Orchard Thieves Cider with Raspberry and Vanilla product reviews

I was introduced to cider on-tap at a local pub on a hot summers day and absolutely fell in love with not only the taste but how refreshing, and almost thirst quenching, it was. I am now absolutely hooked on cider as my summer go to drink.

Gone are the days of just the Old Fashioned Scrumpy, we have an array of different brands, flavour combinations and fruits adorning our shelves and giving us every opportunity to experience something that will become perfect for our palette. Orchard thieves Peach and Passionfruit has always been my combination of choice, so when I found Raspberry and Vanilla, a normal match made in heaven, I was keen to give it a go.

Like many of the Orchard Thieves combinations this is a much sweeter cider and certainly the raspberry hit and undertones of vanilla were there at first sip, however I personally didn't enjoy this combination as much as others I have had before - I think for me the vanilla aspect made the last 3rd of this too much for me and I couldn't quite bring myself to finish the remainder of the bottle, shock horror I know.

I would say however that Orchard Thieves overall has a great range of flavour combinations that suit many people, with many different tastes. As always the brand is easily recognised, the pricing is good, the quality great and hey its full of NZ apples, whats better than that. While not my cup of "cider" I am still a lover of the brand and happily sit down to a Peach and Passionfruit to unwind.

I noticed this in the supermarket and thought that was an interesting combination of flavours and was curious enough to buy some to share with good friends and have my curiosity satisfied. The drink looked and smelt really nice so I took a small sip as I'm not brave enough to do a big sip and find that I don't like it, I could have been a bit braver and done the big sip as it was nice, the flavour wasn't too strong and it left me wanting more.

I had a look at the information on the label (yes I should do that first but I was interested in finding out if the taste was as good as it sounded) and I really like that it shows in very simple language that it is not to be drunk when pregnant and that it is approximately 1.6 standard drinks as well as the usual alcohol/volume so it is easy to see how strong the alcohol is.

I do like a cider on occasion and I have a very sweet tooth so this product is great for me, I am liking the interesting brand names and bottles so I'm going to have a good time discovering what else is out there and what combinations the brewers come up with.

This looked like an interesting combination of flavours and so we thought we'd give it a go.

My first thought of vanilla in a drink, any time that I hear of it in a drink, is vanilla coca-cola but I'm always happy to try something new, and so grabbed this off the shelf. I'm never too sure about raspberry drinks as nine times out of ten the drink is far too sweet to finish of the drink and it usually ends up wasted. This bottle was the perfect size to fill three wine glasses, one for myself, one for my husband and one for our friend (and fellow reviewer).

Taking a sip, straight away it wasn't too sweet and the vanilla wasn't overpowering, there was just the perfect hint of it. This was our treat while we were cooking our dinner and was slowly sipped away at, my husband is starting to learn not to just guzzle it down. I really liked the taste of this, the flavours were both nice and subtle and 'gentle' without one taking away from the other or taking over the drink all together.

At $4.99 this is a decent price, considering a bigger bottle is usually about twice that pirce. I'd be happy to buy this again.