Cider

• 1. Introduction

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  Cider, the alcoholic drink made from fermented apple juice, first appears in the written record in 55 BCE. That year Julius Caesar made his first attempt to invade Britain and found the native Celts fermenting crabapples. When his troops retreated, the discovery travelled back with them through continental Europe. Today the United Kingdom has the highest per capita consumption of cider in the world, along with the largest cider-producing companies. Yet nobody quite agrees on what the word covers. How do apples become a drink, and what does yeast living in a cellar have to do with the flavour? Why does one word name very different drinks in different countries? And who decides what counts as the real thing?

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• 2. Pressing and Fermenting

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  Cider begins with scratting, the old word for grinding gathered apples into a pulp. Almost any apple grown for eating will do. Kent, in England, favours a mix of eating and cider apples, while the West Country uses cider apples exclusively. Many hundreds of cultivars have been developed just for cider making. Historically the grinding used pressing stones with circular troughs, or a cider mill driven by hand, water-mill or horse-power. In modern times, electricity usually does the work.

  Sweet straw or haircloths, laid between stacked layers of pulp, are the traditional way to squeeze out the juice. Today a mechanised belt press can do the same job quickly. The juice is strained through a coarse hair-sieve and put into open vats or closed casks. The leftover solids, called pomace, are fed to farm animals as winter feed, composted, discarded or turned into liqueurs.

  A temperature of 4-16 degrees Celsius would be low for most fermentation, but it suits cider. The slower pace means fewer delicate aromas are lost. Shortly before the sugar runs out, the liquor is racked, meaning siphoned into new vats. That leaves dead yeast cells behind. The vats are filled completely so that airborne acetic bacteria cannot get in. The last of the sugar then makes a small amount of carbon dioxide, which forms a protective layer and a little carbonation. Racking can be repeated if the cider stays too cloudy.

  Three months of fermentation is enough to make cider drinkable, though it is more often matured in the vats for up to three years. Larger producers blend vats made from different apple varieties to match market taste. Bottled cider usually gets some extra sugar for sparkle. The champagne method gives higher quality, but it costs time and money and needs special corks, bottles and equipment. Some home brewers simply use beer bottles, which work perfectly well and let the cider carbonate naturally.

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• 3. Yeast and Chemistry

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  Saccharomyces cerevisiae does most of the work in a cider vat. It is a Crabtree positive yeast, which means it makes ethanol even when oxygen is present. Crabtree-negative yeasts in the same conditions produce only biomass and carbon dioxide. High alcohol tolerance gives Saccharomyces cerevisiae its edge, so ciders are commonly fermented to dryness. Fermentation carries on until someone stops it or the yeast run out of nutrients, which leaves a stuck fermentation. Some makers add cultivated strains such as Saccharomyces bayanus. Others let natural yeasts do the job.

  Wild fermentation is the traditional method. Many producers feel that the yeasts unique to their cidery give the drink a sense of terroir. The wild crowd is diverse and commonly includes Saccharomyces, Candida, Pichia, Hanseniaspora and Metschnikowia. People once believed these yeasts came from the orchard. Research found that microbes cultured from orchard apples do not match those present during fermentation. That points to the cidery itself as the sole source. The trade-off is variability, since it is harder to make several batches with the same character.

  Not every yeast is welcome. Brettanomyces species produce a volatile phenol called 4-ethyl phenol, which gives an aroma known as Bretty. People describe it as barnyard, horsey or bandaid. In wine that counts as spoilage. Many cider producers and consumers do not consider it a fault.

  Tannins, the polyphenols of apples, are largely implicated in cider quality because they control astringency and bitterness. Procyanidin B2 is one example. The better-known ciders typically have lower tannin levels, while traditional ciders have more. Acid matters just as much. Malic acid makes up around 90% of the acid in apples, and between 4.5 and 7.5 grams per litre is preferred in cider. Most ciders have a pH between 3.3 and 4.1. Malolactic fermentation converts malic acid into lactic acid, which rounds out the flavour, cuts acidity and produces carbon dioxide.

  Yeast assimilable nitrogen, known as YAN, is the nutrient that can end a fermentation early. A low crop load can yield juice with more YAN, because the nitrogen is concentrated in fewer apples. Starved yeast stop fermenting and die off, which suits makers who want some sugar left in the glass. Too little nitrogen, though, raises hydrogen sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs.

  A 2014 study measured the sugar in a one US pint bottle of mass-market cider and found 20.5 grams, about five teaspoons. That is nearly the daily amount of added sugar the WHO recommends for an adult. It is also 5-10 times the sugar in lager or ale.

