Hard Apple Cider Review

I felt compelled to pen my review of hard apple ciders after taste-testing 4 different kinds recently. I've always liked a tart apple cider that we used to usually get in the Fall and at Halloween and Thanksgiving. I waited until I was a senior to try my first hard cider!

Stella Artois Cidre - Premium Hard Apple Cider

Ranking the four hard ciders, there is no question that Stella Artois Cidre comes in on top, in first place! Only recently have I seen the TV commercial with the three young people promoting the three different types of apples that go into Stella Artois Cidre. I normally drink Yuengling Light beer which seems to have a color profile much like Stella Artois Cidre. After tasting the other three hard ciders, it was instant love when I tried my first sip of Stella! It's tangy and seems to have a taste that bounces off the back of your mouth and back sides of your tongue. It is quite appealing.

Strongbow Gold Apple - Hard Apple Cider

The very first type of hard apple cider I sampled was Strongbow Gold Apple. Not knowing what to expect with the taste, I liked this one right out of the bottle. Comparing the color and body of the liquid with Stella Artois, it seems similar although Stella Artois seems more full-bodied. Strongbow Gold Apple gets my second place ranking. I would readily buy it only if my number one favorite is not available. On their website, you will find drink recipes which makes me want to try this in a martini!

Angry Orchard Crisp Apple - Hard Cider

My third favorite of the hard apple ciders is Angry Orchard Crisp Apple. I tried two varieties of Angry Orchard after I had sampled the Strongbow. It was probably a week or more between the tasting of this hard cider. Finding this variety in a dark bottle raised my expectations for the taste. I was satisfied with the Crisp Apple, but did not like it as much as the Strongbow offering.

Angry Orchard Tapped Maple - Hard Cider

Without any doubt, the Angry Orchard Tapped Maple was my least favorite of all the hard apple ciders. I guess I was happy to note that this is supposedly a seasonal offering. It was obviously the maple flavoring that did not agree with my taste buds. It actually had a very rotten top note that came with the first few sips. I thought, "ew, what the heck is that?" when I tasted it every time ... it was rather a chore to finish all six bottles. I probably should have returned it to Publix, but I thought maybe it would taste better when I got to that sixth bottle. At most, I would drink two bottles at a time and more usually just one.

Have you tried any hard apple ciders? Got a favorite? I'm wondering why I waited so long. I think I was almost there many times earlier when drinking my favorite hard drink, an appletini. My apple of choice is the Granny Smith as I like tart over sweet. If you've not had the chance to try a hard apple cider, may I seriously recommend you start with Stella Artois Cidre!

Minute Maid Light Lemonade Tart Taste

I really love the tart and tangy taste of Minute Maid Light Lemonade Fruit Drink! The first time I tried Minute Maid Lemonade in a can, it was the regular offering which has 30 times the calories of the light version! That's 5 calories for the light versus 150 calories for the regular. Since I can drink more than one 12-ounce can in a short time period, I don't want all those calories so I now opt for the light version

By the way!!! I hope that you have found my review and not gotten tricked by that content stealing website named anasfim dot com !! They stole my original content, tricking my readers into thinking my work was on their site. Another website attachmax dot com also stole content from this blog post without my permission. Shame on both of them for their content scraping. May they reap what they are sowing.

Perhaps you have read my previous blog post about my former favorite soda in a can? Although I just penned that post the day before, I was actually looking for a while to find another favorite drink. I didn't take long to settle on the Minute Maid. I have long known the Minute Maid brand for orange juice and grapefruit juice. It is only recently that I have gotten a taste for their lemonade.

Minute Maid Light Lemonade Fruit Drink in 12-ounce Can by Julie Ann Brady

I've been loving lemonade since I was a young kid growing up in Cleveland, Ohio. We actually used to make our own lemonade and sell it when we had summer parties and games with the kids in our neighborhood. We didn't do the traditional lemonade stand, but we did make a few bucks selling lemonade at our get-togethers.

What's pretty wild is that the Minute Maid Light Lemonade in the 12-ounce can tastes better than any lemonade I ever made! In my lifetime, I've made lemonade a variety of ways: from squeezing real lemons to using Real Lemon and tried Kool Aid Lemonade, Crystal Light and Country Time Lemonade mixes. None of those compares to the tangy and fruity taste of the Minute Maid.

I just never expected to have so much flavor in a soda can! In my personal opinion, this light lemonade fruit drink is probably the most flavorful fruit drinks I have ever had in a can!

Minute Maid Light Lemonade Fruit Drink in 12-ounce Can by Julie Ann Brady

What Does it Contain?

Reading the contents right off the 12-ounce can, this light lemonade fruit drink contains pure filtered water, lemon juice from concentrate, less than 0.5% of: natural flavors, citric acid (provides tartness), modified cornstarch, glycerol ester of rosin, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA (to protect taste), aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, yellow #6.

3% Lemon Juice

Phenylketonurics: Contains Phenylalanine.

Sodium: 50mg - 2%
Calories: 5

Compare this to Minute Maid's regular lemonade in the can which has a whopping 150 calories!

At the moment, the Minute Maid Light Lemonade Fruit Drink is my current "replacement" soft drink for Canada Dry Diet Cranberry Ginger Ale which was my favorite until I began to investigate the red 40 and blue 1 food dyes it contains.

Minute Maid Light Lemonade is not free of food dyes as it contains Yellow #6. A recent discussion on Dr. Oz shared a report that links Yellow #6 food dye with hyperactivity in children.

In a comprehensive report prepared by The Center for Science in the Public Interest, Yellow #6 is linked to allergic reactions and to "possible adrenal and testicular tumors."

There is not only the concern over food dyes in that lemonade! Both the Canada Dry and the Minute Maid drinks have aspartame and phenylalanine. Federal regulations require that any food that contains aspartame bear this warning: "Phenylketonurics: Contains Phenylalanine."  People with the genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) need to avoid products that contain phenylalanine. Read more about this from the Mayo Clinic.

There is another ingredient I wasn't familiar with; i.e., acesulfame potassium. Googling it, I learned from Nutrition Express that "acesulfame potassium is a calorie-free sweetener that is 200 times sweeter than sugar." Gosh, that sounds like a lot of sweeteners in this drink.

I think it is probably the citric acid in this drink that has excited my taste buds. After all, it says right on the can "provides tartness." To describe my tastes in drinks I would definitely use the 4-letter word of tart!

I'm not sure how long I will continue to drink the Minute Maid Light Lemonade. I must say that I do give it the edge over the Canada Dry Diet Cranberry Ginger Ale.

P.S. How about that cool lemonade stand? Gosh, I wish we had that when I was a kid! Holy smokes, when I searched Amazon, it told me over 1,900 items. That's a lot of lemonade. Check out the variety of Lemonade Mixes on Amazon!