Susanna Forbes - The Cider Insider: The Essential Guide to 100 Craft Ciders to Drink Now

CIDER & PERRY FLAVOUR GUIDE

To help you navigate your way, we have given each cider and perry one of the following flavour descriptions:

PERRY

Of course, its own world. As it should be. Sublime. From lemon-infused wine-like offerings through to elegantly sparkling French numbers that reshaped the cider world.

BRIGHT & FRESH

Where acidity and dry characteristics lead the way, heres where the unsweetened paragons appear alongside those from regions where cider tannins are not the norm.

FRUITY & FUN

A dash of sweetness helps accentuate the fruit in your glass, so here youll find the keeved ciders, and those backsweetened, whether by Tate & Lyle or apple juice.

RUSTIC & STRUCTURED

Heres where cider tannins rule and the farmyard peeps through the door.

VIVA ESPAA

In Spain, cider is a way of thinking. While Spain produces many styles, its best known for its tangy, sassy food-friendly ciders.

DRAMA & DIFFEENCE

Heres where you find the ciders breaking boundaries. Those embracing hops or flirting with fruits.

ICE MAIDENS

Its own little world, the ice ciders and perries of ciderland.

Cider resonates with some but for many, it is seemingly hard to define.

At its simplest, it is fermented apple juice. At its best it is a glorious drink, reminiscent of bucolic sun-drenched countryside and orchards. Wassail-blessed trees that usher in the blossom of spring. Then through the growing season of summer sun and rain, swelling the fruit till the autumn harvest sees the orchards once again stripped of apples, to be crushed and pressed so that more cider can be made.

Cider that harnesses the aroma of ripe apples, both flesh and skin, with a depth and intensity of flavour that only apple tannins, acids and sugars can bequeath, is a drink that truly expresses terroir, robustness, yet finesse and character.

Susanna has made a determined effort to locate many of these wonderful ciders. Travelling here, there and everywhere, and with the assistance of many cider friends, she has assembled a fine collection from all over the ever-expanding world of cider.

Harnessing her considerable experience of writing about the drinks trade for many years and her own personal quest to make cider with her husband James at Little Pomona in Herefordshire, she is ideally placed to capture this brave new world.

Throughout history, the documentation of cider has been poor, if not non-existent. The current resurgence in the making, drinking and interest in cider (and perry) has heralded a need to record this vibrant, refreshing new turn of events. This book is a snapshot in time of the variety and qualities of ciders from around the world.

So drop what you are doing, grab a bottle, ease the crown cap or cork off, pour some cider and read about what is happening now.

Join us in this celebration of the greatest drink. It is about to find its way back to the glory days of the 1800s and beyond. Susannas book The Cider Insider is the perfect guide you need to find out about the apple, the orchard, the maker and blender in short, cider.

Cheers.

Tom Oliver

Olivers Cider & Perry, Herefordshire

Holding this green-and-red flecked apple in my hand, its awe-inspiring to think how much such a small and seemingly simple piece of fruit has contributed to the world. Whether you call it apfelwein, sidra, sagardoa or cider, everyone from peasants to presidents has drunk this golden liquid.

But why does cider differ so markedly depending on where you are? Apple and pear trees grow predominantly in two bands above and below the equator, 3550N and 3045S. Certainly there are style preferences and cultural differences in production but, equally importantly, the difference comes from the genetic fickleness of the apple. Seedlings do not relate to their parents, hence the thousands of different apple varieties.

Genetic analysis around a decade ago confirmed that the domestic apple (Malus domestica) is descended from apple cultivars still found in the forests of Kazakhstan (Malus sieversii). From there, the apple spread throughout the world, evolving as it went. And thats where the fascination begins.

I began this book with the idea of sharing the beauty of the cider I had discovered when I began exploring its English heartlands a decade or so ago. But the book became more. This odyssey has become the story of communities seeking to reconnect with the depth that a well-crafted cider offers, the sorts of flavours on offer before the mass-market production of cider took over. Theres no denying the refreshment potential of cider. But this friendly fruit, with its intricate interplay of sweetness, tang and sometimes tongue-teasing tannins, offers more. Cider deserves to be on your dinner table. To entertain your senses as well as to quench your thirst.

Cider is, after all, apple wine. It oozes terroir. Yes, you can transport apples and juice across land and sea, but ultimately cider speaks of the landscape, the climate and the culture from where it emanates. A Kingston Black from Australia will taste different to one from Somerset.

We can all crush apples and leave the juice to ferment naturally. So what makes a great cider? Ultimately its balance. That interplay between acids, sweetness, texture and tannins. A great cider is also about eliciting subtlety. Coaxing complexity. Knowing when its right not just to harvest but also when to finish fermenting. What to blend. And when to bottle. Finally, its allowing the newborn cider the time to come into its own before release. For those who need a brief refresher on the .

Thats what this book bears witness to: the skills and the knowledge that only time and dedication can bring to bear. This book isnt a historical tome or a How to guide. Thats covered brilliantly elsewhere see for a few of my favourites. This is a snapshot of the scene today, designed to enable you to begin your own quest. To track down the ciders that make you sing. To meet the makers. Perhaps even to inspire you to craft your own cider.

This book is dedicated to all who shared their stories with me the cidermakers and the orchardists and their ciders. Relentlessly inspiring, every one deserves your attention. And its dedicated to you, the reader. This is just the beginning.

Happy hunting

Susanna Forbes

Little Pomona Orchard & Cidery

EXPLORE

Cider Museum, Hereford: cidermuseum.co.uk

Cider & Perry Academy: Peter Mitchell, cider-academy.co.uk

National Association of Cider Makers: cideruk.com

National Perry Pear Centre: nationalperrypearcentre.org.uk

South West of England Cidermakers Association: sweca.org.uk

The Orchard Project: theorchardproject.org.uk

Three Counties Cider & Perry Association: thethreecountiesciderandperryassociation.co.uk

Welsh Cider & Perry Association: welshcider.co.uk

Apple Day, October: commonground.org.uk/apple-day

Blossomtime, Harvestime, The Big Apple Association: bigapple.org.uk

Cider Salon, June: cidersalon.co.uk

Royal Bath & West Show, May/June: bathandwest.com/royal-bath-and-west-show

Andrew Lea: eminent cidermaking authority, cider.org.uk

Bill Bradshaw: cider globetrotter, billbradshaw.co.uk/cider

Gabe Cook: The Ciderologist, theciderologist.com

Nothing quite prepares you for the moment you walk into the final gallery on the ground floor of the Cider Museum in Hereford. Youve been welcomed by the friendly staff, gone past some bucolic murals, and smocks for the kids, glanced at an old stone mill. Then you see them: cabinets that glisten with sparkling stemware and cut-glass decanters from the 18th century. Reminders of the time when cider and perry graced the tables of nobility and royalty as well as replenished the workers.