Peaks and Pints Monday Cider Flight And A Movie: The Lion King
Over the past few years, Disney has built up a heavy roster of live-action remakes of their most beloved animated classics, including The Lion King currently screening at the Blue Mouse Theatre in Tacoma’s Proctor District. This remake features an all-star cast including Donald Glover, Beyoncé, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Seth Rogen, and Billy Eichner — plus James Earl Jones returning as Mufasa (because who else?). Peaks and Pints is not ashamed: we love Disney’s The Lion King. There’s Rafiki runnin’ around being all Yoda-y, Timon and Pumbaa crackin’ wise, Chiwetel Ejiofor as a grumpy lion, a plot that tells the story of Hamlet but with adorable animals — AWESOME. It screens at 7 p.m. tonight. We suggest you stop by Peaks and Pints for a flight of cider before or after “Ingonyama nengw’ enamabala!”
Etienne Dupont Cidre Bouché Brut de Normandie 2016
5.5% ABV
Etienne Dupont sits in Pays d’Auge, a part of Normandy, France, well known for the quality of its ciders. The Dupont Estate consists of 74 Acres in Normandy, in the heart of the Pays d’Auge region. They produce ciders, pommeau and calvados. Etienne Dupont Cidre Bouché Brut de Normandie 2016 has a beautiful apple scent with sweetness, funk, citrus and pear drops (“cidre bouché” is a generic term for traditional cider, literally “cider under cork”). The taste is even better — light fizzy sweetness, big complex apple and fruitiness, a hint of funk and some light tartness. It’s absolutely delicious.
Reverend Nat’s Valley Of The Pear
6.8% ABV
When his North Portland neighbor begged him to take his backyard apples off his hand in 2004, Nat West began experimenting with fermentation, turning the small green apples into hard cider. His friends went nuts. West would go on to hold weekly free cider parties at his house, experimenting on his friends, which ended up at 50 or so people. In the summer of 2011, West launched Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider, most likely the only cidery in Portland. Valley of the Pear is Reverend Nat’s new fall season with Pacific Northwest apples and pears, plus hints of vanilla, cardamom, and rosemary.
d’s Wicked CiderHammer
8.5% ABV
d’s Wicked Cider — which is owned by Daniel and Heidi Washam, owners of Sun River Vintners, also in Kennewick — have thrown down the hammer, more specifically the CiderHammer. Off-dry with a hint of spice, CiderHammer hosts the flavors of red delicious and honey crisp apples, fresh oranges, and finishes with a touch of allspice and cinnamon.
Schilling Excelsior
8.5% ABV
Schilling Cider’s Excelsior is a semi-dry to semi-sweet imperial cider blend of Washington apples and European bittersharps, sitting at 8.5 percent, has a herbal and savory nose, showing aromatics of dusty earth, rosemary, lemon thyme, oregano, and edged with hints of yellow apple. Upon first sip, the lighter bodied approach reveals easy acid but builds up to a fuller mid-palate of orange, caramel and mineral, with a nice smack of acid and sweet-sharp characteristics in the finish.
Portland Cider Hop’Rageous
6.5% ABV
Oregonian Jeff and British Lydia launched Portland Cider Company in 2012 with the intent of adding English cider traditions with the innovative Northwest micro-brewing culture. It all started from a desire to make the clean, dry cider Lynda grew to love in England, and Jeff yearned to find in Oregon. With their Hop’Rageous cider, they add dry cider made from 100 percent Northwest apples to fragrant Citra and Amarillo hops, and the result is equal notes of bitter hop and tangy citrus.
