Cider has become one of those drinks everyone’s talking about…

In recent years cider has drastically increased in popularity, stealing the limelight from the old favourites of beer and pre-mixed drinks. It’s so popular sales are growing by over a third each year! Accordingly, cider has been positioned to be THE hip drink with savvy consumers and craft producers alike jostling to be in on this latest craze.

With the fashion for cider in full swing, there has been a proliferation of brands and sub-brands that has left many bewildered by the dizzying array of options. Once astute cider-swillers now find themselves having to hunt through cordial-like concoctions or water-weak perrys to get to the real jewels. Here’s our guide to help you reconcile the differences between bland mass-produced products and the craft or traditional gems:

While there are many esoteric or highly specific practices conducted within the world of cider, the true battle lies between corporate manufacturers and craft/traditional producers. It is a battle with flavour and authenticity at its core. Indeed, it is this all-important battle that will determine the ciders we drink into the future and whether they have been rendered bland and unexciting by mass production.

In order to comprehend these two camps, one must broadly understand the differences in their production. One of the key contrasts can be noted in the producer’s regard to their base, raw materials. There is a broad range of apple varieties that can be used to make cider and this will vary from region to region.

However, with a few exceptions, traditionally made ciders are a blend of varieties, allowing a grower to achieve an optimal balance of sweetness, acid and all important tannin. These varieties are broken into four loose groupings; sharp, sweet, bittersharp and bittersweet. Much of the art and style of a producer rests on the blending of the varieties.

A craft producer that takes great pride in their apple selection is Small Acres, based in Orange. Many foreign small producers will be restricted in using only a narrow selection of apple varieties (according to their appellation). However, many larger companies blend in a proportion of eating apples for cost effectiveness. This differing regard, highlights why many commercial ciders display generic ‘appley’ taste without a great deal of complexity or interest.

Traditional producers have a great affinity with the land they occupy, understanding their existence as a symbiotic relationship with their surrounds. This can be seen in their production techniques, whereby after crushing the apples, natural yeasts found on the skins of the apples are utilised to start fermentation. This makes for a longer fermentation period in which multiple strains of natural yeast are encouraged to produce a broad range of flavours and aromas.

An example of such natural cider is Cidrerie d’Anneville’s ‘Traditional’ cider. Because of the varying natures of the producer’s environment, naturally occurring yeast strains vary from location to location, lending to the notion of regionality and the specificity of the cider’s landscape. Conversely mass-produced brands prefer to ‘inoculate’ with yeast strains manufactured in laboratories which ultimately provide a simple and predictable product.

Another key factor influencing quality, is how much manipulation the producer subjects their apple juice to. Firstly, it is worth noting that not all commercial producers use fresh juice. Many companies, including Strongbow and 5 Seeds, use a concentrate to create their ‘apple flavour’ (and I use inverted commas intentionally). It almost goes without saying that the flavours and aromas have been muted by the industrial process of concentration, producing an inferior product to its fresh cousin. Other big brands will use only 35% apple juice as opposed to the 100% of craft or traditional producers. Such brands will add cane sugar and malic/ citric acid to boost the sweetness and acidity of the final product. One should be careful to note that this not a sweetness or acidity associated with ripeness or variety and accordingly, this artificial sugar/acid is devoid of flavour.

Such manipulated ciders display a weak flavour profile which is hung on a sugar/acid tension with no supporting flavours. Indeed, these additions actually taste artificial, and become flavours at odds with the supposed natural ingredients within.

Perhaps the final contrast between these two styles/scales of production can be understood in regard to carbonation. In commercial facilities, carbon dioxide produced during fermentation is collected and stored to be later artificially reintroduced into the cider. This is quite detrimental to the mouthfeel of the cider and will produce aggressive, easily displaced bubbles that break easily.

Traditionally, some ciders would go through a second fermentation in bottle which dissolves the carbon dioxide into the cider. Accordingly, the bubbles are small, consistant and with a fine, uplifting bead. The correct carbonation is important as it creates for the drinker a sensation of lightness and freshness which is beyond the capability of acid additions.

As you can see, there is a world of difference between the standardized production of many big name brands, and traditional or craft producers.

If it is true that great wine is made in the vineyard then it is equally true that great cider is made in the orchard. Traditional producers understand this bond to the land and the care taken in the production shows in the final quality of the product.

Silly cider facts:

• In the 14th Century children were baptised in cider, it was cleaner than the water!
• Farm workers’ wages in earlier times included four pints of cider a day.
• Captain Cook carried cider on his ships to treat his crew for scurvy.
• In the 19th Century cider was advertised as a cure for the gout and other illnesses.
• 45 per cent of all UK apples are now used to make cider.