Grower's Best Organic Apple Cider

Where purchased:
When I started this blog, I thought I would review only hard ciders.  I changed my mind after a recent visit to the grocery store.  Kroger was having their 10 for $10 sale and one of the items was an organic apple cider, Grower's Best.  I thought I would give it a try as we needed a 10th item.  After I tasted it, I knew I needed to blog about it.

Setting the mood:
Truthfully, I love apple cider regardless of whether it is of the kid-friendly or adult-friendly variety.  Mulled, spiced, hot, cold, alcoholic or boxed - I want to try them all.  There is just something wonderful to me about an apple in a glass that captures my tastebuds, and this apple cider did just that.

The Company:

I was surprised to find out that Grower's Best was from TreeTop.  Surprisingly, the brand does not have its own website but is supported under the TreeTop site.  The opening page allows you to enter the UPC and Product numbers from your particular bottle to find out more.  When I did this, I found out the following from mine:

FRUIT VARIETY	LOCATION
Fuji Apple	Lake Chelan Yakima Valley
Gala Apple	Lake Chelan Yakima Valley
Honeycrisp Apple	Columbia Gorge Lake Chelan Yakima Valley
Red Apple	Columbia Gorge Yakima Valley

BOTTLING DATE	LOCATION
Oct 07, 2011	Selah, WA

Pretty cool!  The apples are all 100% USA sourced and they are certified organic by Washington State Department of Agriculture (here's hoping they have good standards).  The ingredient list is too complicated for words: organic apple juice.  That's it.... I love it!  Also of nutritional note, the bottle is one serving and not two and is 150 calories, which is about what a bottle of hard cider would cost me.  On with the review!

Reflections:

I loved this cider.  It had a pure apple taste that was smooth and inviting.  I love having different drinks in the fridge for afternoon treats and pick-me-ups, and this is one that I will be adding to the list.  It is on the sweet rather than tart side of the apple scale.  My product tracking information about the particular batch I bought suggests that this is from the inclusion of the Fuji, Gala and Honeycrisp apple varieties.  Honeycrisp are actually my favorite variety hands down (great on a salad with arugula and strawberry balsamic vinaigrette btw).  I'm interested to see what my next bottle will be made from and how much that changes the taste.


Tidnab's sip:

Um... he didn't get one :)

Scoring:

Sweetness: 9
Tartness: 6
Smoothness: 9
Fruit flavor: 10
Carbonation: 0 (there isn't any)
Alcohol content: 0 - kid safe!
Bottle Size: 10 fl. oz.
Price: $1


Overall: 10 - I can't wait to have another bottle