20+ Hopped Hard Ciders You Need To Try
March 18, 2021
Getting to Know Unpossible Mead
March 25, 2021
To continue our series with Starcut’s traditional variety pack, we are reviewing two of the four major offerings — Pulsar and Mosa. We will discuss the flavors, can design, and our tasting experience. Let’s stop the small talk and get down to the business of sharing our notes!
Starcut’s Pulsar Review
Starcut’s Description:
Pulsar is a Dry Cider made with Michigan apples and Pinot Noir yeast. This cider blends tangy apple sweetness with a slight tartness before finishing crisp, clean, and dry. With less than one gram of sugar in each serving, you can enjoy one guilt-free as a refreshing drink that’s ready to celebrate with you.
ABV:
6.4%
Awards:
2020: CIDERCRAFT Judges’ Pick
2019 – GLINTCAP Silver Medal & CIDERCRAFT Judges’ Pick
2018 – GLINTCAP Silver Medal
2017 – GLINTCAP Gold Medal & 2nd Best in show
Notes:
This dry cider contains less than 1g of sugar and contains a blend of Michigan apples. Of their offerings, this is definitely one of the driest. From the can design, Starcut Cider follows the theme of cute animals. In the case of Pulsar, we have a space squirrel floating in space with an apple beaker. No worries, the flying squirrel has a helmet on for space safety!
After analyzing the can, we cracked it one. On the pour, we observed a golden color rich with playful carbonation. Not too much, but enough to experience, If I had to compare it to another beverage, I would go with champagne. Won’t knock your nose off!
The smell contained light apple skin and some sweet aroma. I find that the Pinot Noir yeast contributed the most to the scent. It was somewhat reminiscent of wine, but I noticed the apple skin the most.
From a taste perspective, we noted a lower sweetness, easy-to-drink offering. Crisp, effervescent, and tastes of apple flesh, too. There was a balanced tartness that follows through but spikes the most on the back end of the sip. This cider is not overly tannic and drinkable like a quality light beer would be. The body of this cider is lighter meaning this cider is very drinkable. Unlike some other ciders, you could have 2, 3, 4, or more of these and not be overwhelmed with sugar, sweetness, or many other overbearing elements. Pulsar is just a very sessionable cider.
Starcut’s Mosa Review
Starcut’s Description:
Mosa is a crisp, refreshing blend of Hard Cider made from Michigan apples and sweet orange juice. This cider is slightly hazy and light orange in color, a true mimosa in cider form. Let the fruity harmony of citrus and bright apple flavors make your tastebuds do a happy dance.
ABV:
4.3%
Notes:
Like Pulsar, Mosa has a can design to be ogled. There is a fish jumping out of a sea, or lake, of orange goodness. The fish has some beautiful branching designs within its body. Again, a really nice design that is simple, full of color, and tries to make you think about what planet this is on.
On the pour, you are getting a mimosa, plain and simple. With an orange haze in color, you can tell there is orange juice blended with their Michigan-blend fermented apple juice. Hard to see through, but not as solid as, let’s say, a beer or cider with lactose. Reminiscent of an orange-forward mimosa, not a champagne-forward mimosa.
On the nose, you are hit with a light apple scent but a strong orange sweetness owning most of the experience. The orange scent is mostly ripe orange juice — some sticky sweet scent and some freshly-squeezed scent.
On the palate, you find a very familiar taste of mimosa with a crisp and light cider frame. The flavor is surrounded by orange juice acid and it does pop through. There is acidity but not too much for those who are acid sensitive — it is drinkable. It’s tart, tangy, and slightly sour but not overwhelming. In some ways, I taste some similarities to Sunny D, but we mean that in an endearing way, of course.
Thinner on the tongue than one would expect with this sweeter offering. Not thick like orange juice and contains no pulp for my no pulp posse. All in all, a great cider for a Sunday brunch. We’d like to note that if you add Pulsar to the Mosa, it is even more like a mimosa in our opinion and it brings down some of the sweetness that fans of drier cider are trying to achieve. If you want to learn more about these ciders, you can visit Starcut Cider‘s website.
