50 Fun Facts About Cider

Which region has the world's highest per-capita cider consumption?

It is also home to the largest cider-producing companies.

The word 'cider' traces back through Latin and Greek to which language's word for 'intoxicating liquor'?

In Old English the drink was simply æppelwīn, apple wine.

Which Roman's 55 BC invasion of Britain, where he found Celts fermenting crab apples, gives the first record of cider?

His retreating troops are said to have carried the idea back across Europe.

Under UK law, cider must contain at least what percentage of apple juice?

CAMRA's 'real cider' standard is 90% fresh juice; the US minimum is 50%.

In which country must cider by law be made solely from apples?

Alcohol ranges from 1.2% to 8.5% or more in English ciders, and up to 12% on the continent.

What is the name for the dry apple pulp left after pressing, traditionally fed to farm animals?

White cider is made from it, which is why it is almost colourless.

Cider is fermented at a relatively cool 4-16°C; what advantage does this give?

The yeast is usually Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sometimes the cultivated S. bayanus.

What is 'racking' in cider making?

Vats are then filled to the brim to keep out the acetic bacteria that would turn cider to vinegar.

The Long Ashton Research Station classified cider apples in 1903 by tannin and the level of which acid?

The categories are sweet, sharp, bittersweet and bittersharp.

Which of these is a classic bittersweet cider apple variety used in heritage ciders?

Modern ciders use culinary apples such as Gala and Fuji; heritage ciders lean on bittersweets for tannin.

West Country cloudy, unfiltered cider is called scrumpy, from a dialect word 'scrump' meaning what?

Farm labourers in Devon, Somerset and Dorset were once part-paid in a daily cider allowance.

Devon colic, which plagued cider drinkers in the 17th and 18th centuries, was a form of what?

It vanished after a campaign to remove lead parts from cider presses; in Herefordshire lead salts were even added as a sweetener.

Percy Bulmer made his first cider in 1887, aged 20, using apples from the orchard of what?

His brother Fred turned down a job tutoring the King of Siam's children to join him.

Bulmers is based in which English city?

It has held the Royal Warrant since 1911 and is now owned by Heineken.

Strongbow, launched by Bulmers in 1960, is named after which figure?

His nickname supposedly came from his heavy use of archers in Ireland.

By 1970 Strongbow was the world's second-best-selling cider behind which Bulmers stablemate?

Heineken announced plans to take Strongbow global in 2011.

The Irish cider sold at home as Bulmers is sold in every other market under which name?

William Magner started making it in Clonmel in 1935; drinking it over ice is a marketing hallmark.

Which non-alcoholic apple soft drink, popular in Ireland, began life as a version of the Clonmel cider?

It used to be a C&C brand.

British white cider such as White Lightning and Frosty Jack is made mostly from what?

Its low duty rate made it the cheapest commonly available alcohol in the UK.

Before the 2023 UK duty reform, above what strength did cider pay a higher duty rate?

Under the old regime still cider between 1.2% and 7.5% paid the low rate and 7.5-8.5% a higher one; by volume of alcohol, cider duty was lower than on any other drink.

Ciders from which three English counties share an EU Protected Geographical Indication awarded in 1996?

Their perry has the same protection; most perry pear varieties come from around May Hill.

What is the drink made by fermenting pear juice rather than apple juice?

Enthusiasts object to it being labelled 'pear cider'; in France it is poiré.

Babycham, launched in Somerset in 1953, was the first alcoholic drink to do what?

Francis Showering's sparkling perry was also the first alcoholic drink aimed specifically at women.

West Country orchard wassailing hangs cider-soaked toast in the branches for which birds?

They represent the good spirits of the tree; a volley of gunfire through the branches scares off the bad ones.

On which date in the Christmas season does orchard wassailing traditionally take place?

The aim is to wake the trees and ensure a good autumn crop.

The Wurzels' 1976 hit 'I Am a Cider Drinker' was a rework of which song?

Their No. 1 'The Combine Harvester' reworked Melanie's 'Brand New Key'; the genre is 'Scrumpy and Western'.

A snakebite is a drink of cider mixed in equal parts with what?

Add a dash of blackcurrant and it becomes a snakebite and black, or a Diesel.

Which Spanish region produces more than 80% of the country's cider?

Its 54 litres per person per year is probably the highest consumption of any European region.

How is Asturian sidra traditionally served?

The technique, escanciar un culín, whips air into the still cider for a fleeting sparkle.

In a Basque sagardotegi, what happens when someone shouts 'txotx'?

The traditional menu is cod omelette, steak, then cheese, quince jelly and nuts.

Germany's tart Apfelwein is chiefly produced and drunk around which city?

It is known regionally as Ebbelwoi, Viez or Saurer Most and runs to 5.5-7% alcohol.

In Breton crêperies, cider is traditionally served in what?

France's cidre comes mainly from Normandy and Brittany.

Calvados is apple brandy from which French region?

It is made throughout the region, not just in the Calvados département.

Which Calvados appellation, granted in 1942, requires double distillation in a pot still?

The Domfrontais appellation of 1997 requires at least 30% pears.

Pommeau, the Norman apéritif, is made by blending Calvados-style brandy with what?

The spirit stops the juice fermenting and the blend takes on the character of the barrel.

Ice cider, made from frozen apples, originated in which Canadian province?

Winemaker Christian Barthomeuf created it in 1989, inspired by German ice wines.

Applejack was traditionally made by concentrating cider through which process?

'Jacking' leaves the water behind as ice; the drink was once called Jersey Lightning.

Applejack was first produced in 1698 by William Laird in which colony?

Laird & Company of Scobeyville is still the oldest licensed applejack distillery in the US.

Johnny Appleseed's seed-grown apples were mostly too sour to eat; what were they good for?

Ohioans over 15 drank an average of 30 gallons of hard cider a year in the early 1800s.

In the United States and Canada, what does the phrase 'apple cider' usually mean?

The alcoholic drink is 'hard cider'; the soft version is served at Halloween and Thanksgiving, often mulled.

Angry Orchard, credited with putting cider into US restaurant chains, is owned by which brewer?

Its 60-acre orchard is in New York's Hudson Valley.

In East Asia, what does 'cider' usually refer to?

In Japan the alcoholic drink is called 'cidre' to tell it apart.

Which Swedish brand, from a town famous for a rare postage stamp, became a best-selling UK cider?

Swedish law bars anything with under 15% juice being sold as cider in shops.

Somersby cider was launched in 2008 by which brewer?

It debuted in Denmark at 4.7% with a sweet taste.

Savanna and Hunters are the two big cider brands of which country?

The Elgin Valley east of Cape Town grows about 60% of the country's apples.

In which South American country is sidra the go-to fizzy drink at Christmas and New Year?

Uruguay's 'fizz' ferments other fruit juices with cider.

Cider making in northern Italy collapsed under fascism because of a law protecting what?

It banned industrial fruit-based drinks under 7% ABV.

Laurie Lee's 1959 memoir Cider with Rosie is set in Slad, a village in which county?

Rosie was later revealed to be his distant cousin Rosalind Buckland.

Michael Caine's second Oscar came for The Cider House Rules (1999), set in an orphanage in which state?

John Irving won Best Adapted Screenplay for adapting his own 1985 novel.

John Worlidge's 1676 cider treatise Vinetum Brittanicum championed which new technique?

Bottling had come into vogue in the 1630s once glass was strengthened with coke.