So as some of you readers may know, the BrewChief founders are huge Walking Dead fans, as am I. When the season two midseason finale was about to air, our home was abuzz with excitement. I wanted to pop open a new cider for the event, and I am very glad that I reached for the Beanblossom cider from Oliver Winery for that purpose. I had a couple ciders to choose from, but the delightfully whimsical bottle--an aluminum ''bottle'' with a colorful, hand drawn airplane gliding over a serene green pasture--appealed to me as a bucolic-yet-ironic counterpoint to our grisly entertainment.

The pour was also appealing, but not as striking as the package. The carbonation was light, and the appearance was a clear warm straw color. The aroma was mild, a whiff of apples without any unexpected or unpleasant notes (which, unfortunately, many commercial ciders are plagued by). An attractive appearance, but not necessarily distinguishing.

The surprise for me came with the first sip. Typically, ciders run on the crisp, tart side of the flavor spectrum. But this cider had a buttery flavor, more like tasting a baked apple with hints of butterscotch. And the mouthfeel! What a great surprise. Very rich and creamy. There were crisp and tart notes, mostly in the backend, but the luscious frontend and mouthfeel kept pulling me back for sip after sip. The ABV is a hefty 8%, but the alcohol notes were muted. If apple cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream could be presented as a cider, it would be this one.

So my midseason finale celebration was met with more than one surprise (spoiler alert: Sophia was in the barn all along--see the video below for an example of my ''no way!'' face). I’m definitely going to be revisiting this cider again in the near future with a good meal. I suspect the heft of the yummy flavors in this cider would make it a wonderful food pairing, and I can’t wait to do the experiment, albeit with fewer zombies.