COMPARATIVE LIT ESSAY:
So today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year and the official beginning of summer. Over the last couple of years pineapple seems to have become the flavor of choice for cidermakers when doing summer seasonals (move over honey!). To honor that sweet trend and this long hot day I am comparing four of my favorite ciders, two from the West Coast, two from the East. The one thing they have in common is cloudiness due to a lack of filtration which provides for some yummy juicy bits (some more than others). I have now compared and drunk enough pineapple cider to have guessed in advance how this would have gone down, but let me break it down for you:
When it comes to the first to part of the cider experience—sight and smell—I think the Passport is more appealing in both categories. Aloha Friday and Pineapple Haze both have fairly straightforward pineapple noses and a light straw color, Viva la Pineapple’s is the most interesting with Rev. Nat’s characteristic spice notes and a darker color. However, Passport has a beautiful aroma of passionfruit and this lovely amber color with dark blood orange bits billowing up in the middle of the glass and looks spectacular. When it comes to flavor Viva certainly demonstrates the more sophisticated side of what a pineapple cider could be. Of the two more straight forward pineapple ciders, I preferred the Aloha Friday to the Pineapple Haze because it was smoother, bolder, and thicker and had more character than Haze—which consequently also dies the most and the smell becomes a bit stale after a while. When it comes to mouthfeel, none beat the Passport which just tastes like drinking fresh pressed juice on the beach. It has the juiciest, thickest, creamiest mouthfeel followed by Aloha, Viva and Haze. Though Viva is the driest if that is what you are after.
Even though my ranking of the four would follow my grading in this comparative lit session—Passport, Viva, Aloha, Haze—let me help you figure out which one you should drink. If you want a straight ahead pineapple flavor then Aloha Friday and Pineapple Haze are your best bets, but I give the edge to Aloha Friday for the reasons stated above and though it is somewhat mononote, this gives you the most pineapple flavor of the four. For the two upper echelon drinks (two A students) you should decide based on mood. Viva la Pineapple is like an overly sweet pineapple went off to grad school, bought horn-rimmed glasses and started reading Derrida and Foucault and then came home much more serious, interesting, and better able to engage in deeper conversations. Passport on the other hand is the most likely to transport you to some place else. Assuming you are grabbing a pineapple cider for some tropical, juicy and fruity fun and its whimsical nature, you have to go with the Passport. When it comes to pineapple it is still the head of the class in my gradebook.