March 2019 – Angry Orchard Cider Company today announced the launch of its Cider+Food App, featuring a unique augmented reality (AR) experience bringing delicious cider pairings to life. As the first mobile platform to focus on hard cider and food pairings, the app unlocks a range of mouthwatering recipes that pair perfectly with a refreshing can or bottle of hard cider, giving drinkers a new way to enjoy cider for any occasion and most importantly, at the table. Upon downloading, the app can be used across Angry Orchard’s core styles – Crisp Apple, Rosé, Easy Apple and Pear, with the digital experience guided by head cider maker Ryan Burk.
Enthusiasm for cider hasn’t slowed as the market continues to boom with ciders of every style, flavor, and personality. Yet knowing which flavor profiles to pair with a meal can be intimidating for drinkers. With Angry Orchard’s augmented reality experience, Ryan shares the selected cider’s tasting notes, pairings and offers recipes ideal for entertaining friends or cooking for a night in. Pairing highlights include:
Angry Orchard Crisp Apple, the #1 hard cider in the United States1, offers a bright, apple-forward flavor that compliments rich dishes such as the sweet barbecue in pulled pork sliders.
Rosé, the latest innovation style, known for its vibrant rosy-hue and floral notes, provides sweetness and acidity that balance salty flavors in dishes such as prosciutto-wrapped melon.
Easy Apple, a refreshing, easy-drinking cider, pairs deliciously with a meal from start to finish. Fish dishes and fruit-forward desserts, such as grilled salmon and raspberry torte are the perfect complements.
Pear enhances the natural fruit flavors incorporated into cheese-based dishes like baked brie with cranberry preserves.
Additionally, users will be able to take a 360-degree tour of the apple trees at Angry Orchard’s cidery and home for research and development in Walden, New York.
“Hard cider deserves a place at the table. The unique flavors and high-quality ingredients in our styles complement and enhance the food pairing experience that is most often associated with wine,” said Ryan Burk, head cider maker at Angry Orchard. “Our new Cider+Food App allows us to share some of our favorite pairings, and what we’ve come to know and love about cider at the table. We’re excited to share our passion through this experience and leverage a new platform to encourage drinkers to explore and celebrate cider.“
Angry Orchard enlisted the help of technology partner Rightpoint, to develop an innovative augmented reality app that uses cutting edge technology to create an immersive experience around the cider bottle and can. The Cider+Food App was formulated with a combination of computer vision and machine learning, allowing the app to identify the style of cider and determine the exact dimensional location of the phone and bottle.
With more than two decades of commitment to the growing industry, the cider making team has been experimenting with ingredients and various techniques from all over the world. Angry Orchard is dedicated to high-quality ingredients and looks to continuously push the boundaries of what cider can be for drinkers. The Cider+Food App creates an engaging, accessible platform that brings to life delicious and simple pairings for cider enthusiasts to enjoy.
The Angry Orchard Cider+Food App is available on Apple iOS and can be downloaded for free at AngryOrchard.com/app. The app works with Angry Orchard’s core style bottles and cans: Crisp Apple, Rosé, Easy Apple and Pear, available in 6-packs for $7.99-9.99 (varies per market). All four core styles are also available in the Orchard Explorer Variety Pack, available nationwide for a suggested retail price of $14.99-$17.99 (varies per market).
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