Thomas and Rose #3 - Apple and Ginger Cider product reviews

I am very new to the cider world, having been introduced to the vast range and flavours of cider via KIWIreviews. I have enjoyed receiving different brands to try and love that there is a multiple of flavours to choose from. Since receiving my first bottle of cider I have also discovered a vast number of my friends are cider drinkers. Something I never knew before because I myself am not a big drinker. Its been great having others to discuss 'ciders' with.

Usually when I receive drinks to review I get my bake on. I have discovered that cider goes very nice in cheesecakes, truffles, and muffins BUT this time there was no baking to be done. Nope, instead the ciders were all about a nice refreshing drink on a seriously hot day. Ciders a perfect refreshment on a 27 degree summers afternoon.

Thomas Rose Ciders are my new favourite ciders. The flavours are awesome and the size of the bottle is excellent. I personally think the price for the size of bottle is fantastic too. This one, Apple & Ginger, is great. It is not my favourite but its still good. When you remove the lid you get a nice strong apple smell but when you drink it, its all ginger with a light apple aftertaste. I really enjoyed this one. Id hoped to save some to add to an apple crumble later but nope I admit I consumed it all whilst relaxing in the sun and enjoyed every drop of it :)

We were lucky enough to be selected for this Thomas and Rose cider. The bottle is a good decent size and we were about to split the bottle between two. We sat and drank a glass of chilled cider together on evening. My husband commented that it tasted quite a bit like alcoholic ginger beer. I didn't detect too much apple in flavour, but I agreed that it tasted a lot like ginger beer.

This week, I bought a further bottle of the cider to do a few experiments with. I made up a ginger beer cake first off. This had about 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger in it, and then a cup of the cider in the batter. It made the mixture very smoothy and frothy. The cakes caked beautifully and they smelt excellent.

I had some warm from the oven for dessert. My toddler and I demolished the cakes and I was really impressed with the flavour and the texture of the cake. Usually when I add alcohol to a cake, it becomes very moist and often you can taste that it's alcoholic or it was before the baking. Once they cooled, I frosted them with a vanilla icing and then drizzled some toffee sauce over the top. My husband was pretty impressed with the cakes as well. So that was a win.

I also tried drinking this cider hot like a winter drink. It made the taste ultra fizzy and very warming with the ginger flavour. I don't know that hot was a winner, but it was worth a shot. I think as a summer drink this cider works. It would definitely hit the spot on a hot day. As a cake it was delicious! Another great cider from Thomas and Rose.

This is by far my favourite variant from the 'Thomas and Rose' range. I'd myself call it 'Ginger & Apple', rather than 'Apple & Ginger', as the Ginger is the major constituent of the flavour in this cider. I am a big fan of ginger beer and ginger ale, so I am pleased to announce that this cider does not taste watery, and that alone speaks highly of this cider.

The apple provides more of a base to the cider, reducing any harshness from the ginger flavour, but it still singes the throat nicely. It gives this drink a strength that is nice to find combined with low alcohol. Upon consumption, I found this cider warmed my stomach greatly on a cool summer evening.

As with the rest of the range, I enjoy the size of the beverage, as it allows me to share it with people that insist that they "have to try it", while still leaving me with a generous portion to myself. The only issue with a bottle this size and area, means that it takes a while to cool down in the fridge. You definitely need to cool it for several hours AND add in some ice to fully appreciate this variant.

My wife introduced me to good ginger beer and ever since I've been more than happy to drink a glass or two with her, so I was happy to get a bottle of this Apple and Ginger cider from Thomas and Rose to review.

I let this sit in the fridge for a couple of hours so I could enjoy it as a nice, cool drink on this relatively warm day, I will admit to forgetting about it, so it was a bit cooler when I finally grabbed it out of the fridge but I got there in the end. You look at the bottle size and might be fooled into thinking you're not getting much for $4.99 but it worked out to filling four wine glasses, a decent serving size for four people, so it's worth its money in that regards.

When I first tried it the ginger was rather strong and the apple just an afterthought in the grand scheme of things, but letting it sit and simmer the apple ends up taking the lead. I think this adds to the value as you then end up with either a ginger dominant or apple dominant drink, depending on what you would prefer. Overall I really enjoyed this and I would drink it again.

I am a Bundeberg fan, have been since a child, great memories of playing card games with my mum and grandparents whilst lucky enough to get half a glass of the favoured ginger beer so I simply had to give this a try.

Upon first opening you can smell the ginger in it without a doubt, I mean this smelled like a bottle of Bundeberg through and through so I was already keen to give this a try. The one thing I couldn't smell with this was the apple, since it says apple and ginger, I expected at least a hint in the aroma but no such luck with this.

Giving it a sip this most assuredly tasted like ginger beer but there was a slight hint of apple to it, just a faint taste of it, which gave this ginger drink a slight sweetness, cutting out the usual sharpness to the drink, which was suitably nice. There wasn't too much in the way of bubbles and this tastes just as nice both cold and room temperature, and just like regular ginger beer I have to be careful not to breathe in when taking a sip or I choke on the bubbles.

This is a yummy drink and I will be buying it again for sure.

