COMPARATIVE LIT ESSAY:
Today is my best friend’s birthday and it has made me ponder what goes into a perfect pairing that lasts for 27 years and counting? There are the obvious characteristics of good friendship: someone who can make you laugh, someone you enjoy spending time with and someone with whom you gave up false pretenses years ago and who you can feel at ease with while being your true, authentic self. These make for a sweet, fun pair. But a best friend is also someone who can ask you probing and penetrating questions. They can find the right way to warn you when they know you are making a bad decision. They can also persuade you to dare for new heights and push you beyond your comfort zone to really reach for what only seems possible in unspoken dreams. This sometimes means the friendship gets a little prickly, but it makes for a truer pairing.
So in honor of those perfect prickly paired friendships, I have decided to compare two prickly pear ciders today. (And somewhat serendipitously when I was travelling last month to see my best friend and we celebrated his birthday, he picked up one of these prickly pear ciders for me to try, because he knows me so well) Tonight I look at the only two prickly pear ciders I know of, Mountain West’s Desolation Prickly Pear and Incline’s Prickly Pear. Like best friends, they are unique individuals but share important things at their core. In this case they both highlight the "main" ingredient of prickly pear but are two totally different ciders catering to two different cider crowds, or two different moods if you are an omnivorous cider drinker like me. (Though prickly pear is the promoted fruit flavor, I am not suggesting that it is actually the main ingredient or most prominent flavor in either cider)
The calm claret color of Incline is more inviting to me, though the Desolation, with its livelier bubbles and a light straw color (where is the promised pinkish hue?) and sharp nose is plenty attractive. Desolation is much dryer and acidic. It is almost wine-like, and the flavor is dominated by its long, dry, tart-to-sour, finish. Incline, on the other hand, is smoother, fruity and more tropical (and obviously sweeter).
One of them, then, is more serious, borderline sour at times, but incredibly interesting and full of depth if you are willing to slow down and listen. So, what do you want this night? Something to sit and ponder with? Or are you up for a bit of fruity fun that is carefree and will make you laugh and forget things for bit? In my opinion, both are essential to a good friendship, and maybe a good drink. In fact, you may want and need both in a single night. But I guess to start the evening I would chose Incline for the barbeque in the backyard and then move on to the Desolation as the night wears on and you migrate to the front porch for serious conversation and a long finish to the perfect night.