Gaymers Olde English

Gaymer's Olde English cider

I remember the way that Gaymer's Olde English used to taste, and it cerainly did not taste like this.

What on earth have the producers done to all of our popular ciders?

Over the weeks I have tasted some of our once great English ciders....

Special Vat - thin, tasteless, unsatisfying.

Olde English - ditto

Blackthorn - once a really dry, mouth watering drink but now a thin and tastless shadow of its former self that's not worth drinking.

Strongbow - lacks the flavour of old, no comarison with the quality of a few decades ago. The owner of a small brewery informed me that cheap, foreign (Chinese?) apples are being used and then the product is then watered down. It certainly tates as if this is the case.

If you want a decent cider you now have to go to the expense of something like Westons Vintage or Merrydown (still good on taste and value).

Inoffensive and fairly cheap, plus always seems to be on offer in my local shop, which can sway my choice even further.

It's great that it doesn't contain artificial sweeteners (will NEVER buy cider with sweeteners!).Ifeel that it tastes a bit thin and yeasty. Having said that, I am used to stronger ciders- although even Olde English would taste like scrumpy compared to that Irish appletize/lucozade stuff that people adulterate with ice.

A 'safe' cider and a 'nice' cider.

Gaymers Olde English much nicer than Gamore Original, the best cider. Not easy to find on draft in Spain.

Gaymers Olde English is cheap, you get a lot of it, and tastes great. Not as strong as it could be, but it's fine. I recommend this for getting the job done.

Old English is the most pleasant cider on the market. On draught it is liquid gold as it leaves your taste buds alive and wanting more of the same. In can it is refreshing, bitter sweet and subtle. Old English out tastes any other cider both foreign and indigienous.

The glass flagon bottle is long lamented, but the general taste of Gayners Olde English cider has remained much the same in the plastic bottle. Alas, the canned version can not boast this.

I'm tasting this now. My impressions are, not strong enough to be a serious cider, acceptable colour and taste, but so ordinary I can't imagine why anyone would buy it twice. Obviously, It isn't 13.5% as one reviewer has claimed, but 5.3%. It can also be bought much cheaper than 89p a can - I bought a 2 litre bottle for £2.49 (= 65p/can).

Its the sort of drink that you'd bring to a BBQ. Bland and inexpensive enough to share without splashing out, and just about acceptable enough to not cause offense.

Cider is made of apples, but some taste more of apples than others. I go for the taste when I buy cider. The stronger the cider, the less taste it seems with the big brands. Diamond white is strong but lacking in taste. White lightning has no taste, and it is good for getting heartburn as well, so steer clear of it. So it was between Strongbow and Olde English. I have chosen the latter.

Gaymer's Olde English of Somerset has been brewed since 1770. It has a clean refreshing taste of apples, and it is nice on a warm day like today, as it is cooling and very tasty.

The alcohol volume is 13.5%, and it is 89p for a can. That is good value or is it? It is the same price as the 7.5% can of Strongbow Super, but that has little taste. Since tax is levied on alcohol, it seems taste is charged at a premium rate. As no mention is made of additives it must cost more to keep the taste in.

The can has 2.7 units of alcohol in it. Also Gaymer's are members of the National Association of Cider Makers.

Being an olde English drinker from 18(ish) a few years ago they switched from using sugar to sweeteners (as have many cider makers).. For me this just didn't work so I switched to varying sugared ciders... recently noticed no mention of sweeteners on bottle and an email from gaymers confirmed.. although sugar is not used, natural sugars now enhance the flavour.... although not quite as nice as prev this is still tops for cider and is excellent value especially when on special offer... olde English tops the ratings again.