Date Night - Cider Tasting

Recently, we went to a cider tasting class at Under Current.  Neither of us drink or know a lot about cider so we thought it would be an interesting class.

The class was taught by Jim Santangelo.  He was very knowledgeable and engaging.  We learned a lot!

The class offered 5 ciders from classic ciders to local ciders.  We started off with a Stella Arois Cidre which was on the sweeter side and a Wandering Aengus Bloom Cider.  Everyone on our table like this one better than the Stella.  It was overly sweet and had a clean finish,

The Cider Offerings

The Wandering Aengus Cider

The next three ciders had a food pairing with it.  The first one was a cider from Hive Winery which is local Utah winery.  The cider was paired with an oyster.  The cider was to act like a mignonette for the oyster.  The cider had hints of spearmint which reminded people of tea.  Together with the oyster it was great.  Most people didn't like it on it's own.  However, tea loving Sothea enjoyed it.

The next one was a Tieton Apricot Cider paired with a salmon dish.  This paring was the least successful but still very good.  

The last one was an Anthem Hops Cider paired with a gnocchi with calamari.  Hands down, the gnocchi was the best dish.  It paired perfectly with the more lager like cider.  We agreed that we could have had more of this one.    

At the end they surprised us with a cider cocktail.  It was a twist on a French 75 (Sothea's favorite). 

The class was very fun and we met some wonderful people who we ended up hanging out with after.  We both agree that classes are a great way to meet new people if you are looking to meet people.