Latest dispatches

11/17/24: Shacksbury Cider's Sugar Shack

Surprise! It's another cider post! Seriously, I had such a rough time finding maple beers to get to this season. Luckily, the cider makers have come through for me.  Maple syrup and hard cider has been one of my favorite flavor combinations since I first stumbled upon it. I'm excited to see how Shacksbury's Sugar Shack, today's cider, plays into the combo. Shacksbury 's based in the Champlain Valley (Addison County) of Vermont and is named after an old hamlet that was making cider in the area back in the 1840s. The cider they make is complex and organic. I couldn't find Sugar Shack on Shacksbury's website (although I did track down this Instagram post !), so we'll let Untappd tell us about today's cider. Unfortunately, there's not much here. This just states the 5.5% ABV cider has "...maple and vanilla." My can provides a bit more of a story while letting us know it's made with vanilla bean paste instead of extract or artificial vanilla flavor. The bouquet is a little drier, a lit