First 5 Hard Ciders / Hard Sodas from Total Wine

Here's my first of 2 "mini reviews" of the hard ciders and hard sodas that I recently picked up at Total Wine:

All the bottles from last month, but this review is just for 5 of the 9.

Here's my review of my first 5 (in the order that I drank them):

Strongbow "Honey" Hard Apple Cider: This was very sweet and crisp. It was almost just apple cider with a bit of a boozy taste. I thought it was great, but my wife (who has a more refined wine drinkers palette) said it was too sweet. Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Coney Island Hard Lemon Lime Twist: This was stronger on the lemon, and weaker on the lime. So it was quite unique and didn't taste like 7-Up or Sprite. Also making it unique was the smooth finish - it sounds like it could be weird, but the vanilla aftertaste was quite nice. My wife really like this, and I thought it was pretty good. Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Henry's Grape Hard Soda: This was a bit like a grape beer. I don't care for beer, and this had just a little too much of a "hoppy" taste to it. The grape was nice though. If you like beer and grape soda, then try this. Being I'm not a huge beer fan, this was just OK. Score: 6 out of 10.

Not Your Father's Vanilla Cream Ale: There was a MAJOR vanilla smell when I cracked this open (it's made with Madagascar vanilla). The first sip was deliciously heavy on vanilla, but then the beer taste took over and totally ruined it. Again, like I said in the grape soda above, if you like vanilla and beer, then try this. But this was way too "beery" for me. Score: 4 out of 10.

Henry's Hard Sparkling Lemon Lime: This was stronger on the lime than the lemon (so reversed from Coney Island Hard Lemon Lime Twist above), but it was good. It wasn't as interesting as the Coney Island, but still decent. I'll rank this just a bit above average. Score: 6.5 out of 10.