Here are my reviews delving into the new fall ciders from Schilling Cider, with the latest in its Excelsior series of imperial ciders, and the returning fall seasonal crafted with a chai tea blend—Imperial Hyper-Dry and Chaider, respectively.
Schilling sent me cans of each of the two new flavors to review, so let’s get into it!
Excelsior Imperial Hyper-Dry
Yes, this is clear a Star Wars riff with the name and (somewhat) the label design; I’m not entirely sure why other than it fits into the overall “space” theme of this Excelsior series, and it’s the first name to basically be an actual pun in that vein.
Imperial Hyper-Dry is 8.4% ABV, with 170 calories per 12 ounce serving and 8.3 grams of carbs. The description says:
Speed into the crisp unknown with Imperial Hyper-Dry! This 8.4% dry blend of fresh-pressed PNW apples and heirloom bittersharps will take you fast and far to the brisk borders of the galaxy! Sweetness? Lost in space.
Appearance: Much deeper copper color than I’d expect, bright and clear, but relatively dark. A bit fizzy on the pour though pretty mild carbonation in appearance.
Smell: It smells just like apple juice, nicely prominent and expressive fruit character. There’s a touch of tartness, green or crabapple-like, and a touch of rusticity with warm orchard and apple skin notes.
Taste: Dry cider with a lightly puckering sour character as the acidity has no sugar to temper it. There is a good flavor of apple here, a touch of a honeycrisp-like character along with tarter, almost-astringent notes hearkening back to crabapple for me or other heirloom varieties. It’s fruity and punchy but it does dry out the palate.
Mouthfeel: Dry with a crisp, smooth feel while pulling the moisture out of your mouth. Low or semi-petillant with a slight pucker.
Overall: It lives up to its name with some really nice apple characteristics. It doesn’t drink like 8.4%.
Chaider Spiced Chai Cider
No, I did not get a picture of the glow in the dark cans for this review; I haven’t actually seen just how glow-in-the-dark they are, mostly because they sit in a dark refrigerator so they don’t absorb much light. At any rate, this is a returning fall favorite, and the spices taste like the holidays, so this is a great cider to be drinking this time of year.
It’s 6.5% ABV, with 150 calories per 12 ounce serving and 12 grams of carbs.
Chaider is a local custom-made proprietary Chai Tea blend in collaboration with Kinglet Tea of Portland. It is our delightfully unique spiced cider, perfect for sweaters and fireside imbibing. Chaider has gained widespread fall fandom for being the most reached-for fall seasonal in the PNW’s cider industry.
Appearance: Bright golden color, clear, light carbonation.
Smell: The spices are milder than I’d expect, with some sweet tea blending with notes of cardamom, cloves, a touch of pepper. There’s a nicely understated apple flesh note, present in the background to let the spices come forward, such as they are. It does remind me of a fruity chai tea.
Taste: Here’s where the spices pop, a nice blend that’s somewhat clove-forward that reminds me of mulled cider. There’s a good sweetness here without being cloying, with a little bit of acid at the back to keep things lively. Very seasonal in the flavor with these spices, I think you could heat this up for the full mulling experience and it would shine.
Mouthfeel: Crisp and semi-sweet with a light acidity and a touch of dryness coming as much from the spices as from apple tannins. Light carbonation, not still but not real fizzy either.
Overall: This tastes like the holidays to me, a nicely balanced overall blend of apples and spices that keep me sipping.