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• 4. Cider Styles

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  Cider makers divide the market into two main styles, standard and speciality. The standard group splits again into modern and heritage. Modern ciders use culinary apples such as McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Granny Smith, Gala and Fuji. They are lower in tannins and higher in acidity than other styles. Heritage ciders draw on cider apples, heirlooms, wild apples and crabapples, with varieties such as Dabinett, Kingston Black, Roxbury Russet and Wickson. They carry more tannins. In Canada, some cideries sell Loyalist-style cider, which is notably dry and made with McIntosh, a Canadian heritage apple.

  Old national habits still show in the glass. English cider traditionally came drier and stronger, made in open fermentation vats from bittersweet crab apples. The French developed a sweet, low-alcohol cidre from sweeter apples and a process called keeving. Keeving slows fermentation by keeping nitrogen low. That retains esters and some residual sugar, which builds effervescence as the bottled cider ages. A published table of styles puts English cider at 6-9% ABV and French cider at 3-6%.

  Speciality ciders face far fewer limits, with no restriction on apple varieties. The USACM Cider Style Guide lists fruit, hopped, spiced, wood-aged, sour and iced ciders. Hopped ciders are fermented with hops such as Cascade, Citra, Galaxy and Mosaic. Spiced ciders often use cinnamon and ginger. Fruit ciders add cherries, blueberries or cranberries before or after fermentation. Sour ciders use non-Saccharomyces yeast and bacteria to push up acetic and lactic acid. Wood-aged ciders are fermented or aged in barrels for woody, earthy flavours.

  Two styles sit outside that guide. Rosé cider can come from red-fleshed apples such as Pink Pearl and Amour Rouge. It can also get its colour from red grape skins like Marquette, rose petals or hibiscus. Sparkling cider is made either by direct carbonation or by the Méthode Champenoise. White cider is nearly colourless and harder to make, because the maker must blend apples to get a clear liquid. It typically runs 7-8% ABV, the same strength as black cider, which is a dry amber cider.

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• 5. One Word, Many Drinks

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  The Norman chronicler Wace used the Old French word for a fermented apple drink somewhere between 1130 and 1140. That is the first appearance of the specific meaning. The word has a longer trail behind it. It starts with the Hebrew šēkār, meaning intoxicating liquor, which passed into Greek as sīkéra and into Church Latin as sicera. The English author Alexander Neckam used a Medieval Latin form in his De nominibus utensilium. Old French then had sizre and later cistre, sidre and cidre.

  In Middle English, sicer or ciser meant strong drink in the 13th century. By the 14th century, sither or cidre meant liquor from fruit juice, and later a beverage made from apples. Spanish and Portuguese sidra, Italian sidro and German Zider all come from French. So does Breton chistr. Welsh seidr probably arrived through English. By the 19th century in the United States, cider meant the pressed juice of apples, sweet before fermentation and hard after it.

  That split still lives in American speech. In the US and Canada, alcoholic cider is often called hard cider to separate it from sweet cider, which is non-alcoholic apple juice. In Canada the plain word usually means the alcoholic drink. In East Asia it usually means a soft drink similar to Sprite or lemonade. Japan uses cidre or apple sparkling wine for the alcoholic version, though both terms are now used interchangeably with the soda.

  Mexico sells two kinds of sidra. One is an apple-flavoured soft drink under brands such as Sidral Mundet, Manzana Lift and Manzanita Sol. The other is an alcoholic sparkling cider in champagne-style bottles. Pakistan has Apple Sidra and Big Apple, both non-alcoholic. In Chile, sidra means sparkling cider, while chicha de manzana is a homemade cider considered lower in quality. In Norway, carbonated soft drinks with no alcohol may also be marketed as cider.

  Parle introduced Appy Fizz in India in 2005, a filtered non-alcoholic carbonated apple juice. It became an instant hit, and the company wants to push the brand beyond the 10 billion rupee mark.

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• 6. Law and Loopholes

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  In UK law, a drink needs at least 35% apple juice, fresh or from concentrate, to be sold as cider. The Campaign for Real Ale, known as CAMRA, sets a higher bar for real cider at 90% fresh apple juice. The United States has a 50% minimum. France requires cider to be made solely from apples. The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code defines cider as a fruit wine of apples, with at most 25% pear juice.

  Sweden shows how a rule can reshape a shelf. Stores there cannot sell a drink with less than 15% juice under the name cider. Those bottles carry the label Äpple-/Pärondryck med Ciderkaraktär, meaning apple or pear beverage of cider character. The Swiss draw the line at more than 70% juice. New Zealand goes the opposite way, with standards that do not even set a minimum for apple juice. Ready to drink beverages cannot be sold in supermarkets there, so brewers market low-juice, sweet, flavoured drinks as cider to get around the restriction.

  Canada requires that cider be an alcoholic fermentation of apple juice with no less than 2.5% and no more than 13% alcohol by volume. Yet the ingredients that may be added fall into 17 different categories of foods, chemicals and gases. Quebec is stricter, and cider sold there can only be made from 100% pure apple juice. Cider making in Quebec was once forbidden from the early years of British rule, because it conflicted with the interests of established brewers, most notably John Molson.

