The folks at Citizen Cider are stretching their wings, moving — sort of — into the hard seltzer category. The twist? This trio is essentially a (more) sparkling, (slightly) flavored version of Citizen’s apple ciders — all with no added sugar — rather than the more traditional malt beverage or raw alcohol + sparkling water combo construction. That puts them in a muddy middle between cider and seltzer… but how do they taste? Let’s give them a try.

All are canned at 5% abv.

Citizen Seltzer Apple All Day – The straightforward version, essentially a fizzier version of Citizen’s apple cider. Quite fizzy on the whole, the seltzer/cider is a remarkably dry exploration of the apple, from the skin right down to the core. What’s missing is a sense of the juice component of the apple, and a sprinkle of sweetness would really brighten things up. Fans of ultra-dry ciders will surely gravitate to it. B

Citizen Seltzer Lemon Spritz – There’s still more apple than lemon on the attack here, and the beverage is again bone dry with just a hint of sweetness that barely kicks in as the palate slowly builds. The finish has notes of lemon peel and grapefruit peel, with that funky baked apple note lingering on the finish. My least favorite of the trio. B

Citizen Seltzer Ginger Love – Again, very dry, with a distinct but mild kick of ginger atop an otherwise straightforward apple cider base. Again, this feels like it would benefit from a bit of sugar, though the ginger does helps the finish from delving into that muddy character you get with the Lemon Spritz. I would conceivably try this in lieu of a ginger ale in a cocktail recipe. B+

each $10 per four-pack of 16 oz cans / citizencider.com

Citizen Seltzer Ginger Love

$10

8.5

Rating

8.5/10