ACE brand Cider Part 1 of 5

The review of Ace ciders will have to be a five part series, because there are five different kinds of Ace cider.  The Ace "Honey Apple" cider is the best cider I have ever had.  Milled locally in Sebastopol, Ace brand ciders uses honey and apples harvested right in Sonoma county.   From the first sip you can tell you are drinking something special.  The distinct flavor of  Granny Smith apples really impressed me, and remains a strong presence in the after taste as well.  There is also an subtle honey flavor that adds some intricacy to the experience.  Ace Honey Apple is a little bit on the sweet side, but not too sweet, and also has a teeny bit of dryness that really completes the cider.  

Ace brand Honey Apple cider is now officially my benchmark for rating cider.  I give it a perfect 10 out of 10.  I cannot think of anything that could be improved.  I feel thats its price ($3.29) is a good value considering it comes in 22oz bottles.  -I think there are six packs also, but im not positive about that.  Would I buy Ace Honey Apple cider again?  There is a 100% chance I will.  I'll even tell my friends to buy it.  Thats how good it is.  Buy this cider.  

Price paid $3.29 (tax not included)

ALC 5%

Ace in the Hole

The review of Ace brand ciders will come shortly.  For now, let me just say that they are my favorite so far.  Ace in the Hole has Ace ciders on tap, which is awesome.  Also, it happens to be in Sebastopol, just a short drive from my house.  I have wanted to make it out to Ace in the Hole since I first tasted Ace cider, so last night I got my friend to drive me over there so I could drink my fill (more on this later).  

The first thing I noticed about Ace in the Hole was the physical size of the building.  I had expected to see something small and dusty like I imagine a cider mill to be.  But I was wrong.  The building was two stories high with plenty of room inside, and  a large area for outdoor drinking as well.  Ok, so it wasn't cozy, but thats not exactly why I wanted to be there.  Cider on tap is why I wanted to be there, so I headed over to the bar right away.  This is where my experience went from awesome to a 6 out of 10.  The barkeep attempted to fill my pitcher, but the tap went dry.  I was shocked, but my shock was turned to disappointment when I saw the barkeep open a few bottles of ace cider and just pour them into the pitcher to top it off.  If I wanted cider from bottles, I could have just gone to the store and bought them.  Well that was shitty, but on the upside I now had a pitcher of Ace cider at my disposal.  Well this didn't go as well as planned either.  The Ace cider I had ordered, the Honey Cider, is delicious, but hardly dry at all, just sweetness.  I love it in small bottled quantities, but drinking it from a pitcher, however, I quickly discovered that its just too much sweetness for one man. Or more than one man.  I couldn't bring myself to order a second pitcher as I had planned to do, so we ended up leaving after the first.  Oh well.  

Would I return to Ace in the Hole again?  Possibly.  But I'm not sure its worth the drive out there just to get one or two cups of cider, which is all I now know I would want to drink in one sitting.  But it had a nice feel to the place anyhow, and during a hot summer day it might be just the thing a guy like me needs.  But for now, because of the way things unfolded last night, I am forced to give Ace in the Hole a 6 out of 10.