One of the things I so enjoy about being a wine, beer, and spirits writer is the conversations I get to have with people about what they like to drink. Every so often I come across someone who gets so inspired by talking to me that they want to share with me their favorite beverage, and I get both a good conversation and a good drink as well! This is what led me to the final installment of my cider series - though this one has a bit of an international flavor to it.

I had the good fortune to get to go to beautiful British Columbia for a long weekend. My boyfriend Greg's friend was getting married, and Greg was to be a groomsman. It seemed as good a time as any to see the town where Greg grew up, meet some of his pals, and hit up a wedding in my first go at being a +1. After the rehearsal rather than a dinner the wedding party headed out for some drinks at a local brew pub. Knowing that I had been gathering information for a cider series I ordered up a bottle of Grower's Pear Cider. What I ended up getting was a mouth full of overly sweet alcoholic soda and a lot of people giving me a hard time for ordering something that 16 year old's get cheaply for the purposes of inebriation.

This of course cued my wine/beer/spirits blogger ego into action - I had to redeem myself from looking like someone who was clueless and unable to appreciate good drinks. I ordered myself up the hoppiest beer in the pub, and struck up a conversation with Greg's friend Pete about what kinds of beer he enjoyed. After a while we were talking about what he liked, what I liked, and I was able to explain why I had ordered up the Grower's. Pete, after having another good laugh at my expense, then suggested I check out the Rumrunner from Sea Cider, a local cidery in BC.


Not only did Pete give me a good recommendation, but he showed up at Greg's house the very next day having traveled to Sea Cider to pick up a bottle. We sat on the back porch with the rest of the groomsmen, some snacks, and this lovely bottle of tawny goodness. I could immediately smell the rum on the nose as soon as we popped the top of the bottle. It was mingled with the strong scent of tart apples aged well. The flavors were complex, with a nearly sweet start shifting into a strong rum flavor (dark rum), and ending with a champagne-y and tart finish. This cider is brilliantly done and wonderfully unique. It went very well with the sharp cheese we were eating. at 12% ABV it has quite a kick, and I recommend sipping rather than downing glass after glass. Really in the end you will enjoy it better!