Salt Spring Wild – Pet-Nat De L’Historien

Cider Profile:

Name: Salt Spring Wild – Pet-Nat De L’Historien
Sampled June 2025

Brand: Salt Spring Wild Cider House Type: Apple – Pet-Nat Location of Production: Salt Spring Island, BC ABV: 6.5% Website Link: saltspringwildcider.com Ingredients: N/A Gluten Free: Yes Sugar Content: N/A Size(s) available: 750ml (bottle) Availability: Salt Spring Island retail and online store Flavour: Apple Colour: Cloudy rusty orange Carbonation: Small, infrequent.

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Cider Crate Tasting Notes:

Smell: Medium aroma. Pulpy, bruised, aged apples. Some acidity. Funk and earthiness.
Initial Taste: Light bite from carbonation and some puckering and acidity salvation. Quick saline and earthy notes. Pulpy, dry, aged heritage apple, including sourness. Some funk, wild earthiness and cellaring add layers. Watermelon rind-like note.
After Taste: Becomes a bit brighter, funkiness slightly goes away. Yeast esters and powderiness that lingers.
On ice: Acidity and flavour reduced. Shorter flavour profile. Less bold overall.

Additional Notes: Salt Spring Wild’s Pet-Nat De L’Historien is a wild apple-made cider – over 40 varieties within – and fermented with native yeasts. This is an acidic and sour experience, especially upfront, with a decent amount of tannin. What really stands out to us is the saline/saltiness it has alongside a raw earthiness. You do get the promised wild notes, but the yeast adds a lot of ester-fruitiness and even a powderiness to the mouthfeel near the finish. Apples are dry, sour, with some crabapple likely within this. Funk, earthy and cellaring notes add depth. Unique watermelon rind notes. 

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

Next recommendations:
More Sweet – Sea Cider – Bittersweet
More Sour – 
More Dry – 
More Crisp – Burton City – Classic Apple

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