Mischief, Rouge & Willie Gunn From Colcombe House Ciders
Published On Wednesday 17 Apr 2019 by Sticky Beak
See Recent Food Producer Reviews | See All Recent Reviews
The bulk of my review content relates to food, but I do relish the opportunity to sample drinks too. At my recent visit to the Fine Food North Show in Harrogate I got chatting to a very charming fellow, Kier Rogers, whose family have been farming, and producing Cider, on their farm in Herefordshire for more than 90 years!
Colcombe House is a former Victorian fishing lodge and Queen Victoria’s son, The Duke of Connaught, used to enjoy the pastime of Salmon fishing along this stretch of the River Wye. Kiers family have well established Orchards whose trees use the rivers waters, nutrients from the fertile soil, and (if lady luck shines) an abundance of sunshine to produce delicious varieties of cider-making Apples.
Kier very kindly gave me a trio of bottled Ciders to bring home to drink at my leisure: Mischief on the River (known simply as Mischief), The Willie Gunn, and a fruit cider called The Rouge. Just because of the fantastic name, I decided to crack the bottle of Mischief open first!
If ever there was an apt name for a product, this is it; Mischief by name and definitely by nature! The way its light, fruity character danced on my taste buds certainly was lively, determined to kick up its heels and have, well, some mischief! Both The Man Bird and I thoroughly enjoyed the bright, crisp taste of this 4.8% abv, medium-sweet cider; it has an infinite quaffability to it, and is just lightly carbonated to lift it in the mouth.
For our second tipple we opened the Willie Gunn, named after a type of fly used in Salmon Fishing. Compared to (little miss) Mischief this definitely had a bit more “guts” to it and was a bit drier in the mouth. This bad lad comes in at 5.3% abv and has a lightly caramel finish on the palate and lingers a tad longer in the mouth, having a deeper character. This would go fabulously well with the assortment of foods you’d find at a BBQ: Chicken, Burgers, Fish, Prawns, and the accompanying salads.
The final cider for us to try was 4.0% abv The Rouge, an intriguing Strawberry- and Rhubarb- juice enhanced Cider. Now, I am a bit of an old fuddy-duddy when it comes to fruit ciders; to me, Cider is an Apple only drink. However, I always keep an open mind when offered products to try, and I’m jolly glad I did on this occasion. Where I was expecting an artificial, overpowering fruit cider with very little apple taste, I got the opposite.
Although you get the distinct notes of the crisp Rhubarb and sweeter Strawberry coming through, they don’t overwhelm the Apple taste; rather they all dance together nicely, creating harmony where I’d feared discord. On a totally girly tangent, The Rouge is utterly enchanting in its pale Rose colour and is a medium sweet Cider like its (female, I have decided! ) counterpart, Mischief.
In addition to these three gently sparkling beauties, Colcombe House Premium Ciders also do still ciders (including The Willie Gunn Cloudy) and a non-alcoholic Apple juice. For more information on any of the products, head over to www.colcombehouse.co.uk. Hot Wings cheerfully awarded here.
| Sampling Hot Chocolate From Before Chocolate In Sheffield Cacao has been enjoyed by humans for thousands of years, in various forms. Nowadays you're more likely to be drinking an overly sweetened version that is heavily Read The Article | |
| Seven Days Of Being A Greedy Pig With The Greedy Pig Butchers @ Denby The Man Bird and I recently went back to Bourne's Coffee Shop and Bistro at Denby Pottery Village, sampling the breakfasts on offer there now that the kitchen Read The Article | |
| Trying Out Rootles, A Chocolate Covered, Veg Based, Healthy Snack Made In Derbyshire About a mile and a half away from Beak H.Q. is the fantastic Luke Evans Bakery, run by husband and wife team David and Helen Yates. Not content with their extensive (already delicious!) Read The Article | |
| Sampling X Muse Vodka, Blended Barley Vodka From Scotland There must be something in the ether; in quick succession I've been asked to review two separate alcohol producers, one locally and this one, X Muse Barley Vodka from Scotland. Read The Article | |
| Enjoying Some Quality Local Tipples At The White Peak Distillery, Ambergate The Bank Holiday weekend came super-early for The Man Bird and I when we made our way to a personal tour and tasting session at White Peak Distillery. Read The Article | |
| Sampling The Ras Malai Cake For Ca.ake Aisha of Ca.ake and her husband were one of the first stands I sought out at the Fine Food North show in Harrogate, as I couldn’t wait to try her Ras Malai Cake.I like Ras Malai anyway Read The Article | |
| Trying Out The Brownies From Woods Brownie Co. Kenneth and Ashleigh from Woods Brownie Co. tempted me with their wares at the Fine Food North show who can resist a Brownie? Not me, for sure!! I couldnt resist Kenny's Read The Article | |
| Sampling Coffee From Frazer's Coffee Roasters I first met Frazer at Fine Food North literally a couple of weeks before lockdown 1.0 and he gave me some of their 'Steel City' blend to try back then which, by the way, is an absolute bobby dazzler! Read The Article | |
| Whisky Tasting With Great Drams Great Drams is the brain-child of husband and wife team, Greg and Kirsty Dillon, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the Fine Food North Show in Harrogate. What Greg doesn’t know about Whisky Read The Article | |
| Sampling The Biltong From Biltong Boss Having never tasted Biltong before I have to admit I was expecting it to be a bit like Jerky which, let's be honest, has a bit of a rep as being tough, doesn't it? Clive and Sharlene of Read The Article | |