50 free Cider trivia questions with answers — food & drink quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Cider is fermented apple juice, and the British drink more of it per head than anyone on earth, so this quiz starts in the West Country: scrumpy, wassailing the trees, the Long Ashton apple classification, Percy Bulmer's first press in a Herefordshire rectory, Strongbow's Norman knight, and the white cider that became the cheapest alcohol in the country. Then it goes abroad. Asturian sidra poured from head height, Basque cider houses and the shout of txotx, Normandy's Calvados and pommeau, Frankfurt's tart Apfelwein, Quebec's ice cider, Laird's applejack in New Jersey, Johnny Appleseed's sour seedlings and the American meaning of 'apple cider' that has nothing to do with alcohol. Perry, Babycham, snakebite and the Wurzels get their turn, along with the chemistry of tannins, keeving and racking, and the legal minimums for apple juice in Britain and the US. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on cider, its regional traditions and the brands and drinks around it, so the dates, percentages and names are solid.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which region has the world's highest per-capita cider consumption?
The British Isles
It is also home to the largest cider-producing companies.
Q 02The word 'cider' traces back through Latin and Greek to which language's word for 'intoxicating liquor'?
Hebrew
In Old English the drink was simply æppelwīn, apple wine.
Q 03Which Roman's 55 BC invasion of Britain, where he found Celts fermenting crab apples, gives the first record of cider?
Julius Caesar
His retreating troops are said to have carried the idea back across Europe.
Q 04Under UK law, cider must contain at least what percentage of apple juice?
35%
CAMRA's 'real cider' standard is 90% fresh juice; the US minimum is 50%.
Q 05In which country must cider by law be made solely from apples?
France
Alcohol ranges from 1.2% to 8.5% or more in English ciders, and up to 12% on the continent.
Q 06What is the name for the dry apple pulp left after pressing, traditionally fed to farm animals?
Pomace
White cider is made from it, which is why it is almost colourless.
Q 07Cider is fermented at a relatively cool 4-16°C; what advantage does this give?
Slower fermentation and less loss of aroma
The yeast is usually Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sometimes the cultivated S. bayanus.
Q 08What is 'racking' in cider making?
Siphoning the liquor off the yeast into a clean vat
Vats are then filled to the brim to keep out the acetic bacteria that would turn cider to vinegar.
Q 09The Long Ashton Research Station classified cider apples in 1903 by tannin and the level of which acid?
Malic
The categories are sweet, sharp, bittersweet and bittersharp.
Q 10Which of these is a classic bittersweet cider apple variety used in heritage ciders?
Dabinett
Modern ciders use culinary apples such as Gala and Fuji; heritage ciders lean on bittersweets for tannin.
Q 11West Country cloudy, unfiltered cider is called scrumpy, from a dialect word 'scrump' meaning what?
A small or withered apple
Farm labourers in Devon, Somerset and Dorset were once part-paid in a daily cider allowance.
Q 12Devon colic, which plagued cider drinkers in the 17th and 18th centuries, was a form of what?
Lead poisoning
It vanished after a campaign to remove lead parts from cider presses; in Herefordshire lead salts were even added as a sweetener.
Q 13Percy Bulmer made his first cider in 1887, aged 20, using apples from the orchard of what?
His father's rectory
Q 21Ciders from which three English counties share an EU Protected Geographical Indication awarded in 1996?
Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire
Their perry has the same protection; most perry pear varieties come from around May Hill.
Q 22What is the drink made by fermenting pear juice rather than apple juice?
Perry
Enthusiasts object to it being labelled 'pear cider'; in France it is poiré.
Q 23Babycham, launched in Somerset in 1953, was the first alcoholic drink to do what?
Be advertised on British commercial TV
His brother Fred turned down a job tutoring the King of Siam's children to join him.
Q 14Bulmers is based in which English city?
Hereford
It has held the Royal Warrant since 1911 and is now owned by Heineken.
Q 15Strongbow, launched by Bulmers in 1960, is named after which figure?
A Norman knight, Richard de Clare
His nickname supposedly came from his heavy use of archers in Ireland.
Q 16By 1970 Strongbow was the world's second-best-selling cider behind which Bulmers stablemate?
Woodpecker
Heineken announced plans to take Strongbow global in 2011.
Q 17The Irish cider sold at home as Bulmers is sold in every other market under which name?
Magners
William Magner started making it in Clonmel in 1935; drinking it over ice is a marketing hallmark.
Q 18Which non-alcoholic apple soft drink, popular in Ireland, began life as a version of the Clonmel cider?
Cidona
It used to be a C&C brand.
Q 19British white cider such as White Lightning and Frosty Jack is made mostly from what?
Pomace and concentrate
Its low duty rate made it the cheapest commonly available alcohol in the UK.
Q 20Before the 2023 UK duty reform, above what strength did cider pay a higher duty rate?
7.5%
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.
Francis Showering's sparkling perry was also the first alcoholic drink aimed specifically at women.
Q 24West Country orchard wassailing hangs cider-soaked toast in the branches for which birds?
Robins
They represent the good spirits of the tree; a volley of gunfire through the branches scares off the bad ones.
Q 25On which date in the Christmas season does orchard wassailing traditionally take place?
Twelfth Night
The aim is to wake the trees and ensure a good autumn crop.
Q 26The Wurzels' 1976 hit 'I Am a Cider Drinker' was a rework of which song?
Paloma Blanca
Their No. 1 'The Combine Harvester' reworked Melanie's 'Brand New Key'; the genre is 'Scrumpy and Western'.
Q 27A snakebite is a drink of cider mixed in equal parts with what?
Lager
Add a dash of blackcurrant and it becomes a snakebite and black, or a Diesel.
Q 28Which Spanish region produces more than 80% of the country's cider?
Asturias
Its 54 litres per person per year is probably the highest consumption of any European region.
Q 29How is Asturian sidra traditionally served?
Poured from a height into a wide glass
The technique, escanciar un culín, whips air into the still cider for a fleeting sparkle.
Q 30In a Basque sagardotegi, what happens when someone shouts 'txotx'?
Everyone goes to the barrels for cider
The traditional menu is cod omelette, steak, then cheese, quince jelly and nuts.