What does it look like?

• Clarity: clear, cloudy, hazy, bright
• Color: white, straw, amber, golden, copper
• Depth: applied to overall perceptions (pale, dark, light, deep, dense)
• Sparkling: whether cider is carbonated or still, mousse (how persistent is effervescence, long-lasting or short-lived)
• Tears: also called "legs"; clear liquid clinging to side of glass, like teardrops
• Viscosity: syrup-like consistency when swirled in glass

What does it smell like?

• Cidery: unique, distinctive, cider-like characteristic of many ciders using traditional cider apples
• Winey: wine-like, vinous, bouquet
• Pear drops: intense pear aroma; might even smell like a banana
• Estery: sweet-solvent, banana, acetone, chemical-like, artificial fruity-floral aroma
• Floral: perfumed, fragrant, like flowers
• Spirituous: like alcohol; hot, burning, heady; possible rum, whiskey, or brandy characteristics
• Piquant: pungent, sulfuric, like a burnt match, prickling, stringing, tangy; can be due to fermentation at high temperatures of excessive use of sulfites
• Yeasty: bread-like aroma caused by cider sitting on its lees (spent yeast) for an extended period of time; may be described as "meaty"

• Bittersweet apple: may be described as low, heavy, or thick; fruity note characteristic of traditional cider apples, like the non-woody smell under apple trees
• Berry fruits: strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blackcurrant
• Culinary apple: fresh, acidic, high fruity notes, like Granny Smith apple
• Citrus fruit: lemon, grapefruit, orange, orange peel
• Pear: fresh, ripe pear
• Dried fruit: raisins, sherry-like (possibly even nutty), prunes, dried figs, strawberry jam
• Summer/stone fruits: peach, plum

• Grassy: fresh-cut grass, fresh green leaves
• Elderflower: like elderflowers (herbaceous, not floral); can be "catty" at high concentrations (not necessarily a bad thing)
• Vegetative: like vegetables; at low levels, may add positive complexity, but a high concentrations it can be sulfury and unpleasant
• Hay/straw: hay, straw, dried, grass, dried leaves
• Nutty: brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, marzipan
• Mousy: cider disorder caused by lactic acid bacteria; smells and tastes like the bottom of a rodent's den

• Caramel: burnt sugar, toffee, molasses
• Butterscotch: buttery, diacetyl; in moderation and in certain regional styles it contribues to flavor, but can be unpleasant in large concentrations
• Vanilla: vanilla, custard
• Syrupy: maple syrup
• Honey: honey!
• Confectionary: candy, bubblegum, fruit-flavored candy

• Spicy: cloves, allspice, nutmeg, black pepper, licorice, cinnamon
• Woody: seasoned wood, resinous, cedarwood, fresh sawdust, woodchips, fir needles; oaky like Chardonnay 
• Phenolic: smoky, wood fires, tar, medicinal, leathery
• Moldy/musty: unpleasant smell sometimes compared to damp cardboard or sherry; due to oxidation of over-filtration

•  Sweet: sugary; could be from the sugar left or added fermentation
• Acidic: sour, sharp, tart; makes you salivate
• Salty: like salt
• Bitter: quinine, tonic water, black coffee
• Acetic: a smell and sharp taste like vinegar, solvent, or acetone/nail polish remover; caused by acetic or lactic acid bacteria (sometimes very desirable).

 STEP 5. MOUTHFEEL 

• Body: the "middle" of weight of a mouthful of cider; thin, medium, full body
• Warming: hot, fiery in the mouth, warm at back of throat
• Creamy: like cream, thick-soft
• Metallic: a tinny or coppery taste caused by exposure to certain metals (generally not desired)
• Astringent: mouth-puckering, drying sensation, like sucking on a tea bag, tannic
• Powdery: dusty, chalk