Been a while since one of these, but the Boozy Newsie News Flashes are just quick reviews of drinks, places, events, anything that I’ve experienced recently. Here’s the latest!
I’ve had a lot of ciders, of varying types (hard, sparkling, regular, pasteurized, raw and probably dangerous…) and my favorite is still the fresh-from-the-press bottles you can get at Russell Orchards in Essex, Massachusetts. Not trying to be hipster and know about niche places — mainly it’s right near where I grew up.
Until a few weeks ago, though, I had never had cider made from anything but apples and a few pear versions. Until Reverend Nat came along with a pineapple one. Technically, it’s Padre Nat, just like Trader’s Joe’s Jose / Giotto / Ming / etc. variations for its foreign foods.
Called ¡Tepache!, exclamation points included, you’re instructed to mix 2:1 with a light beer (for best results). We tried both that concoction (¡Tepache!-Tecate is a mouthful) as well as drinking it neat, and it was definitely an interesting experience.
Tasting Notes:
BN: The cider was very sweet and light orange in color, with only a hint of carbonation. It wasn’t as acidic as pineapple juice is, but still had a good flavor of the fruit. Honestly, it tasted a little more like juice than it did cider or beer. I suppose that’s why they want you to mix it. Putting it together with a can of Tecate we had laying around somewhere, it added the right body and bubbles to the drink, without overpowering the pineapple flavor. It tasted like an unusual shandy, and I liked it, though I’m not sure I would have it again. It could be good for mixing in other combinations, but by itself it didn’t really have the right kind of oomph that I would be looking for in such a drink.
PiC: I definitely liked it better with the Tecate, but it was a little too sweet without it. It should taste more alcoholic.
The Boozy Newsie 
I think Rev Nat’s Tepache is pretty tasty! However, its not actually considered a cider, as its only made using pineapples (no apples). Its only fermented pineapple juice with spices. If anything it would be a type of wine, same as cider (wine is technically any fermented fruit juice, not just grape).
Oh, interesting! So cider has to be apples, no matter what? That would certainly explain the low carbonation, too.
Yes, primarily only apples. If its 100% pears it is called perry. If fermented apple juice with a bit of unfermented pear juice, its pear cider. The carbonation should be a separate thing, and depends on fermentation and bottling methods (and some cideries force carbonate).
That sounds not good.