West Avenue – Schoolyard Crab

Cider Profile:

Name: West Avenue – Schoolyard Crab
Sampled April 2022

Cider Crate Tasting Notes:

Smell: Medium aroma. Gritty crab apples. Tannic. Hint of funk.
Initial Taste: Medium bite. Puckering crab apple + skin. Very tannic – drying for the mouth + gritty. Some bright elements, but no sweetness. Smokey and saline notes.
After Taste: Becomes less gritty, slightly smoother. Crab apple remains strong but becomes more nuanced. Hints of apple flesh here. Some wood/oak notes from barreling. Lingering sour and tannic elements.
On ice: Less barreling, less tannins. Smoother and less puckering.

Additional Notes:  West Avenue’s Schoolyard Crab is not for the faint of heart – you should be familiar with crab apples before this tannic bomb. Heavy on the dolgo crab apples, its gritty and very drying for the mouth – as it would be to bite into this apple variety. Very puckering and sour, its a lot for the palate for dissect but worth the effort. You get some unique flavour notes like smoke and saline here. A very bold, rustic and European-inspired offering that forges its own path. 

Rated on a scale of 1-5
Sweet – 1
Sour – 4.5
Crisp – 3
Dry – 5
Fruity – 4.5 

Next recommendations:
More Sweet – Farmgate – Funkhouse 
More Sour – Spirt Tree – Crabapple Rosé (2019)
More Dry – 
More Crisp – Twin Pines – Hammer Bent Old World 

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