Did you know that today is World Cider Day? Held on June 3 for the last 10 years, World Cider Day was launched by members of the Association of Apple Wine and Fruit Juice Press Houses in Hesse, Germany.
According to the official World Cider Day website, the objectives of the celebration is to “provide an international platform for all apple cider nations”, one where “apple cider lovers, apple cider press houses, apple cider innkeepers and retailers from all over the world can link and provide information on activities and events on World Cider Day in their countries own language and where they can post their promotions themselves”.
Well, in other words, it’s an excuse to drink cider and be merry. Or perry, if pear-based cider is what you’re after.
The website goes on to say that cider is enjoyed in “over 20 countries, from Argentina and Australia through Lithuania and Latvia to New Zealand and Canada”, which I’m assuming refers mainly to those countries that actually produce cider, or rather apple cider, of a certain quantity and quality.
“Apple cider is drunk in Finland, too. And in Slovenia. In France, the UK, the US and, of course, in Spain. It is called siidera, jabolcnik, cidre, cider or sidra,” it adds. “All apple ciders have their regional characteristics: they are sour or sweet, carbonated or not, clear or opaque, they are available fresh from the barrel, in bottles or in cans.”
Anyway, it HAS been a while since I’ve written about cider here, so here are a few things you need to know about this fruity tipple.
The first thing one should know about cider is that it is not a beer. Yes, I know beer apps like Untappd allow you to check in to cider as well, but the fact is, cider is made of fermented apple or pear juice, while beer is usually made using malts and hops.
With beer, the brewer still needs to extract the starch from the raw material, and convert it into sugar that can be turned into alcohol. However, fruits already contain sugar, so after they are crushed, the brewer already has a liquid that can be fermented into alcohol.
Then there are fruit beers, some of which taste like apples as well, but are usually just beer with an infusion of fruits. In fact, cider is closer to wine than beer – if a drink is fermented from fruit alone, then it is classified as a cider or wine.
Traditionally, cider is made from apples, but there is no definitive style of cider. Britain is the biggest cider nation in the world, as they had a tradition for apple orchards there.
In fact, it is said that when the Romans invaded England around 55 BCE, the people there were already making and drinking cider from local apples.
According to the Untappd website, the word cider was historically used to mean everything from “strong liquor” to “liquor made from the juice of fruits:, but today it is usually used to refer to a “fermented drink made from apples.”
A cider producer once told me that while cider should be made from juice derived from fresh apples, what most commercial producers do is press the fruit and boil it to make a syrup concentrate. Then they just add water to the syrup and ferment it instead.
While most ciders tend to be made from apples, there are also ciders made from pears and other fruits. Both apples and pears contain a lot of sugar, so they were both suitable for making an alcoholic drink.
Traditionally, pear cider was actually called “perry”, and made with specific perry pear varietals that were usually not meant for eating, but rather, grown specifically to make perry.
Perry, although not as widely known as cider, has an equally long and illustrious history. It is the product of the fermentation of specific pear varieties, According to the official website of Britain’s National Association Of Cider Makers (NACM), perry was ”grown historically in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Somerset”. It also states that perry tends to be lighter and more floral than cider.
NACM also considers ‘Pear Cider’ as an “alternative term” for perry.
Then there’s the Black Velvet, where you mix Guinness and cider in a glass at a 3:1 ratio. The original Black Velvet is usually made with stout and champagne, but the stout and cider combo is also known as a Black Velvet in Britain and Ireland.
Another cocktail you can use cider with is the wassail, a punch-type drink that is traditionally consumed during Christmas, which involves mixing apple cider, pineapple juice, citrus herbal tea and spices such as cinnamon and cloves, and simmering the whole concoction for a few hours. The traditional wassail recipe actually uses sherry, but cider versions are common too.
While it is generally frowned upon to add ice to beer, feel free to do so with your cider, as it is best drunk when super cold, so that it tastes crispier. Just make sure you drink it quickly and not leave the ice to melt, or the cider will be watered down. The ice is just there to make sure it’s cold.
Apple Fox: Produced by Heineken Malaysia, Apple Fox is a cider that was supposedly inspired by New Zealand’s cider makers. It was launched in Malaysia in 2017.
Somersby: Launched in Malaysia in 2012, Somersby is produced by Carlsberg Malaysia “from real apple juice” and other than its original apple flavour, also has three ‘flavoured’ ciders – Watermelon, Blackberry, and Passion Fruit And Orange, as well as a non-alcoholic version, Somersby Apple 0.0.
Craft ciders: There are also several craft ciders available in Malaysian craft beer bars and stores, including the tasty Albens range, which is brewed in Bali, Indonesia, Hawkes Urban Orchard Apple Cider by British craft beer producers BrewDog, and others like New Zealand’s MorningCider and Canada’s Collective Arts.
Michael Cheang wonders if a cider a day will also keep the doctor away. Follow him on Facebook (fb.com/mytipsyturvy) and Instagram (@MyTipsyTurvy).
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