Belt’s Beer Garden: Locust Pocus!

Fall is the perfect time for a cider. And today I have a interesting one for you from Locust Cider.

Locust was founded by two brothers in Woodinville, Washington back in 2015. In 2019 they joined forces with Bucket Brewing Co. and became Locust Cider & Brewing Company.

They have expanded profusely since that time; opening two other cider production facilities in Boulder, Colorado and Fort Worth, Texas to go along with their cidery/taproom locations throughout Washington - they have locations in Woodinville, Spokane, Tacoma, Walla Walla, Vancouver, and four in Seattle.

Currently they distribute to Washington, Oregon, California, Florida and Texas. They also ship to 39 states so you can enjoy them almost everywhere in the US!

I found one of their Small Batch Series ciders that sounded interesting and delicious - Rosemary Plum. This concoction is exactly what it sounds like...they take Washington apples and blend them with heaps of plum juice and rosemary. Each can has a 6% ABV and a six-pack is just $12.50.

This cider poured a dark pink color, nearing reddish, with just a thin ring of bubbles appearing around the edge of the glass. The plum certainly shows itself in the color here.

On the nose it smelled delicious. Crisp apples led the way with a nice rosemary spice sitting just underneath the fruit. The plums didn’t add too much to the aroma, not like they did with the color, but you could pick up a whiff of them every once in a while. Even without the plums in the smell this cider was very inviting and I wanted to dive right in.

The apples led the way on my first sip, as was to be expected. It wasn’t too sweet or too dry, a nice semi-sweet apple blend. I could pick up some more of the plums in the taste, as they softened the apples some.

There was a little tang to this cider as well, as there was a slightly tart feeling that made my cheeks tighten up some (not a full pucker, but it was certainly more tart than most ciders).

For the first half of the taste, the apples and plum dominated and it was close to standard cider. But then, all of a sudden, the rosemary showed up with a rush of herbal spice. The rosemary eliminated that tartness and blended in with the fruits nicely.

Rosemary Plum ends mostly clean. There is a little stickiness and just the tiniest dry feeling left lingering on after everything else had faded away.

It’s a very easy drinking cider with a nice blend of flavors. Tart and crisp apples. Soft and juicy plums. The herbal spice of rosemary. It works. Plus it has that nice 6% ABV and a very modest price tag. If you can find it/ship it to your area, it’s worth the buy.