Have you ever had that experience when you taste something and life flashes before your eyes?? I remember as a child drinking ginger beer, thinking that I was the coolest kid in town and over the years forgot all about it. I was taken back to that point and couldn't help but smile. Most ginger drinks have put me off but this one, WOW. If you like ginger then this is the drink for you (this also works really well if you have a cold). It is even worth trying if you don't like ginger all that much. Maybe i'm just obsessed.

I am seriously thinking about gifting this for Christmas for the legal aged drinkers in my family and would be more than happy with a half dozen. I don't know if Thomas and Rose is sold in any other form than singles and if not this would be the only negative thing I could say about them. I would like to try this on those cold winter nights and believe it would warm you nicely, which is a let down with a lot of drinks.

Not a lot of alcohol in our house makes it into the cooking but I am willing and wanting to try a piece of lamb marinated in this.

Witnessing my husband's face after he had his first sip of the Apple and Ginger Cider was awesome, this cheeky little grin spread across his face and he just kept saying 'this is brilliant, brilliant wow this is brilliant'. He very seldom expresses his excitement over food or drink so when he was carrying on this way I had to have a little sip. I do not drink and have never tried cider and so was not sure what to expect. First off it smelled like wine but with a tinge of ginger and personally did not do a lot for me. Mind you, I'm on medication where I am not suppose to touch alcohol so was not really wanting to have a lot. He had a grin on his face and was clearly enjoying it.

His review:
If you are expecting Apple cider with a hint of ginger (like I was) when I took my first sip then you will be in for a surprise. If however you are a fan of Ginger beer that surprise will be one of joy. There is no subtle stroke of ginger on the tongue more a brick to the face. To be honest if I were to describe this drink likening it to cider would not be what immediately came to mind, this is more an alcoholic ginger beverage with just the faintest hint of apple.

Definitly a drink I will keep on reserves as at $4.99 this price is fantastic. One for the summer.

I love cider and as soon as I saw the apple and ginger one advertised I wanted to give it a try. My mind went straight to one of my favourite meals pulled pork and how amazing it would be cooked in apple and ginger cider. When I was lucky enough to be given a bottle to review I rushed straight out to buy some pork.

I got my pork ready to go in the slow cooker and after pouring myself half a glass to taste by it's self I tipped the rest of it on top of the pork. When it was nearly cooked I removed some of the juices and reduced it down to add into the pork once I had pulled it. The results- an amazing tender,moist pork with a lovely hint of apple and ginger. I had plans to get photos but it was demolished before I had a chance!

Tasting the glass I had set aside the first thing I got was a big hit of ginger. It had a much stronger ginger taste than I expected and to me it out powered the apple. It was tasty but just a little too much ginger for me, my husband had a taste though and he loved it.

While I'm not likely to buy it for myself just to drink I will be buying it again to go with my pork as it was amazing and well loved by everyone.

I was lucky enough to be given some of this cider to review and it seemed the perfect flavour for me to try as I love ginger. Hubby doesn't normally like alcohol but it was him who was keen to crack into the bottle first and he seemed to actually like it - high praise for anything alcohol! Probably because he didn't notice the alcohol flavour and I must admit, I too found it very easy to drink without realising there is alcohol in it - dangerous! ... but perfect for summer afternoons and the like. And I loved the flavour - with the smell definitely stronger than the taste but the taste was definitely there too.

I did however manage to hold some aside to try out some in cooking. I've not cooked with cider before and was keen to give it a go so googled some recipes. I found a great cider cake here http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/oct/19/cooking-with-cider-recipes and decided it would work well with the ginger and apple flavour of the cider, but not really expecting the flavours to come through. Well I was wrong there - I could definitely taste the cider and even the hint of ginger - a really delicious cake which I plan to make again! I did find I had to add a bit more cider to make the batter moist enough, but it worked perfectly.

By now the bottle was getting down a bit so decided just to drink the rest as it's delicious just as it is! However I'm keen to buy some more and try a warm spiced cider drink that I remember seeing the recipe for somewhere... but that might have to wait until winter. So with that in mind, I feel it's a great drink for any time of the year and I highly recommend it... if you like ginger of course!

I love ginger in my baking and food, gingerbread, ginger nuts and anything ginger I love but for some strange reason hate gingerbeer so when I noticed this cider for review I thought I would be adventurous and go outside my comfort zone and give it a go.

First thing that was noticable without trying was the incredibly strong smell of ginger, I got a noseful and was almost put off trying it but after a few sips I realised that it wasn't too bad, I would drink it again although it wouldn't be my first choice of drinks.

I had a look at the label and notice that although a full ingredient list is not given there is a website to go to for full details and the other good thing is that the drinkwise web address is also given if you feel the need to get help for your drinking. The label also clearly shows how many standard drinks is in a bottle so you are fully informed before drinking and it shows by a picture that this drink is not suitable for pregnant women.

It also has a number on the label which is different and kind of makes me think about that Earl Grey Taste Off. This different label makes the product stand out a bit more.

I would drink this again if a friend offered it to me but I wouldn't buy it as I'm not a big ginger drinks kind of girl.