pear tree!

 On the first day of Beermas I went and got for me

The simplest answer there could be

Yeah, so this is a little obvious, but never fear!  I've been more creative for other days.  To start with, we have The Good Cider Pear.  Of course.  The Good Cider claims it has once hundred years of history in San Sebastián behind it, and it could well be true given the popularity of cider in the north since forever.  However, I wonder if the company didn't have a name change fairly recently.  Although, maybe not.  If Germans, English and Flemings made the most lasting breweries, why wouldn't a cidery also be founded by British hands? 

It has a little more fizz than I was expecting, giving a slight head at the beginning and leaving a bubbly little ring around the glass.  It's very light colored and transparent, more tan than a lot of apple ciders.  The scent is strongly fruity, decidedly pear, and with a hint of bubble gum.  Don't know about that last part, but maybe it won't translate to the taste.  At first it's clearly just a pear drink, but then a wave of sour and bitter hits.  And yes, a little bubble gum trails the cider down the throat.  It's not too strong, though.  While it's not super sweet, it doesn't have the dryness of, say, an Asturian cider and is quite refreshing.  It would be more appropriate for warmer weather, but it's certainly not bad for December, and it fits the song.  So that's that.

seeing red

It's been a bearable weekend temperature-wise, but it sounds like the next week is going to get shitty.  I have a possible antidote with a nice cider, a Spanish one to boot.  The Good Cider pops up occasionally in the stores, although not always the Wild Berry version.  This time is was right by the door of Más Que Cervezas, although towards the bottom shelf.  Since the place is small and there were people browsing before me, I had a little motivation to check out every little thing.  There were plenty of other interesting beers, and a couple did make it into the bag, but a berry cider every once in a while is definitely a treat.

It's a totally appetizing reddish cider, slightly transparent and fruity scented, not quite like wine but something similar.  It's oddly not sweet, a little tart actually, but light and refreshing.  Years ago I had a berry mead that had a flavor along the same lines, but was much heavier.  The cider is something of a British style, with the sweetness and the smoothness, but it's not quite as syrupy as a lot of them are.  It's not a particularly complex or surprising flavor, almost like a spiked Kool-Aid in fact, but it is undeniably nice.