Update: Andre reminded me he sometimes orders a Guinness and Cider, also known as a ‘Poor Man’s Black Velvet’ (A ‘Black Velvet’ is Champagne and Guinness). Ok – proves my point that if the pure hard cider we have here is so good, why bother mixing the Guinness in?

Theory: Alcoholic drink made out of fruits = healthy and tasty, right? Hardly. I dislike fruit beers for one and for cider, the only one we usually get on tap is Strongbow. That’s too dry for my liking, to be honest. So by a twist of fate, I have been accidentally exposed to more cider in a month that in 5 years – as if to drum into me that there is some decent cider out there.  There’s been Magners which I drank a bottle of at Molly Malones, Bulmers (courtesy of my wife’s good mate working in a alcoholic beverage company) and Strongbow which I drank from the tap at The Apartment, a nice restaurant bar at trendy The Curve in Kuala Lumpur.

Now Strongbow, apart from being a very ‘commercial’ or ‘mass’ tasting cider on tap, is also quite dry and not full bodied. Does anybody feel different?

Magners Irish Cider, has a more ’boutique’ feel, as does Bulmers, also from Ireland. Good to know that Magnus is doing its part to keep the Irish agricultural industry healthy, at least the apple growing bit. For WM Magners is Ireland’s biggest purchaser of apples, accounting for a substantial proportion of the entire Irish apple crop. The difference between Magnus and Bulmers is that the former is drier that the latter – and dry is not my fave style of cider. Its the same when I drink wine – I like something not too dry, neither cloyingly sweet.

Not too dry - the way I like it

I have tried other ciders in the past including Woodpeckers (from the UK) picked up at the local Cold Storage supermarket as well as very tasty, refreshing Swedish Kopparberg pear ciders from Ikea (of all places, but you’ll score a good deal there. Why, have a cheap hotdog at the cafe too while at it!). Maybe that’s why I used to have very mismatched furniture at home. But  the last time I tried to pick up more Kopparberg during a furniture shopping break, alas, they didn’t carry it anymore. However, I did discover that Kopparberg is a town with a live webcam and where a meteor hit it millions of years ago. Maybe the meteor was thirsty for a cider?

Nugget: Kopparberg is a locality and the seat of Ljusnarsberg Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 3,189 inhabitants in 2005.^[1] It is famous for one of the most valuable postage stamps in the world, the Treskilling Yellow from 1857-July-13, Kopparberg’s (wooden) Church (voted #1 in Sweden in 2006), and Kopparberg Cider, now the number 1 selling pear cider in the UK and worldwide. (Source: wikipedia)

Furniture shopping at Ikea used to be a better experience (credit: wikipedia)

Anyone out there with a cider story to share? Apple, pear or other fruit?

In my course of work, I end up visiting and checking out many hotels. This time round, I went round several in the Causeway Bay area and there’re basically only two 4-star hotels in that bustling area and a few boutique hotels. But the 5-star Crowne Plaza will be opening there in October.

Anyway, sticking to the subject if booze, I did a site inspection of Excelsior Hotel and checked out the basement Dickens Bar. The staff were preparing for lunch but what caught my eye was the number of beer taps and in particular, a Marston’s Pedigree draft.

I promised myself to attempt a return after the day’s business obligations and did exactly that.

Dicken’s has to be one of the best pub finds in Hong Kong. It has 11 taps including the Pedigree ale. As it was served, it looked like a typical British ale, light amber in colour and took some time to settle, building a nice, heavy layer of froth.

But what struck me was the sweet taste. At first, I thought the glass was dirty, shifted around the glass and took another gulp. But the sweet taste was unmistakable. It’s a sweet, fruity, creamy ale and the sweetness linger through the after taste. For the guys out there, if you like Hoegaarden but think it’s too girly to be seen with a pint in your hand, Pedigree could be your next best alternative. Unfortunately, I doubt you’d find this ale available readily in Asia Pacific.

The selling point of this joint must be the 11 beer taps, including Victoria Bitter! Seriously, how often do you find VB on tap? I’ve been to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth so many times and hardly seen the green label available fresh in most pubs. But here it is in Hong Kong! Other taps included are the usual suspects like Tiger, Heineken, Carlsberg, Strongbow, Hoegaarden, Kilkenny, Leffe, Guinness and San Miguel.

It does have a decent selection of bottles too including regional brews like Tsing Tao, Blue Girl or try the Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. Still, with 11 tap, it has to be one of the city’s most crowded bar tops and why would you drink bottles?

If you know of another pub in Hong Kong with more taps, do let us know!