Bulmers Original Pear Cider

Introduction

In a previous review I mentioned that Cider is a drink I tend to buy in the warmer months when the sun is shining and I want something refreshing with a bit of a bite to cool me down and enjoy. Generally I would go for Magners Cider poured over ice as my first choice but as Bulmers was on offer recently in Tesco I decided to buy a few bottle of this premium brand in to try, I enjoyed the Apple cider as mentioned in a past review but also bought in a bottle of Pear Cider as I wanted to see what that was like never as never tried it before...

Bulmers Pear Cider

I'm not going to pad out this review with information on Bulmers as a brand as that's not what you're reading this to find out, instead I'll mention the bottle and pick out the relevant details I think are important. So, my bottle of Pear Cider is brown with a bright green label and foil neck, I am informed that this is a premium cider made from the 'finest Pears to deliver a quality refreshing taste' and that a single bottle is the equivalent of 2.6 UK units of alcohol. As the daily guidelines suggest that men consumer no more than 3-4 units per day and women 2-3 one of these will just about 'use up' your allowance should you choose to follow the advice given. My 568ml bottle has an alcohol content of 4.5% vol and Bulmers suggest that this is best served over ice so that's what I did.

The Taste

Apple Cider is, in my opinion, an acquired taste and I was expecting the Pear Cider to be similar if not a little bit sweeter. Apple Cider can be bitter I find and I do tend to drink mine over ice to dilute the flavour if I'm being honest as I can often find it to be very sharp and tangy. Pear Cider is different, it is sweeter but for me was far smoother than Apple cider and I think I made the mistake of adding too much ice to my drink this time as a lot of the flavour seemed to be lost. There are unmistakeable hints of Pear in this which should come as no surprise given what it actually is but on the whole I found this drink to have less of an impact on my tastebuds. It is refreshing, the flavour is nice if not a little weak and I was reminded of Perry wine but one with a distinct lack of 'oomph' however I do put this down to the fact that I probably over-diluted it with ice.

I found that this did drink better than Apple Cider and that rather than sipping it slowly and allowing it to last me a while I finished my bottle in no time and overall I would say that I did prefer this one over Bulmers Original. Because I over-drank Apple Cider in my younger days I can't really drink too much of it now and even though it is a drink I always associate with Summer and would be my first choice when I want something to refresh and cool me down I could easily become converted to Pear Cider after drinking this. My bottle managed to fill a pint glass which had plenty of ice in it and left me with round about a third of the cider left which I later enjoyed without ice. Second time around I could detect more depth of flavour and more of an alcoholic edge to the drink and I do think that's the way I would drink this if I was to buy it again in the future.

For me this tasted like a cross between a traditional Cider and Perry Wine and was a drink I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would. It is undoubtedly refreshing, it's not quite as fizzy as Bulmers Original and didn't make me feel gassy or bloated, instead it went down nicely and I enjoyed the flavours it offered. I still think that Cider is a drink to enjoy in the sunshine at home or maybe in pub garden and would accompany any light lunch well. For many Pimms would be their idea of a summer drink but I'm a cider drinker all the way and whilst Magners would still be my first choice for Apple Cider I would buy this Pear Cider from Bulmers again without question.

Conclusion

I gave Bulmers Original Cider 4 stars as a rating in my other review and I'm giving the same rating here for this one. I enjoyed it, I don't think it needs as much ice adding to the drink as I originally did but that comes down to personal preference anyway and how you like to take your drink in the first place. I paid £1.99 for my bottle but it was included in a 3 for 2 promotion instore at Tesco and frequently appears either on offer or in a combination deal along with other drinks. I would buy it again and given the choice I would select this one over the Apple Cider but both offer a refreshing drink which I enjoyed and I was not disappointed with either.

Overall: Recommended.

Thanks for reading my review, please note that this also appears on dooyoo under my username.