Craft cider to us means it’s from small independents and it’s been made with skill and passion so that the cider is interesting and authentic.
Everyone has their supermarket go to brand and that’s fine, because it fits in your day to day budget. All cider has a place and purpose, but not all cider is of the same quality. Just like how you wouldn't treat Stella the same as a craft beer, these ciders are completely different to your supermarket shelf regulars and are worth discovering.
Did you know that legally, cider in the UK is only required to have 35% of apple juice content? That means your drinks are diluted with A LOT of water and a LOT of sugar is added back in. Most craft cider makers use 100% juice or near enough to it. If you want to learn more about this we recommend our friends at Caledonian Cider’s blog post here.
Now, we are not cider makers but on our excellent cider academy course we learnt a thing or two, so here’s a quick breakdown for you:
HARVESTING
🍏 In autumn they shake the trees in the orchard and collect the apples
🍎 You’ll pretty much always know where the apples have come from with craft cider, with commercial ciders you can’t be so sure.
MILLING & PRESSING
🍏 It's now time to get rid of any rotten apples, squish the rest to separate the pulp into liquid and pomace. And there you have it, fresh pressed apple juice!
🍎 In your commercial ciders your likely find its from concentrate.
FERMENTATION
🍏 It’s time for it to become alcohol! Yeast ferments out the sugar and your cider starts out bone-dry (fun fact!).
🍎 This is where commercial ciders dilute the goods!
MATURATION
🍏 Let the cider relax and develop overtime (could be weeks or years).
🍎 And this is where they rush the process with high temperatures.
BLENDING
🍏 This is where the magic happens for craft cider, and creativity know's no bounds for our makers.
🍎 Unfortunately in commercial cider this is where un-listed additives and syrups can be thrown in to make it really sweet!
PACKAGING
🍏 Cider can remain still or transform to sparkling with added CO2 or by doing it within the bottle itself. It’s then bottled, canned or put in a box ready for us to consume!
🍎 Unfortunately there’s no regulations that enforce listing the ingredients on the labels so you never really know just what’s in there. But they'll without a doubt tell you it's ‘premium’......
As you can see commercial ciders don’t have time for science, nature, innovation and quality, their purpose is high volume cheap products. So if you were wondering why craft cider costs more before this, we hope you understand now. If you’re interested in learning more about how cider is made I do suggest further reading, it’s very interesting and complex and this was certainly just a simple breakdown!
Cider is special to us, it is an art and here at CiderSub we hope to give it (and the cider makers) the showcase they deserve.
Don't forget to check out what craft cider boxes we have available!
Recommended reading: Ciderology by Gabe Cook