Adnams Wild Wave Cider

The branding is great – the curling breaker in lime green against a blue sky and seagulls sings of this cider’s Southwold origins. So, it’s already a little disappointing when the anticipated splash of zesty seaside flavour fails to crash down on you at first sip. The pour is nice and fizzy, but the nose is a let-down. Not so much a wave of fragrant apple as the distant whiff of a sun-cooked windfall that’s been crushed underfoot. In the mouth, there’s flat-sour hesitancy at first, not a lot of flavour popping on the tongue or astringency on the cheek, but neither is it unpleasant or watery. In fact, the mouthfeel is very good, a subtle fizz, and while there’s a not a huge amount of apple (or anything else much) initially, it develops slowly and hits the back of the mouth with a tang of sour apple, followed by a short finish that doesn’t linger for long in the throat.

Overall then this is a perfectly drinkable, even quite refreshing cider. But it is also one note (even at that, you have to wait for it to come) with a sense that it’s missed the point of being a cider, or just not quite firing on all cylinders. Not a big hit with this reviewer, then, although if you do like your ciders to keep their sweet-apple origins under wraps, or simply to be on the sourer end of the flavour scale, I can see how this might well fit the bill.

Makers’ notes: “A fully fermented cider, blended with a mix of bittersweet and dessert apple juice for a distinctively English cider taste. Refreshing, juicy and delicious”