Month: January 2019

Traditional cider—the kind made from 100% fermented apple juice, as it has been for thousands of years in Europe—was America’s first alcoholic drink, and was one of the most popular drinks in the 19th century. But somewhere between Prohibition, urban migration, and the ease at which other drinks, like beer, can be mass-produced, cider earned a reputation as a backwoods drink, or worse, as an “easier” alternative to beer.

Cider continued to be the country’s most popular alcoholic drink through the 19th century until beer surpassed cider in production at the turn of the 20th century. After Prohibition began, many of the orchards were abandoned, and cider never recovered.

William Henry Harrison Campaign (9th U.S. President)

When Harrison ran for president in 1840, cider had so many happy associations that he made it part of his campaign. He passed the stuff out at rallies while supporters sang, to the tune of “Yankee Doodle Dandy”:

With Harrison our country’s won
No treachery can divide her
Thy will be done with Harrison
Log Cabin and Hard Cider!

He totally won.

Fortunately, the United States is in the midst of a cider renaissance and cideries have started opening almost as quickly as breweries in some parts of the country.

Source: https://food52.com/blog/9609-the-history-of-cider-in-the-united-states?fbclid=IwAR2fSlE_RLIzhzUpU4ZOrglYo9S0KvgTsmLjMrCnTuaignF_ZPPaasZ6JVY

Cider making is a popular tradition across Europe.

In France cider or ‘cidre’ is largely a low-alcohol beverage with a mellow full flavour, while further south in Spain citrusy ‘cidra’ is all the rage.

Ever-popular in the UK bars are ciders hailing from Sweden. Made primarily with apples, Swedish ciders come in a whole heap of fruit flavour like apple and blackcurrant, lemon and lime, and mixed berry. These tend to be a lot sweeter than the ones we’re used to.

Pear is also a popular cider flavour among the bottled drinks but that’s not to be confused with Perry. Where pear flavored cider is made mostly with apples, perry is a beverage made entirely with pears specifically grown and harvested for a delicate summery drink.

Cider is very popular in USA and Asian Countries (In Singapore Cider is one of the most popular drinks).

Cider is also produced in Russia, where one of the biggest player is the brand “St. Anton” (http://yablochny-spas.ru/produktsiya/)

The production of crafted cider is growing across Ukraine which started in 2016.

You can find newly emerged local cider pubs such as:

• Tolsty Lev: https://www.likealocalguide.com/kyiv/tolstyi-liev-tolsty-lev
• Trolleybus pub: https://www.likealocalguide.com/kyiv/pab-tralliebustrolleybus-pub
• Cooper pub: https://www.likealocalguide.com/kyiv/cooper-pub
• And many other cider pubs.

Georgian “Kvevri” technology can be used to produce high quality cider !

Example:

One of the most famous winemaker in Virginia (US State) “Castle Hill”, is making 5 star cider with Georgian Traditional “Kvevri” Technology

Source: https://www.amerikiskhma.com/a/american-cider-made-in-georgian-kvevri/4023564.html

Information by Dr. Murli Dharmadhikari (Director of the Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute at Iowa State University)

Making fruit wines can be economically rewarding. A certain segment of the population enjoys these wines. A winemaker can produce high quality fruit wines as a specialty product and benefit from this existing niche in the marketplace. Compared to grape wines most of the fruit wines take less time to process and, therefore; the capital is tied up for a shorter period of time. This translates into a quicker return on invested capital. Fruit wines can also be made during a less busy time (after grape harvest) of the year, thus permitting efficient use of winery facilities. Sometimes a decision to make a fruit wine is made because surplus fruit is available at a very attractive price. Often in such cases, the fruit quality is poor and the appeal of low prices can induce a winemaker to produce mediocre wine that he or she would not otherwise make if the price were not so cheap. Although the price of the raw material is an important consideration, it should not be the sole criteria. Remember that the cost of the raw material is a small portion of the total cost, and devoting valuable resources to produce a poor to mediocre product amounts to underutilized or even misuse of precious resources. The important point is that the choice of making fruit wine should be based on sound business reasons.

