Cider

Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. The juice of most varieties of apple (including crab apples) can be used to make cider, but cider apples are most desirable. The addition of sugar or extra fruit before a second fermentation increases the ethanol content of the resulting beverage.

Cider is widely available in Britain, particularly in the West Country, and Ireland. Together, they have the world's highest per capita consumption and the largest cider-producing companies. Ciders from the South West of England are generally higher in alcoholic content. Cider remains traditionally popular across the Anglosphere, such as India, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the United States (particularly in New England and the Midwest).

Etymology In Old English, an alcoholic beverage made from apples was simply called æppelwīn ("apple wine"). The word cider is first mentioned in Middle English in biblical use as sicer, ciser ("strong drink", "strong liquor") in the 13th century and as sither(e) / cidre "liquor made from the juice of fruits"T. F. Hoad, English Etymology, Oxford University Press, 1993 , p. 76b. → "beverage made from apples" in the 14th century. It was probably first borrowed from Old French primitive form sizre "fermented beverage" (Eadwine Psalter, LXVIII, 14) and then from another younger French form cistre, later sidre, cidre "beverage made from fruits".

The specific meaning "fermented beverage from apples" appears in Old French for the first time by the Norman chronicler Wace in 1130 / 1140 (Wace, conception de Nostre Dame).Site du CNRTL : étymologie de cidreDictionnaire historique de la langue française, sous la direction d'Alain_Rey, réédition 2010, Tome I, p. 719b. The Old French word * () is from Gallo-Romance * found in Medieval Latin by the English author Alexander Neckam (Neckam, De nominibus utensilium). It is an altered form of Church Latin "fermented drink", itself borrowed from Greek , ultimately from Hebrew , "intoxicating liquor".

The cognates in the different Romance languages : Spanish, Portuguese , Italian , etc.,Jean Perrot, La linguistique éditions « Que sais-je ? » n° 570, Introduction in the Germanic languages : German Zider,Gerhard Wahrig, Deutsches Wörterbuch, Mosaik Verlag GMBH, München, 1986 (Neuausgabe), p. 1464a. etc. are all from French and Breton , Welsh (through an English form) probably too. By the 19th century, in the United States, cider referred to the expressed juice of apples, either before fermentation as sweet cider, or after fermentation, a hard cider.

Geography and origins

Cider is an ancient beverage. The first recorded reference to cider dates back to Julius Caesar's first attempt to invade Britain in 55 BCE, when he found the native Celts fermenting crabapples. He would take the discovery back through continental Europe with his retreating troops. In the cider market, ciders can be divided into two main styles: standard and speciality. The first group consists of modern ciders and heritage ciders. Modern ciders are produced from culinary apples such as Gala. Heritage ciders are produced from heritage, cider-specific, crab, or wild apples, like Golden Russet. Historically, cider was made from the only resources available to make it, so style was not a large factor when considering the production process. Apples were historically confined to the cooler climates of Western Europe and Britain, where record-keeping was not yet common. Cider was first made from crab apples, ancestors of the bittersweet and bittersharp apples used by today's English cider makers.

English cider featured a drier, higher-alcohol-content style, made in open fermentation vats from bittersweet crab apples. The French developed a sweet, low-alcohol "cidre" taking advantage of the sweeter apples and the keeving process. Cider styles evolved based on the methods used, the apples available and local tastes. Production techniques, as with most technology, were developed by trial and error. In fact, the variables were too numerous to track, including spontaneous fermentation, vessel types, environmental conditions, and apple varieties. Refinements came much later when cider became a commercial product, and the process was better understood. However, as cider popularity grows, the production of speciality styles has increased.

Cider alcohol content varies from 1.2% to 8.5% ABV or more in traditional English ciders, and 2.5% to 12% in continental ciders. In UK law, it must contain at least 35% apple juice (fresh or from concentrate), although CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) says that "real cider" must be at least 90% fresh apple juice. In the US, there is a 50% minimum. In France, cider must be made solely from apples. Perry is a similar product to cider made by fermenting pear juice. Cider can be distilled into fruit brandy.

In the US and Canada, varieties of alcoholic cider are often called "hard cider" to distinguish it from non-alcoholic apple cider or "sweet cider", also made from apples at cider mills. In Canada, cider cannot contain less than 2.5% or over 13% absolute alcohol by volume.

Appearance and types

The flavour of cider varies. Ciders can be classified from dry to sweet. Their appearance ranges from cloudy with sediment to completely clear, and their colour ranges from almost colourless to amber to brown. The variations in clarity and colour are mostly due to filtering between pressing and fermentation. Some apple varieties will produce a clear cider without any need for filtration. Both sparkling and still ciders are made; the sparkling variety is the more common.

Modern, mass-produced ciders closely resemble sparkling wine in appearance. More traditional brands tend to be darker and cloudier. They are often stronger than the mass-produced varieties and taste more strongly of apples. Almost colourless, white cider has the same apple juice content as conventional cider but is harder to make because the cider maker must blend various apples to achieve a clearer liquid. White ciders tend to be sweeter and more refreshing. They are typically 7–8% ABV in strength. Black cider, by contrast, is a dry amber cider with an alcohol content of 7–8% ABV.

