Life at Hope College

The Apple Cider Challenge

We have a number of really great coffeeshops in and around Holland. Since I am (supposed to be) on a caffeine hiatus for a little while, I want to compare and contrast a few of them through taste-testing not coffee, not cappuccino, but apple cider. There’s just something about apple cider in the fall! I love it!

Control: Apple cider from my Keurig

Apple cider from my Keurig
Side note… I found this mug on sale and couldn’t resist!

Taste: 6

Smell: 6

Burnt tongue? Yep.

Size: Small (8 ounces, standard Keurig size).

Price: Super cheap. Less than a dollar.

Overall happiness factor: 6. I can admit that this is not the greatest, but it does the trick when I don’t want to make the trek anywhere else for a cup of hot cider. I’ve been tearing through this stuff since I’ve been sick. I think it actually might smell better than it tastes, but it’s all good. I’ve never had a cup of cider that did me wrong.


JP’s

Yum!

Taste: 9.2

Smell: 8.5

Burnt Tongue? Yep. I can’t wait for it to cool off at all… I just wanna drink it!

Size: The small was actually decent. I was pleasantly surprised.

Price: $3.05 (after tax)

Overall happiness factor: 9. This was really good. Really really really good. (Try adding caramel… Even better!)


Crane’s In the City

I got some apple crisp while I was at Crane’s as well. So tasty!

Taste: 7.5

Smell: 7

Burnt Tongue? YES. This was super hot.

Size: Average mug.

Price: $2-ish.

BONUS POINTS: This came in a mug with Santa on it. I love all things Christmas.

Overall happiness factor: 7.8. This was more of a “spiced” cider than JP’s (which is the way it was intended to be). It was definitely good and you can’t beat the price. I also highly recommend the chai-der (cider with chai tea! SO GOOD.).


Lemonjello’s

Delicious!

Taste: 9

Smell: 8.5

Burnt tongue? NO SIR.

Size: Decent. Comparable to JP’s.

Price: $2.75

Overall happiness factor: 8.75…ish. It was really good.


AND THE WINNER IS…

JP’s was my favorite. LJ’s is also really really good. They were super close. I would get cider from Crane’s again, too! I don’t really think you can go wrong with a simple apple cider. I’ve never met one I didn’t like!

Thanks for reading! Send me an email at kathryn.krieger@hope.edu, leave a comment, or tweet me at @hopekathryn17!


“He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”

John 15:2

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