© Shutterstock

What is cider? -

Cider (referred to as "hard cider" in the United States) is made from the fermented juice of apples.

© Shutterstock 

Cider apples -

The juice of most varieties of apple can be used to make cider, but cider apples are best. Cider apples are distinguished from "cookers" and "eaters," or dessert apples, by their bitterness or dryness of flavor, qualities which make the fruit unpalatable but can be useful in cider making.

© Shutterstock 

Color and flavor -

Ciders can be classified from dry to sweet, and their flavors vary. Their appearance ranges from cloudy with sediment to completely clear, and their color ranges from almost colorless to amber to brown.

© Shutterstock 

Still or sparkling? -

Both sparkling and still ciders are made; the sparkling variety is the more common, and has remained the most popular choice for decades. Indeed, modern, mass-produced ciders closely resemble sparkling wine in appearance. This cider label from 1895 markets its product as a "sparkling champagne cider."

© Getty Images 

Cider's origins -

Cider is an ancient beverage. It's unclear when and where it was first made, but what is known is that cider was first made from crab apples, ancestors of the bittersweet and bitter-sharp apples used by today's English cider makers.

© Getty Images 

Celts and cider -

There is evidence that Celts in Britain made cider from crab apples as long ago as 3000 BCE.

© Shutterstock 

Arrival of the Romans -

By the time the first Romans sailed to the British Isles in 55 BCE, the locals were regularly drinking a cider-like drink made from crab apples. Pretty soon the visitors were doing the same. In fact, the Romans introduced apple cultivars and orcharding techniques to England. Not long afterwards, cider spread throughout the Roman Empire and across Europe.

© Getty Images 

Horse-drive cider press -

Originally, horses were used to press apples. Harnessed, the animal would walk in a circle which in turn would lower the pressing stone to pound the crop.

© Getty Images 

Mechanical cider press -

Later, a primitive mechanical press was developed, which still required considerable elbow grease to operate. During harvest, as much as 200 sacks of apples could be pressed like this every day.

© Getty Images

The roots of the word 'cider' -

Sakar is Arabic for strong drink. The ancient Greeks called their strong drink sikera. It's suggested that the English word "cider" is descended from the French "cidre." But it could also have originated directly from the Latin "cisera."

© Getty Images 

Cyder or Syder? -

In England, variations on the word "cider" are evident right up to the end of the 19th century, as this poster advertising Devonshire cyder and published in 1899 clearly illustrates.  The alternative word "syder" was also commonplace.

© Getty Images 

Cider production in the UK -

Cider has been made in regions of the United Kingdom where cider apples were grown since Roman times; in those regions, it is intertwined with local culture. Today, the UK is the major producer of cider in the European Union. It also drinks the largest quantities of cider in the world! Pictured is the title page of 'Vinetum Britannicum,' an early publication on the subject of cider making, published in 1678.

© Public Domain 

Cider tradition -

There are two broad main traditions in cider production in the UK: the West Country tradition and the eastern Kent and East Anglia tradition. Kent, a county known as the "Garden of England" for its abundance of orchards, is also a major hop producing region. Pictured: farmers using a portable cider maker in Somerset in 1934.

© Getty Images 

West Country -

The West Country region of the UK includes the counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Devon, Dorset, Cornwall, and Somerset. There are over 25 cider producers in Somerset alone, many of them small family businesses. Pictured: cider makers in Wiltshire tasting the fruits of their labor in 1937.

© Getty Images 

Scrumpy -

Cloudy, unfiltered ciders made in the West Country are often called "scrumpy," from "scrump," a local dialect term for a small or withered apple. Stronger in alcohol and more tannic than most commercial ciders, a glass of "rough," as it was also called back in the day, was known as the customary drink of farm laborers in the west of England.

© Getty Images

UK cider producers -

Large cider producers in the West of England include Thatchers Cider in Sandford, Somerset, and Bulmers (the producer of Strongbow) in Hereford. Pictured is an advertisement for Bulmer's cider (written in the possessive), published during WWI in 1915. Apparently it "wards off gout and rheumatism."

© Getty Images 

Introduction of cider in America -

Cider was introduced to America by the earliest colonists. Beer was the drink of choice for locals, but the Europeans had a hard time cultivating the grains and barley needed to brew it. However, the nascent apple orchards of New England that they seeded provided the raw material for making cider.

© Getty Images

New England -

Very soon, colonial New England became the core cider producing hub. Up until then, cider was poured as a gravy-brown, syrupy-sweet drink favored by those with an uncultured palate. But this new beverage was boozy and tasty. So, what was the trick?

© Getty Images 

Hard cider -

By fermenting apples into hard cider, the colonialists were able to produce a drink ripened with flavor and able to remain fresh and usable for far longer than raw fruits. As a bonus, the alcohol content made cider safer to drink than much of the suspect colonial drinking water supplies.

© Getty Images

Johnny Appleseed (1774–1845) -

John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and parts of present-day West Virginia. Despite his reputation as the man who supplied America with its most beloved of pie fillings, Appleseed originally created his orchards to meet the demands of cider suppliers, not pie bakers, according to Smithsonian magazine.

© Public Domain 

Cider production in France -

France was one of the countries that inherited a knowledge of apple cultivation from both the Celtic Gauls and the later Romans. French cidre is produced predominantly in Normandy and Brittany. It varies in strength from 3% to 5%.

© Getty Images 

Sweet, dry, and strong -

In France, you can enjoy several varieties of cider, most of which are sparkling. Cidre Doux is a sweet cider, usually up to 3% in strength. Demi-Sec is 3–5%, and Cidre Brut is a strong dry cider of 4.5% alcohol and above.

© Getty Images 

Cidre Bouché -

Higher quality French cider is sold in Champagne-style bottles (cidre bouché). Pictured being carefully poured is Cidre Bouché Brut de Normandie Comte Louis de Lauriston.

© Getty Images 

How to drink cider -

In crêperies (crêpe restaurants) in Brittany, cider is generally served in traditional ceramic bowls (or wide cups) rather than glasses.

© Shutterstock 

Cider production in Spain -

The making and drinking of cider is traditional in several areas of northern Spain, mainly Galicia, the Principality of Asturias, Cantabria, and the Basque Country. 

© Getty Images

Asturias -

The largest producer of cider in Spain is the Atlantic region of Asturias. In fact, Asturias amounts to more than 80% of the whole production of Spain.

© Getty Images

Cider as part of culture and folkore -

In Asturias, cider is considered not only a beverage but an intrinsic part of its culture and folklore. It's often served with a wedge of Cabrales cheese (pictured), also produced in the region.

© Shutterstock 

Basque cider -

Cider produced in the Basque region of Spain is traditionally served at sagardotegi (cider houses) and poured straight out of the barrel. You need a steady hand to catch it!

© Getty Images

Popular in Ireland -

Cider is also a popular drink in Ireland. Bulmers dominates sales in the Republic of Ireland, and is sold as Magners in Northern Ireland.

© Getty Images 

Wassailing -

The tradition of wassailing refers to the ancient custom of visiting orchards in cider-producing regions of England, reciting incantations and singing to the trees to promote a good harvest for the coming year. Traditionally, the wassail is celebrated on Twelfth Night (variously on either January 5 or 6) when a beverage of hot mulled cider is passed around.

Sources: (Smithsonian Magazine)

See also: Surprising uses for apple cider vinegar

© Getty Images