Cider styles

Modern ciders

Modern ciders are made from culinary apples and are lower in tannins and higher in acidity than other cider styles. Common culinary apples used in modern ciders include McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Granny Smith, Gala, and Fuji. A sweet or low alcohol cider may tend to have a strong aromatic and flavour character of apple, while drier and higher alcohol ciders will tend to produce a wider range of fruity aromas and flavours. Modern ciders vary in color from pale to yellow and can range from brilliant to a hazy clarity. Clarity can be altered through various cider-making practices, depending on the cider maker's intentions. There are even Rosé ciders made from apples with red skins and flesh.

Heritage ciders

Heritage ciders are made from both culinary and cider apples, including bittersweet, bittersharp, heirloom, wild, and crab apples. Common apples used in heritage cider production include Dabinett, Kingston Black, Roxbury Russet, and Wickson. Heritage ciders are higher in tannins than modern ciders. They range in colour from yellow to amber, from brilliant to hazy. Clarity of heritage ciders also depends on the cider-making practices used and will differ by cider maker as well.

In Canada, some cideries market "Loyalist-style" ciders, which are notably dry and made with McIntosh apples, a Canadian heritage varietal.

Speciality style ciders

Speciality-style ciders are open to much more manipulation than modern- or heritage-style ciders. There is no restriction on apple varieties used, and the list of speciality styles continues to expand. Listed on the USACM Cider Style Guide, speciality styles include: fruit, hopped, spiced, wood-aged, sour, and iced ciders. Fruit ciders have other fruit or juices added before or after fermentation, such as cherries, blueberries, and cranberries. Hopped cider is fermented with added hops, common hop varieties being Cascade, Citra, Galaxy, and Mosaic. Spiced ciders have various spices added to the cider before, during, or after fermentation. Spices like cinnamon and ginger are popular to use in production. Wood-aged ciders are ciders that are either fermented or aged in various types of wood barrels to aid in the extraction of woody, earthy flavours. Sour ciders are high-acid ciders that are produced with non-standard, non-Saccharomyces yeast and bacteria, which enhance acetic and lactic acid production, to reach a sour profile. Ice ciders can be made by using pre-pressed frozen juice or frozen whole apples. Whole apples either come from the orchard frozen, depending on the harvest date, or are stored in a freezer prior to pressing. When pre-pressed juice or whole apples freeze, sugars become concentrated and largely separate from the water. Whole apples are then pressed to extract the concentrated juice. For the pre-pressed juice, the concentrated solution is drawn off during thawing. However, according to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), cider producers may label a product 'Ice Cider' only if it is made from apples that are naturally frozen outdoors.

Two styles not mentioned in the USACM Cider Style Guide are Rosé and Sparkling Cider. Rosé cider can be produced from apple varieties that have reddish-pink pulp, like Pink Pearl and Amour Rouge. Rosé ciders can also be created through the addition of food-grade red dyes, previously used red grape skins, like Marquette with high anthocyanin concentration, red fruits, rose petals, or hibiscus. Lastly, sparkling ciders can be produced through methods of direct carbonation, addition of carbon dioxide (CO2), or by Méthode Champenoise to re-create the traditional Champagne style.

Specific cider styles Specific cider styleClarityColorApple typeAdjunctsAlcohol byvolume(ABV)New WorldClear to brilliantPale to medium goldCulinary, wild, crabapplesNone5–8%EnglishSlightly cloudy to brilliantMedium yellow to amberBittersweet, bittersharpNone6–9%FrenchClear to brilliantMedium yellow to amberBittersweet, bittersharpNone3–6%New EnglandClear to brilliantPale to medium yellowNew EnglandNone7–13%ApplewineClear to brilliantPale to medium goldUnspecified apple typesNone9–12%Cider with other fruitClear to brilliantColor varies, color additives appropriate to appearance of added fruitUnspecified apple typesFruit or fruit juice9–12%Ice ciderBrilliantGold to amberUnspecified apple types; fruit is frozen prior to pressing or a frozen juice concentrate is usedNone7–13%Cider with herbs/spicesClear to brilliantColor varies, color additives appropriate to appearance of added botanicalsUnspecified apple typesHerbs and spices5–9%WhiteClear to brilliantVery pale, nearly clearApples with pale juice, juice decolorised with charcoal filterNone6.5–8.4%BlackUnspecifiedRange of amber shadesUnspecified apple typesHops, malted barleyUnspecified

Production

Crushing and pressing

Apples grown for consumption are suitable for cider making, though some regional cider-makers prefer to use a mix of eating and cider apples (as in Kent, England), or exclusively cider apples (as in the West Country, England and West of England). There are hundreds of cultivars developed specifically for cider making.

Once the apples are gathered from trees in orchards, they are scratted (ground down) into a pulp. Historically, this was done using pressing stones with circular troughs, or by a cider mill. Cider mills were traditionally driven by hand, water, or horsepower. In modern times, they are likely to be powered by electricity. The pulp is then transferred to a cider press where the juice is extracted.