Angry Orchard Introduces Seasonal Tapped Maple Flavor

Angry Orchard released its seasonal hard cider Angry Orchard Tapped Maple, available now through April. Tapped Maple blends American culinary apples with a hint of maple syrup from Vermont maple trees for a not-too-sweet cider with a bright apple taste.

At Angry Orchard’s Cider House in the Hudson Valley of New York, the cider makers like to play around with adding seasonal ingredients to cider recipes to create unexpected, but seasonally appropriate, flavor combinations. For example, with Angry Orchard Tapped Maple, they took inspiration from the highly-anticipated late-winter tapping of maple trees to make something completely new, company officials say. The base cider is made from culinary apple juice and is actually quite dry. The maple syrup – rich in flavor and natural maple sweetness – adds a delicate balance, and gives the cider a strong maple-forward aroma, and full, round mouthfeel, according to company officials. 

“Like apples, not all maple syrup is created equal. The flavors can vary significantly from season to season and depending on production techniques,” says Ryan Burk, head cider maker at Angry Orchard. “My team and I visited maple farmers from across the Northeast to dive deeper into the qualities that make maple syrup unique, then took those findings back to our Cider House to incorporate this natural sweetener into a dry cider we’d been working on. Ultimately, we found a nice combination with Tapped Maple.”

Tapped Maple is now available in six-packs and the Winter Orchard Sampler Variety Pack nationwide through April 2017. Spiced Apple is available as a limited release in the Winter Orchard Sampler Variety Pack through April 2017. Suggested retail price for a 6-pack is $8.99-9.99, and $15.99 – 18.99 for a variety 12-pack (price varies per market)