We know the PNW to be dense with great cideries and pretty much craft everything. In the area of Bend, Oregon there is another cidery cranking out those good products. The team at Red Tank Cider shipped us a nice package of their cider lineup for us to sample. Albeit later than promised, we are getting around to reviewing their flagship “Happy Cider”. They describe it as a 5.5% authentic and powerful apple profile cider with a clean crisp acid background. They also note that there is enough sweetness to bring it together and make everyone happy. What a good concept behind a cider because, by the end of the day, if the cider doesn’t make you happy, GTFO. We are kidding, but this was certainly a cider that was fun to review.
First off, the can design is intriguing amongst all their product featuring that are canned. The cans have bright colors, flashes of their red tank character, and bold comic-like print. As fans of interesting can design, this one does not disappoint at all. The can opened with a crisp pop and we were on our way to flavortown (sorry guys). On the pour, the cider was very light, clear and had light carbonation. This is usually a sign of a very orchestrated and well-crafted product as they aren’t blasting it with CO2. The smell reminded us of a delicate apple wafting its and more akin to the scent apple skin. It was like a fall day in an orchard where you get a good whiff of the apples on the trees that are ripe.
The taste was about as traditional as you would think but in the cleanest of ways with a slightly tart flavor. This slight tartness is balanced by the acidity of the apples and the low tannic, bitter effect on the palette. It really feels like a semi-sweet cider, since there is some good sweetness, but it was never overly sweet. It is not bold or complicated, just refreshing and clean, which is what you would expect from a red/golden delicious apple blend with granny smith thrown into the mix. The best part of the Red Tanks Cider is that the products are made with 100% fresh-pressed juice from the northwest so you know it’s of good quality and it shows in the finished product.
We give Happy Cider from Red Tank Cidery a 4.5 out of 5.
