Can you believe that it's been nearly six months since I've discussed a cider on the blog? Truth be told, I haven't had much cider (apart from some homebrew) in that time. Now that spring's sprung and I'm looking forward to blossoms adorning my apple trees (hopefully they finally fruit this year), I have cider on my mind.

Luckily Rhinegeist's Cidergeist brand seems to have just the thing for me in Bloom, a cider bursting with springtime-inspired floral notes. Let's see how it's drinking on this fine Easter Sunday.

You'll find Rhinegeist's "Our Story" page here. To quickly summarize it, the brewery was started in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood by Bob Bounder and Bryant Goulding. Bob had moved to the city and had seen a place primed for a beer resurgence. He and Bryant acquired an old Christian Moerlein packaging facility (from back when Cincy was a big beer town) and Rhinegeist officially opened its doors in June, 2013.

Bloom is the first cider released under the brewery's revamped Cidergeist brand. This modest 5% ABV cider has a full blogpost dedicated to it over on Rhinegeist's website. Bloom's a crisp affair that features elderflower and pear, both of which add to the beer's sweet flavor and floral and tropical bouquet.

That bouquet is decidedly floral and tropical. I find bright blossoms (a specific note here is a nearly-perfect match for the flox growing in the flowerbed outside my window), honey, a sharp pear sweetness, as well as hints of pineapple, guava, and mango.There is also, of course, a hearty backbone of apple to the cider's complex aroma. Purrl (my cat who can't make up her mind about sweet things) gave my can two paltry whiffs. I guess this kind of canned springtime isn't for her. Because, going off of the cider's nose alone, this is canned springtime.

The pear comes out swinging in Bloom's flavor profile. Pear always imparts a distinct flavor to any cider it's in and it's the most prevalent taste on my palate, green and sweet. Beyond that, I do find tropical notes attributable to the elderflower; the same mango, guava, and pineapple I noted above. I can't say I'm finding anything here that strikes me as "floral," but the whole cider finishes in a apple crispness.

Bloom has a mild bubbliness on my tongue. Think a spritzer; that's what the cider drinks like.

Last April, during the height of the COVID panic, I was work from home full-time. One bright and warm spring day, I clocked out early and took a half-day's PTO so Michelle and I could get some gardening done. We drove to a nursery and bought flowers (stopping by a gas station for mulch on the way home). 

When we got back to our house, we weeded our garden beds and planted the flox I mentioned previously, foxglove, and a myriad of other plants I can't name. Overall, it was only a few hours of hard work, but it was pleasant (despite the sunburn my neck suffered) and it's really nice to see that it's pay of this year, with he flox doing so well!

Rhinegeist's Bloom is an excellent addition to their Cidergeist brand. It's crisp, it's fruity, and definitely springy. I give my can 8.0/10. While I think that the brewery could've dialed back the pear a little, they still made one hell of a springtime cider.