Which Fruits?

There are a variety of fruits suited to making a good quality wine. The fruits commonly used for making wine are: Apple, pear, peach, plum, cherry, strawberry, blackberry, raspberry and blueberry. The choice of fruit depends upon several factors. These include: market demand, availability of raw material, production facilities, and sound economic reasons.

In Missouri, apple, cherry and berry wines are commercially produced and, therefore; these production techniques merit some discussion. This article deals with apple wine. In the next issue we will discuss wines from other fruit.
Raw material-Generally, locally grown apples which are in surplus after meeting fresh market demands are used for making juice and wine. It is important that the fruit be sound, i.e., free of decay or rot and well mature. Unripe or immature fruit should not be used since it is high in starch, acid, and astringency; and low in sugar and flavor. On the other hand, overly mature fruit can be low in fresh and fruity flavor, difficult to process and also difficult to clarify.
Many apple varieties can be used for making wine. Generally the choice is largely governed by locally available fruit. The amount of fruit constituents such as sugars, acids, phenolic compounds, color and flavor vary considerably among the apple varieties. It can be difficult to obtain a single variety which would contain all of the important constituents in an ideal proportion. For this reason a combination of varieties should be used to obtain the most desirable composition in the juice and wine. To achieve a good blend it is necessary to know the fruit composition of locally available varieties. Once this information is known, blending can be done to obtain desired results.
For example, Mcintosh and Golden and Red Delicious varieties are considered rich in aroma, crabapples are relatively more astringent, and varieties such as Jonathan, Northern Spy, Winesap and Baldwin usually have good acid levels. Combining aromatic and moderately acidic varieties in a blend is more likely to yield a pleasing wine.
Instead of processing apples, one can buy cider to make wine. In such a situation great attention must be paid to obtain only high quality juice. The cider must not be made of immature, inferior, or decayed fruit. It should have a rich apple flavor, good color and sugar, and astringent compounds in proper proportion.
Sometimes fruit concentrate is used for wine production. The concentrate is easy to store, requires less space, and can be processed when the winery operation is less busy or slow. When using concentrate, only high quality concentrate with good apple flavor should be used. The apple aroma of the juice from concentrate can be enhanced by blending it with fresh apple juice.

Source: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/wine/apple-wine

Cider will grow around 5% annually to reach over three billion litres in 2020 thanks to the category strengthening its position in the US, Australia and South Africa, a market report has said.

Over the next five years, an additional 640 million litres of cider will be consumed worldwide, and although the UK will hold its position as the market leader in cider consumption, the country’s share in the global cider market is shrinking.

A market report by Canadean expects the UK’s market share to decline from 41% in 2015 to 33% in 2020, losing most of it to the US, Australia and South Africa, where nearly 70% of the additional 640 million litres of cider will be consumed.

The US cider market – the third largest in the world – will grow at an average annual rate of 12% between 2015 and 2020, compared to an average global growth rate of just 5%.

Rakhee Sturgess, an analyst behind the report, said, “The launch of new and innovative ciders will cause this growth, as will the introduction of cider to new regions in the US. More consumers will discover the beverage and change from beer and other flavoured alcoholic drinks to cider.

“Tradition and culture are important in the promotion of ciders and will increase demand for products from the UK,” he revealed.

Growth will also be strong in the Australian cider market, with an average annual growth rate of 12% between 2015 and 2020, the report said.

“Super premium fruit flavours of Scandinavian cider brands like Kopperberg and Rekorderlig are driving the increased consumption in Australia. But growth is also caused by the introduction of mass market brands like Somersby at a far lower price point than typical branded ciders,” said Sturgess.

Craft ciders are also growing in popularity, with more apple producers returning to their roots and producing small-scale artisanal ciders.

