You had me at “apple sunshine in a can.” The Harvest Cider — a canned offering from Vermont’s Eden Ciders — places this descriptor on its equally sunny orange and yellow label that is particularly enticing this time of year. A combination of New England-grown bittersweet Dabinett apples and mixed-used apples like McIntosh and Esopus Spitzenberg — all picked in the 2018 harvest — the blend is fully loaded with pure apple flavor, without too much sweetness. Earthy with golden raisin and golden apple aromas, this approachable, off-dry and fruit-forward cider offers up soft tannins and tart, tangy apple when it finishes. The drink pushes the concept of “harvest driven” ciders, which to Eden means the apples used are heirloom and tannic cider varieties that are grown locally, sustainably and for the intent of cider. The apples are pressed at harvest, the juice is fermented slowly and cool temperatures, then matured for complexities to settle in.
