The trend of low-carb options where canned beer is concerned has seen quite a few successful brews, focusing on session-worthy drinks while appealing to increasingly health conscious public who can’t exactly stand the thought of cutting out their favourite beers and/or ciders completely. Irish Brand Magners have added to the market here, pushing a new cider with the lowest carb and calorie content to date, with 0.01% sugar. Simply titled Magners Blonde, the new entry to the Australian cider market taps into the well-established love of cider across the country, given that – despite the unexpected doses of #SydneyStorm – the country is still one of the best places in the world for summer, the season cider-love is at it’s strongest.
“In Australia, we know we’re a nation that cares about what we’re consuming and what’s contained in the liquid; so we wanted to offer an alternative to regular cider.. One that kept the same great taste without the concern for high calorie, carb, or sugar intake”, said Denis Brown, Manager Director of Bacadri-Lion, the Australia distributor for Magners.
An original Magners is straight-forward and well balanced, not as rich as other brands but not excessively sweet either, so it makes sense that the same brand would be well-placed to produce a cider that claims low carbs, calories, and sugar.
And it is a success here as far as a lighter, more drinkable texture. You won’t start to look elsewhere after a couple of bottles like the more sugar-based ciders. Magners Blonde is said to contain 85% less carbs than most other ciders on the market, 75% less than it’s closest competitor in the Australia. That’s an impressive fear, but the most ambitious claim for the cider is that it retains the brand’s endearing flavour profile, crafted using the same 17 types of apples grown in Magners’ orchards in Ireland’s County Tipperary. The commitment to controlling the taste but stripping away the sugar, carbs, and calories must have been no easy task and you can certainly taste the results here; for the most part, this claim proves true although you can tell an original Magners has more of an intense back palate.
If cider is your preference but you’re trying to cut out sugar and carbs then Magners Blonde does offer a very worthy alternative, especially at a price point of $13.99 per four-pack of 330ml bottles. You can find them nationally across Australia wherever cider is sold.
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