Source: https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2015/06/cider-stretching-its-influence-outside-the-uk/

In the report, published by the bank’s Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory team, the bank says that consumption of cider has increased by 50% in the past decade. In addition to courting emerging cider markets such as the U.S., there remains significant room for expansion in the UK (the most developed cider market) where demographics and consumer preferences look set to support further increases in cider sales.

The report by Rabobank shows that the shape of the cider industry will be heavily influenced by the rise of the “hybrid consumer,” creating an industry in which the super-premium and value products flourish at the expense of the mainstream brands that dominate the present market.

Cider was traditionally a very small beverage category, but in the past ten years the industry has undergone a period of rapid expansion, posting an impressive average annual volume growth rate of 6%. Even so, cider sales are still outpaced by beer – even in the UK, consumption rates are just 20% of that of lager – meaning that there is ample room for the industry to expand.

Rabobank analyst Francois Sonneville comments, “The opportunity for cider companies is more than just simple expansion; behavioral patterns in their core demographic suggest that the ‘hybrid consumer’ trend will have a profound effect on the industry.

“55% of cider drinkers are women, most of whom are under 30 years of age. This so-called female millennial is the demographic most likely to exhibit hybrid consumer behavior, in which people eschew mid-market options in favor of brands at the extreme end of the product spectrum, switching between super-premium and value options as the occasion demands. The premium and mainstream cider brands that currently dominate the sector will need to differentiate themselves or risk losing share. These companies would be well-advised to follow the example of major U.S. brewers and invest in the super-premium segment at an early stage.”

Both the super-premium and value segments of the cider industry are underdeveloped, especially when compared to beer, where craft brewers flourish and cheap options account for up to 20% of the market. Super-premium cider companies face more cost disadvantages than microbreweries when compared to mainstream rivals; limited scalability, lack of tax breaks, and low availability of fruit all result in higher costs, which are hard to pass on to consumers in markets where cider is only just emerging. It is also difficult for the value segment to establish a cost advantage versus mainstream brands because of the strict regulation around the minimum fruit content which results in high input costs.

Despite these hurdles, the super-premium and value end segments are predicted to outgrow mainstream offerings in the long-term. The international premium brands that dominate the present market run the risk of getting stuck in the middle. Mainstream players that react early to the hybrid consumer trend, developing their own super-premium products and investing in strong branding should continue to flourish, facilitating the future growth of the cider industry.

Rabobank’s report on consumption trends in the global cider industry is available to media upon request.

Rabobank Group is a global financial services leader providing wholesale and retail banking, leasing, real estate services, and renewable energy project financing. Founded over a century ago, Rabobank is one of the largest banks in the world, with nearly $1 trillion in assets and operations in more than 40 countries.  In North America, Rabobank is a premier bank to the food, beverage and agribusiness industry.  Rabobank’s Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory team  is comprised of more than 80 analysts around the world who provide expert analysis, insight and counsel to Rabobank clients about trends, issues and developments in all sectors of agriculture.

Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rabobank-report-cider-consumption-soars-globally-214753371.html

Says author Jeff Altworth in his book, “Cider Making Easy: Everything About Your New Favorite Drink.”

America’s number one alcoholic beverage

Cider was considered to be the most popular drink in the country before the ban on alcohol and after the introduction of this law, a major part of apple orchards were either cut down or discontinued.

Fortunately, the US is in the midst of a cider renaissance and factories are building at a rapid pace.

Dan Pucci (Cider Sommelier) – “For me this is the perfect drink; “It has a clear acidity and is low in alcohol. It is pleasant to drink in the evening or at bedtime.”

Cider is especially popular among women.

Experts say “trust us”

Despite Cider’s current popularity, experts believe it will be even more exciting in a decade. Why? It takes exactly that much time to plant an apple orchard, which means more control over the quality of the apple, which will be “the beginning of a new cider age.”

You can buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1452134456/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2