Angry Orchard wants you to use AR to determine which food goes best with their ciders.
When it comes to pairing food with alcoholic beverage, most people think about the intricacies of wines, bourbons, and even beers, and how those distinctive flavors can mingle with foods to augment how they jolt your pallet.
But what about pairing the extraordinary characteristics of hard ciders with your meals, which–as of recent–has seen a big upswing in popularity.
One of the biggest national brand cider makers, Angry Orchard, is looking to change how people think about food pairing by educating foodies (and even non-foodies) on how their favorite dish and different ciders can complement each other – delivering a whole new eating and drinking experience.
To do this, Angry Orchard has launched an AR app called Angry Orchard Cider & Food, that will help you pair your favorite Angry Orchard ciders with foods that will harmoniously complement one other and tantalize even the pickiest of pallets.
Image Credit: Angry Orchard
Ryan Burk, head cider maker at Angry Orchard, is a food pairing expert who understands every individual note of the New York-based company’s hard cider lineup. The idea with the AR app is to put Burk’s expert knowledge into the hands of hard cider consumers who might be drinking at home, at a game, meeting friends in local bars, shopping at the supermarket – and give them the tools necessary to have a great cider and food experience.
Simply download the Angry Orchard Cider & Food AR app located in the Apple App store and install it on your device. You’ll first have to enter your date of birth to prove you’re 21 or over (because that is the legal drinking age here in the U.S.), and then–using your smartphones camera–scan the Angry Orchard Hard Cider bottle. The bottle will come to life with Burk himself jumping out of the label to talk to you about the complexities and wonderful flavors of the cider you’re holding in your hand, followed by his knowledge of which foods would go great with that particular beverage.
Throughout the AR experience, Burk explains what to look for when drinking an Angry Orchard hard cider. Tannins, acidity, and sweetness are all explained to you in a way that is easy to understand, and because it’s communicated through AR, it’s a fun and engaging experience to those totally unfamiliar with cider. The AR experience also teaches you how to bring out those flavors with different foods so that each flavor note is properly highlighted. Pull your device back and you’ll notice that you’ve been transported into the middle of an apple orchard as people pluck apples from trees and have a picnic.
Image Credit: Angry Orchard
The Cider & Food app works with Angry Orchard’s core ciders: Crisp Apple, Rosé, Easy Apple, and Pear, with each individual cider label suggesting multiple appetizers, entrées, and desserts specific for the cider that you’re holding. But don’t stop at Burk’s expert suggestions. Angry Orchard hopes that you take your new knowledge of food and cider to explore your own combinations.
Speaking to a friend who has been a professional chef for over 20 years and happens to love hard ciders, elaborated on how Angry Orchard’s Rosé cider falls on the sweeter side, and explained that you could counter that sweetness with something like a paella, a charcuterie plate, or something spicy–such as a curry and rice dish. Angry Orchard’s Pear cider is a tad acidico , so perhaps something like a camembert or brie would be nice; or even something fatty, like a bacon cheeseburger or anything rich in flavor will cut through all that acid and balance things out.
The app even gives you recipes for several food-based ciders. Pulled Pork Sandwich, Spicy Thai Chicken Wings, and a NY Style Cheesecake are just some of the dishes you can find using the AR app. From there, you can ride that wave of hard ciders rebound back to popularity, and create your own recipes using Angry Orchard ciders or the cider of your choice.
To explore all of Burk’s pairing suggestions, download the free Angry Orchard’s Cider & Food app now via the iOS app store.
Happy scanning, pairing and exploring!!