  Laws have also pushed cider out of existence. In northern Italy, cider declined markedly under fascist rule, after a law banned industrial production of fruit-derived alcoholic drinks of less than 7% ABV to protect wine producers. Switzerland counted 28.1 litres of cider consumption per person at the turn of the 20th century. In the 1920s, pasteurisation of apple juice and the temperance movement led to a strong decrease in production.

  Norway offers a similar story. Production along Hardangerfjorden and Sognefjorden thrived between 1890 and 1920, and then regulation and the introduction of Vinmonopolet in 1921 reduced commercial production. A law of 1975 prohibits advertising of alcoholic beverages above 2.5% ABV. In 2016 a new law opened up direct sales from producers, and by 2022 there were 130 brands of Norwegian cider. In Poland, Minister of Economy Janusz Piechociński supported a draft law in the summer of 2014 to legalise television cider advertising, but in vain.

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• 7. Spirits and Cousins

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  Calvados is made throughout Normandy, not just in the Calvados département. It comes from cider by double distillation. The first pass produces a liquid of 28-30% alcohol, and the second raises it to about 40%. Brittany has its own version in Lambig. The Domfrontais, in the Orne, is famous for its pear cider, and its calvados is made from both cider and poiré.

  Applejack is the North American answer. Traditional freeze distillation means leaving a barrel of cider outside through the winter. When the temperature is low enough, the water freezes. Remove the ice, and a more concentrated alcoholic solution is left behind. Repeat the process often enough in cold enough weather, and the strength reaches 20-30% alcohol by volume. Applejack can also be made by true evaporative distillation, and home production is popular in Europe.

  Ice cider, or cidre de glace, originated in Quebec and was inspired by ice wine. It is a Canadian speciality that can fetch high prices on the international market, and it is now made in England too. Its alcohol runs 9-13% ABV. Canadian producers freeze the apples naturally outdoors. In Europe and the United States, a similar product may come from artificial indoor freezing, though often not under the name ice cider.

  Pommeau is a popular apéritif in Normandy. It blends unfermented apple juice with apple brandy in the barrel. The high alcohol of the spirit prevents the juice from fermenting, and the blend takes on the character of the aged barrel.

  Babycham, a sweet perry sold in miniature champagne-style bottles, was once popular in the UK as a women's drink but has become unfashionable. Cyser is a blend of honey and apple juice fermented together. The Roman cookbook De re coquinaria by Apicius, in Book II, includes a recipe calling for quince cider. Cider also goes into cocktails, such as the kir Breton, which pairs cider with cassis, and the snakebite. In one version of the Black Velvet, cider replaces champagne. Apple cider vinegar, noted for its high acidity and flavour, is yet another descendant.

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• 8. Rituals and Regions

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  Every January in western Britain, apple trees are wassailed with an offering of cider and bread, meant to protect the fertility of the orchard. The tradition appears to be ancient, and superficially dates back to the pre-Christian Early Medieval period. The word wassail itself comes from the Saxon phrase wæs hæil, a Yuletide toast. In autumn, the abundance of fruit explains the custom of bobbing for apples.

  In Asturias, in northern Spain, people pour sidra in very small quantities from a great height into a wide glass. One arm holds the bottle extended upwards and the other holds the glass extended downward. The technique is called escanciar un culín, and it puts air bubbles into the drink for a champagne-like sparkle that lasts a very short time. Asturias accounts for more than 80% of Spanish cider production and drinks about 54 litres per person each year, probably the highest of any European region. In the Basque Country, sagardoa is drunk in a sagardotegi, a cider house where it is poured from barrels. Since the 1980s, government and gastronomic associations have worked to revive that culture.

  Brittany's crêperies serve cider in ceramic bowls rather than glasses. Austria has the Mostheuriger, a farm inn serving cider and traditional fare. In Ireland, Bulmers dominates sales, and advertising encourages drinking it over ice. Outside the Republic of Ireland, the same cider is branded Magners. At Christmas and New Year, Argentina and Brazil reach for sidra as the traditional sparkling choice of the middle and lower classes. Mexico now drinks cider on Christmas Eve with family and champagne on New Year's with friends.

  In Poland, people drank 2 million litres of cider in 2013, about 1% of annual alcohol sales, and sales more than doubled from the previous year. South Africa's Elgin Valley, east of Cape Town, grows around 60% of the country's apples and has a vibrant craft cider scene. Almost 90% of all Sxollie cider is exported, and its Pink Lady Cider won Supreme Champion at the International Cider Challenge in 2019. Windermere Cider began brewing in 1994, and is regarded as the oldest craft cider brewery in South Africa. In 2021, Loxtonia's Alexandra Blush Méthode Traditionelle was named Supreme Champion at the 11th International Cider Challenge in London.

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