Flavoured cider

Tags: Cider

Additional fruits, flavours and spices

The category or style of flavoured ciders is a contentious one and now accounts for a third of all the cider consumed in the UK. There are a number of flavoured ciders available in the UK market that do not represent the best of cider. But that doesn’t mean that all flavoured ciders should be tarred with the same brush. History shows us that other natural flavourings have been added to cider for centuries. Today, there are many excellent exponents of ciders made with the addition of fruits, hops, herbs and spices. In this guide Gabe helps us navigate flavoured ciders.

Gabe Cook

With 10+ years of experience working in the cider industry, Gabe is leading the charge for a cider revolution. AKA ‘the Ciderologist‘ Gabe is an international consultant, writer, broadcaster, and educator on all matters cider. Resident cider expert for C4’s Sunday Brunch. Gabe also chairs the International Cider Challenge.

Tens of apples pilled on top of each other; ©2016, Bill Bradshaw Photography

There have been three great battlegrounds for cider over the course of the last 25 years or so. The first has pertained to juice content, with the fact that until 11 years, there was no quantity of apple juice legally required in order for a drink to be labelled or taxed as a cider. That was a food quality standards issue of USA chlorinated chicken proportions. Thankfully a minimum standard was set in 2010, but at only 35%, it is still pretty minimum.

Secondly, the great championing by CAMRA over the last four decades for Real ciders only being able to be presented ‘live’ to the consumer without any form of stabilisation beyond natural conditioning. It was always understandable that CAMRA would wish to this, to uphold the oldest of traditions and to align with the Real Ale definition, but not all makers endorsed this prescriptive ideology. However, reflecting the major changes in the drinks landscape over the decades, CAMRA has recently launched a new definition of what constitutes Real Cider & Perry which states:

CAMRA defines real Cider or Perry as being fermented from the whole juice of fresh pressed apples or pears, without the use of concentrated or chaptalised juices

This removes the stipulation for Real Cider having to be live, although pointers to best practice still encourage ‘live’ ciders, as well as those being dry and with natural carbonation.