COMPARATIVE LIT ESSAY:
During the era of European expansion and colonialism in the early modern period, pineapples became the most impressive and fascinating food item found by Europeans in South America. This "exotic" fruit became all the rage in 16th and 17th century Europe and was given as a gift to numerous kings and queens. Thereafter the fruit remained a symbol of luxury, opulence and hospitality in the following centuries. Today, the pineapple seems to similarly be taking the cider world by storm. The intense flavor of pineapple with its high levels of sweetness and acidity make it an excellent complement to more mellow apple varietals, and cider makers have begun producing sweet, flavor forward, pineapple-infused ciders that are refreshing and perfect for summer. While ACE claims to have made the first pineapple cider, 2 Towns was my first pineapple love and I wanted to test it against a new pineapple cider on the market from Wild Cider in Colorado.
There is a couple of main differences with these two ciders. The first is that Pacific Pineapple is a bit cloudy and has a much thicker mouthfeel. This heavy cider tastes more like drinking fleshy, just crushed, pineapple juice. It smells heavenly like that too. You get a much more bold and intense pineapple flavor that is awesome. The Wild Cider is a bit more nuanced and is also more highly filtered and so presents more like a semi-sweet apple cider which most American drinkers are more familiar with. However, it is the mix of vanilla flavor with slight butterscotch tones that give this a creamier feel. Instead of a rush of pineapple, the Wild Cider’s pineapple character is slightly muted by the other flavors which mix really nicely. Both of these are excellent, and if I was actually out on the beach or really thirsty I would probably chose the Pacific Pineapple which is more of a thirst quencher, but tonight at home, I am going with the slightly more sophisticated and refined Wild Cider Pineapple.