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
Three new seasonals from nonstop cider-churner Woodchuck. Let’s dive in to three very different expressions! Woodchuck Private Reserve Cherry Barrel Aged Hard Cider – Made from Michigan cherries and aged in Napa cabernet sauvignon barrels. Crisp and tart cherry from start to finish, with just a hint of nutty character and some malt for…
Not a lot of mystery in this one: Take apple cider, add some spicy peppers, and serve. Sweet-meets-spicy can often go horribly awry, but Woodchuck manages to keep both sides in check and turns in a capable, if unsurprising cider sipper. The up-front is a bit on the sugary side — more apple Jolly Ranchers…
You won’t find his name anywhere on the bottle, but Wildcide (and Aurum Cider Co., which makes it) comes to us from Dan Gordon, founder of Gordon Biersch. His first cider, it is pressed from Fuji, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, and Golden Delicious varieties. As ciders go, Wildcide is decidedly not wild and is instead…
Crispin’s latest limited edition cider is made from Colfax apple wine, aged in dark rum casks, and finished with wildflower honey and “dark candi syrup” — a fancy type of caramel that’s usually used in beermaking. What does the name mean? It comes from Treasure Island, meant to evoke pirates and buried treasure — and rum,…
Two limited edition ciders and one very limited reserve release from Sonoma Cider. These ones aren’t exactly my favorites, but maybe the descriptions will entice your palate… Sonoma Cider The Crowbar – Dry cider, flavored with lime and habanero. Surprisingly spicy, with intense lime notes and quite a peppery punch behind it. It’s altogether a bit…
Three new seasonal, rare, and “reserve” ciders from Woodchuck, all built with the summer in mind. Thoughts follow. Woodchuck Lazy Hazy Lemon Crazy Summer Shandy Hard Cider – Not like any shandy I’ve ever had. The apple is quite sour and overbearing, not really letting any lemon character shine through at all. The initial palate…
It’s time for two new ciders from Vermont-based Woodchuck. Here they are. Woodchuck Cheeky Cherry Hard Cider – Fresh apple melds with tart, sour cherry notes in this surprisingly balanced cider, which offers nothing unexpected aside from those two simple notes — apple to start, cherry to finish — but which drinks more like a…
Most of the cider we see here at Drinkhacker — which seems to be growing week by week — hails from Washington state or thereabouts. Sidra Fran is based in the Asturias region of Spain — and rarely does it travel far from home. Imported cider? Here it is, and it’s a far different experience…
Vermont-based Woodchuck makes well over a dozen ciders. Recently we received this sample of Hopsation, a traditional apple cider that is infused with Cascade hops. As someone who’s hardly a cider fanatic, Hopsation is a surprisingly drinkable concoction. Some of that bitterness from a dosing of hops is just what that overly sweet-and-sour cider character…
Any product that tries to pull off the play on words by subbing “cinn” (meaning cinnamon) for “sin” is already off to a bad start, and Angry Orchard’s cinnamon-infused apple cider doesn’t do much to change directions. The light touch of cinnamon on this cider — evident primarily on midpalate as just a dusting of…