COMPARATIVE LIT ESSAY:
It is supposed to get down negative one degree tonight and as the snow begins to gentle alight on my porch, I have decided I wanted something tropical so I found these two guava ciders in my cider cellar, and I thought I would give them a try. I cranked up “Legend” by Bob Marley and Wailers and cracked open California Cider Company’s ACE Guava and St. Vrain Cidery’s Pink Guava. Here is how they compare:
St. Vrain looks like any old bubbly straw colored cider where ACE has a peachy salmon color that is really appealing. It looks unfiltered and is very lightly carbonated. ACE also smells more like fresh squeezed guava juice, whereas St. Vrain smells of tart apple, sugar and has a nice guava undertone. As a side note, the can art award goes to St. Vrain which has a color scheme of something I am pretty sure I would wear, whereas as the ACE can is a bit busy. When it come to flavor St. Vrain only has a little guava taste and not a ton of apple flavor either. ACE also has little apple taste, but way more fresh guava juice which leaves little bits on the side of the glass. ACE has a smoother mouthfeel though remains crisp throughout in spite of those big and soft guava notes. The St. Vrain has a thinner body and is sharper but without much flavor backing those sharp notes. It is an empty sharpness, if that makes sense to you.
While St. Vrain’s Pink Guava was a good cider, it failed to transport me this cold evening the same way ACE did. As soon as I tasted ACE, I was immediately brought back to a number of visits to South America I had in my youth where every morning I drank all the fresh guava juice that my hosts had on hand. While it is not quite the same as having a thick and juicy drink made from fresh-squeezed perfectly ripe guavas, this is the best canned guava beverage I’ve had. I think it goes without saying that the alcohol and sharpness enhanced by the apples does make it unique to straight juice. This drinks as easy as juice, if not smoother. It is so crushable I think you could down a pitcher of this stuff on a hot day without blinking twice. But be careful, it’s still hard cider after all. This is the second unfiltered (or lightly filtered?) fruit cider from ACE that’s been excellent. Thank you sir, may I have another?