Bouche or Douche?

Excited excited excited. The guys at Smith St Cellars have finally found something that competes if not surpasses the benchmark. It may be a Bress beater. Big call but I am going to make it.

Right of the bat there are a few things you notice. This is a french cider (or cider) from France. Weird I know. The bottle has a lot of information on it and if you have the patience to search the net you’ll find out that this cider is organic and from an old orchard with something like 6000 trees in it. But that is beside the point.

This cider comes corked and by the vintage. Once you pop that cork you are greeted by a funky smell. Kinda of like feet that are bathed in apple juice then soaked in beer. Well thats the initial smell that i could grab a hold of. Let it air and breath a little and it mellows a little and then you don’t feel like you need to hold your nose when you try to drink it.

Don't be scared of the smell. You just need to breathe.

Once you get past the smell you will notice it is a little bit darker than your average cider. There is this never ending spiral of bubbles and sediment which will entertain you as you let it air. The first taste is tricky, you are in a frame of mind that it is going to be all tart and dry because the french think that everything needs to taste like champagne and cheese. Dry and stinky.

I went WTF?? What?? How??

Then when I gathered my words and tried to put pen to paper all I could think was that it is amazing. Dry without the screw your face up tartness. A sweet tail that lingers long after you have gulped that first sip and are trying to workout if you can taste this with a beer bong. You just want to keep on drinking this and trying to workout what is going on. So many flavours and smells. A challenge for even the most pretentious wine drinking wanker. The guide on the bottle suggests it can be enjoyed with almost any meal. Including pancakes which means you can even have it for breakfast. Pancakes and cider? Winning!

Now the tricky bit. For those that have tried either of the Bress ciders, you will know that are some of the finer fizzy apple drinks around. It is enjoyable and consistent. It gets your attention with a few standout characteristics that keep you saying wow as you drink it. I think of those as the shiny distractions. The Bouche has these outstanding shiny bits, but they keep moving and changing as you drink it. I like it better than the Bress but I can’t say exactly why yet. The Bouche just seems more level and sensible, outstanding from start to finish.  Maybe I need to drink a few more bottles and compare them in the same sitting. The Bress just seems like a bit of a peacock when you try to compare it to the Bouche.

Buy a few bottles of this when you find it. Then try and hide them in random spots around your house so they are a surprise and get a chance to age.

This cider tastes amazing. Buy it. Drink it. Hide it. Find it. Drink even more.

• Organic apple goodness
• 5.5%
• $19
• 9.25/10

Available from Smith St Cellars and McCoppins.