Grey & Gold – Cranberry Fennel

Cider Profile:

Name: Grey & Gold – Cranberry Fennel
Sampled August 2025

Brand:  Grey & Gold Cider Company
Type: Flavoured – Cranberry & Fennel
Location of Production: Blue Mountains, ON
ABV: 6.5%
Website Link: greyandgoldcider.com
Ingredients: N/A
Gluten Free: Yes
Sugar Content: N/A

Size(s) available: 500ml (bottle)
Availability: Grey & Gold retail store
Flavour: Cranberry & Fennel
Colour:  Translucent rusty-yellow
Carbonation: Large infrequent bubbles


Cider Crate Tasting Notes:

Smell: Strong aroma. Acetic, fleshy, dry apple. Some vinegar notes, hints of floral/herb. Minimal cranberry,
Initial Taste: Light bite from carbonation. Semi-thick, juicy apple with some acidic notes.  Hint of cranberry upfront with a bit of herby elements. Decent amount of wild, funky notes. Vinegar notes.
After Taste: Transitions to a cleaner apple offering, and then extends out to a dry, acidic and slightly funky finish. More herby after the apple is gone.  Some saline notes with the liquorice-tasting fennel showing at the very end. 
On ice: A little less apple and fennel. 

Additional Notes:  The Cranberry Fennel from Grey & Gold Cider Company is a unique journey.   With a rich colour and strong aroma, the first sips have a thick acetic notes + sensations with a touch of cranberry – pretty sour overall.  That disappears and you get an almost juicy pulpy apple with some saline notes.  The third element is the long-lasting aftertaste, where the apple is almost all gone and it leaves a funky fermentation finish and the fennel (liquorice taste) lands.   Not much cranberry overall, but definitely a rustic offering. A wild ferment but obviously controlled.

Rated on a scale of 1-5
Sweet – 1.5
Sour – 4
Crisp – 2
Dry – 4.5
Fruity – 2.5

Next recommendations:
More Sweet – Muskoka – Cliff Jump Cranberry
More Sour – Spirit Tree – Crabapple Rose (2019)
More Dry – 
More Crisp – Farmgate – Not a Still Life Cranberry Cider

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