet.

William's Sir Perry

A nice pear cider from Britain, with medium sweetness.

Turning Point

Produced in Vancouver, BC, it is has a very light nose and light taste.

Wanderoot

Produced by Molson Breweries, it is a just okay cider, slightly sweet but fairly plain.

Stella Artois

An okay dry cider, but nothing special, from the Belgian company more known for its beer. Note that it is an "apple flavoured cider beverage."

Stutz

From Halifax Nova Scotia, an off-dry cider that is not pleasant: a chemically nose, and an off taste — actually, quite an odd taste overall.

Molson

A light and sweet cider. Not to my liking.

Alexander Keith's

A light tasting cider that is off-dry. Okay.

Dukes

From Kelowna, BC, comes this quite bland, light tasting cider, with an off taste on the finish.

Reinhart's Red Apple - Strong

This a strong - 7% alcohol - cider with a medium sweetness. The initial taste is a bit astringent, and it has a slightly off after-taste. My score 3/10.

Savanna Dry

A nice light refreshing dry cider from South Africa made from Granny Smith apples. Lighter in flavour than most, but makes for a great thirst quencher on a hot day. Delicious. 9/10

Somersby

A product of the large Carlsberg Group, but I find this to be too much of an artificial apple flavour as well as being too sweet.

Magners Pear Cider

One of the better pear ciders (made in Ireland) with a real pear flavour but not too sweet.

Magners Original

A nice off-dry cider from Ireland with a pronounced apple taste.

Foundry

A nice smooth near-dry cider with a medium apple flavour. I first had it on tap at a local pub then bought it in cans. It is made by the giant drinks manufacturer Diageo, but, unfortunately, I haven't seen it in stores for a few years. I hope it comes back. It was my go-to before Strongbow.

Thatcher's Gold

I tried this at the main tourist shop at Land's End in England. I found it far too sweet.

Symonds Founders Reserve

Tried this at a small pub in Edinburgh a few years ago, on tap. It was just off dry and smooth - very nice. I liked it so much I asked the waiter if I could take the Symonds glass with me. It is now my cider glass at home. Great!

Strongbow

My go-to regular cider. Reliably dry and smooth. (I avoid the Gold version which I find too sweet. 6.5/10) Also the original dry is widely available, sometimes on tap. 8.5/10

Original Dry

Gold

Found a cider review site RealCiderReviews that is a good resource.

My Ciders

This blog tracks my cider tastings, trying mostly ones from Canada, typically Ontario and B.C. Also those that I've tried while travelling which is mostly in England but also a few from the European continent. So far I've tried ciders from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands, and Sweden.

My favourites so far: West Avenue, Rock Creek Dry, Savanna Dry and Spy Golden Eye for still ciders and Vieni Sparkling for sparkling cider.

I am interested in trying Chalkdown sparkling cider which is made like Champagne and has won numerous awards.

Cider Festivals

• Armagh Food and Cider Festival
• Brogdale Cider Trail
• Devon County Show
• East Coast Cider Festival
• Les Mordus de la Pomme
• Great Lakes International Cider & Perry Competition
• Malvern Autumn Show
  
• Royal Bath & West Show