I was made an offer I could not refuse.

Last night, was a boys night in. In an attempt to hang out with my fifteen year old son I suggested I go down to the video store (I suppose it is now the DVD store) and get The Godfather. The two girls behind the counter had no idea what film I was talking about. I felt like saying, this is a DVD store and I am talking about one of the most famous films ever made and you have never heard of it. Just picture that television programme grumpy old men.......that was me. I asked them where G was in the shop as Lady Gaga blasted out "oh la, sha sha sha, Gaga oh la la" Enough said. I could not find it, eventually blondie behind the counter found a disk. I quizzed her about it being part one, "Yes it is" she said. Silly me got home to find it was a dvd of the bonus material. Trip two to the dvd store. No apology and when I suggested to the manager/owner (I am the manager and the owner, thank you Basil) that his staff should at least know some of the most famous films ever made. He said "Well they can't know everything" I nearly responded with "Something, might help" Instead, I left needing a drink.

Now at home, organic lamb sausage sandwiches, The Godfather, my fifteen year old son, two big couches and a bottle of St Hellier Pear Cider. I normally take a photo of the bottle and the drink in a glass, I drank this one before I could get the camera out.

This is a very pale coloured cider with a very light bead, in fact it is more spritzig than bubbly. It smells of pears, pear drops (those gorgeous boiled sweets I used to have as a kid) and esters. There is no mistaking this is made from pears. In the mouth it is light with a touch of sweetness. It tastes of pears, hurray. It finishes with a lovely acidity and the pear flavours hang around. A very good cider indeed.

It comes all the way from St Hellier, Jersey which is one of the Channel Islands in between England and France. Check out their videos at http://www.stheliercider.com/Page/Movies.aspx#

9 pears out of 10.

From Huddersfield to Sweden to Australia

I had the pleasure of having a coffee, not a cider with Christian from Rekorderlig cider a couple of weeks ago. I told you I was behind on my cider drinking!!! It has been vino and mostly rosso with this winter weather. I spotted to Rekorderlig cider in Camperdown Cellars Darlinghurst and asked Romy the manager where he had got them from. Romy told me that the brand was new in the country and that Camperdown was the first to stock them. Camperdown Cellars Darlinghurst really is a top wine store check it outhttp://www.camperdowncellars.com.au/

There are three in the range being apple, pear and believe it or not Strawberry and Lime. I called up Christian the brand manager and we caught up.

Christian told me the story of how his brother, himself and a friend started a company in the UK to import Peruvian beer. Lets face it the drink industry is often run by fads and what is in fashion at that moment. Smart move boys as South American beers are always popular, you just need a story. After they made a success of the beer the boys started to import a Swedish cider, what cider..............not from Somerset? Christian was at pains to make sure that a Somerset boy like me understood that his range of ciders are aimed at the commercial market.

So far I have taken the top off the pear cider , Swedish pear cider, it still seems weird, and I had it out of a champagne flute. It is pale in colour and with plenty of bubbles. On the nose it is hints of sweetness and crisp green pear. I the mouth it is on the sweeter side of ciders, but importantly it is not overly sweet.

This cider is set to be a hit in all the infashion bars within the next couple of months. It will really start to take off when the weather heats up. It has great packaging and will look good on any wine bar table.

http://www.rekorderlig.com.au/

Westons Premium Organic Pear Cider.

On the quest to find the most ciderlious of all ciders the, well, the quest continued tonight. Tonight I took the cider and sushi mission a little further. We went to Ten Japanese which is our local restaurant. I love that place, the best sushi and sashimi in town.

I took a bottle of Westons Premium Organic Pear Cider. Westons started producing ciders in 1880 in the Herefordshire village of Much Marcle, what a great name. Hereforshire is on the board of England and Wales, on the English side. Westons have some pretty amazing figures "Westons Cider employs more than 130 people, produces over 30 different ciders and perries, sells approximately 28 million pints a year and has a turnover of over £24 million." That is a serious business!

So to the pear cider. Firstly the words "Premium" and "Reserve" are words that are very over used in the liquor industry. This "Premium" Pear cider is not premium. I am sure Westons must keep their best ciders back in the UK. I did not manage to get a photo of a glass of the cider, I did not take my camera to Ten Japanese. The colour is a deep dark golden, surprisingly dark for a pear cider. This lead me to think that the cider was going to have a touch of sweetness. I was right. This 6% alcohol cider has a fairly big wack of residual sugar. There are also touches of savoury characters and a little bitterness right in the background. Overall I was fairly disappointed with this organic pear cider.

7 pears out of 10.