Who doesn’t love a fruity cider? After all, it’s a great alternative for those who don't like beer but are stuck with a bunch of beer-drinking friends. A family-owned brand, Fruzzante has walked into the market and is pouring their brand of fruity ciders at the hippest bars in town.
Fruzzante is the brainchild of Priyanka Save and Nagesh Pai, who wanted to explore the potential of farm-grown fruits. They brought in Dominic Rivard, an award-winning cider maker from Nova Scotia, Canada whose 20 years of experience goes into making the fruity ciders, which is a fairly new concept in India. And, Ajit Balgi of The Happy High, a cider and spirit consulting company, helps the brand get a better perspective of the Indian palette.
The brand offers offers a pineapple, mango, starfruit and chikoo ciders. The ciders are made using fruit from Save and Pai's own farms in Dahanu and around. The chikoo and mango is sourced from Dahanu-Gholvad. The starfruit is bought from tribals in the area who pluck the fruit for consumption and always have it in abundance; and the pineapple comes from Sindhudurg.
The gluten-free ciders are made using perfectly ripe fruits. Once the fruits are ripe, the juices are extracted and are further diluted with water without any added sugar.
We loved the mango cider, which was crisp and had very obvious sweet-sour hints of a mango. The chikoo cider with honey came a close second and we preferred that over the sugar variation. If you love a cider that’s sour, sip on jiwa, their starfruit cider. But for those who love a sweet drink, the pineapple is the best bet.
You’ll find the cider bottles available at several alcohol shops across the city. Or you could always hop in at Bar Stock Exchange to try a pint.
