LCBO Food & Drink Summer 2016

SEASONAL  CIDER SELECTIONS

PEAR CIDERS What the English call a “perry” comes to Ontario in two versions, one a pure fermented pear juice and the other an apple cider flavoured with pear. Either way, perries range from fairly sweet to off-dry, with plenty of fresh pear notes in the aroma and a body similar to that of apple cider but with notable fruity differences.

SIR PERRY PEAR CIDER LCBO 8144, 500 mL, $3.15

Although made from sweetened pear juice, this imported perry is more dry than sweet, with a spicy and complex pear aroma and an off-dry body that suggests several different varieties of pear leading to a slightly tangy finish.

SIR ISAAC’S PREMIUM PEAR CIDER LCBO 312843, 473 mL, $2.95 An all-Ontario perry with a spicy pear aroma and a soft, rounded and mildly sweet body.

OKANAGAN PREMIUM DRY PEAR CIDER

MAGNERS PEAR CIDER LCBO 279646, 500 mL, $3.20

LCBO 391862, 473 mL, $2.75

The famous Irish ci- der producer offers a perry that’s sweet and a bit sugary, with a round Bartlett pear flavour.

Hugely fragrant and medium-sweet, this pear-flavoured apple cider is like drinking the essence of fresh pear.

FRUIT CIDERS Ciders now arrive in flavours well beyond pear, including those accented by fruits from berries to lemon to peaches and even a cider-centred shandy. For anyone looking for something beyond simple apple or pear, these provide a robustly sweet and fruity alternative. REKORDERLIGWILD BERRIES CIDER LCBO 413500, 500 mL, $2.95 Pink and fragrant and highly fruity, this Swedish original is best characterized as a cider crossed with a wine cooler, with a fruit salad start, mixed berry notes throughout and a sugary, faintly herbal finish.

CIDERS UNTO THEMSELVES

Not every flavoured cider can fit neatly into a category. Some cry out to be enjoyed on their own terms, freed from convention or preconception.

HOPPING MAD CIDER RADLER LCBO 453282, 473 mL, $2.95

A tangy yin to the sweet fruit cider yang, boasting crisp cider notes accented by sweet and tart grapefruit.

SOMERSBY BLACKBERRY CIDER LCBO 331348, 500 mL, $3.05 A flavoured cider that shows its apple pedigree in the aroma and the front, with greater berry notes towards the finish.

STRONGBOW GINGER CIDER LCBO 453993, 440 mL, $2.85 Peppery ginger lends a spicy accent to this generally sweet cider that finishes off-dry and zesty.

46  FOOD & DRI NK SUMMER 2016