Cider
Cider is made by fermenting apple juice and is an extremely popular drink in the UK and in the Normandy and Brittany regions of France, though it is also made in many other countries. In the U.S. there are two types of cider. In all other countries, cider is by default an alcoholic beverage, but in the U.S. non-alcoholic apple juice is also called cider, with the alcoholic variety typically called hard cider to distinguish it from the juice variety. U.S. sales of cider are slowly increasing, with an expansion in the numbers of craft cideries and improved quality, but it still lags a very long way behind beer. Cider has also traditionally been a local drink, varying regionally with the type of apples grown, although today apples are more easily imported. Most U.S. cider apples originate in Washington state, regardless of where the cider is made, and increasingly ciders are being barrel-aged or flavored with herbs, spices, or other fruit.
Top Cider Posts:
Martinelli’s 1868 Hard Cider
2015 Ferme de Romilly Cidre Brut and Demi-Sec
Strongbow Hard Apple Ciders
Woodchuck Hard Cider’s latest foray into boozy appledom is a planned collection of ciders called the 802 Collection. The concept: All ciders in the lineup will be made with only Vermont-grown apples. All varieties in this collection will be traditional ciders made with only fresh pressed Vermont juice from our orchard partners. One of our…
Sweden’s Rekorderlig is known(ish) for its pear ciders, and now it’s out with a new expression built around the more familiar apple — this one with a “hard” twist. “Higher alcohol, lower sugar” is the sell here: At 6.5% abv, it’s considerably higher than the typical 4.5% or 5% abv that’s typical of the category.…
Who knew that the Apple Macintosh computer was named after a variety of apple? Well if you’re Canadian, maybe you did, as the McIntosh is the country’s national apple. Did you know you had a national apple? The variety was first discovered by one John McIntosh, growing in his orchard near the U.S. border in…
Since its inception in 1868, most of us have known Martinelli’s as the guys behind those little hand grenades of apple juice that our kids gobbled down whenever they were in reach. If you were fancy, a bottle of sparkling Martinelli’s was just the thing when you weren’t supposed to be drinking. Well, grown-ups, good…
November 18 is National Cider Day — and that means recognizing that not every cider has to come in a brightly colored can or in a bottle featuring an animal or a pun on the label. Ferme de Romilly (“Romilly Farm”) is real cider — “cidre” — from Normandy, France, one of the world’s most…
The cider freaks at Woodchuck never stop messing around with different ways to present fermented apples and pears, with this trio of offerings their latest on tap. As apple season arrives in full force, let’s dig in. Woodchuck Bubbly Pearsecco Dry Hard Cider – Quite dry — surprisingly so, really — this cidery recreation of…
Ready for something kooky? Like, really kooky? Anyday Rose is not rose wine, but rather a blend: It’s actually 85% cider, 15% rose wine, with the resulting combo flavored with Cascade and Citra hops. So it’s a cider/wine combo, doctored up to taste a little like beer. What? The brainchild of former NFL player Pat McAfee…
Erin James really loves cider, and based on this book, she appears to know more about the category than anyone else on earth. This boldly colorful guide walks readers through this vastly complicated — and rapidly growing — category, starting with a history of cider and a digest of how it is made, including a…
You’ve got rose wine, why not rose cider? That’s the thinking anyway behind Crispin’s latest, a new year-round cider that is made from “real rose petals, hibiscus, and an elegant blend of fresh-pressed juices made from hand-picked apples and pears from the Pacific Northwest.” Unabashedly designed with women in mind, Crispin Rose is indeed quite…
Virtue Cider’s Michigan Harvest is an entry-level cider, “made from all sorts of Michigan-grown apples, fermented deep in our cool cellar and aged in French oak, then blended with this year’s fresh-pressed juice.” (The similar-sounding Michigan Apple, not reviewed here, is also a semi-dry cider but is made from different types of apples.) The cider is…