Cider types, styles and families
Since cider is such an ancient beverage, over time it has developed across different regions in many different ways. Due to this, it is hard to define clear categories and styles of ciders as they might overlap at times.
One way of viewing ciders is by styles based on regions, as detailed by Gabe Cook in his book “Ciderology”.
Some of the most common styles are:
- English West Country – generally made with traditional West Country cider-apple varieties, this style of cider has roots traceable to Medieval times, with characteristics ranging from fruity to spicy medicinal and earthy.
- English East Country – differently from West Country cider, this style is made with cooking, eating and heirloom apples (not traditional cider apples). This style of cider is really agreeable and very wine-alike
- French – traditionally made in Normandy and Brittany regions, this style of cider is made with keeving method and rains natural sweetness
- Spanish – made with traditional local cider apples from the northern Spain regions of Galicia, Basque country, Navarro, Cantabria and Asturias (predominantly this last one); it’s generally dry cider with a strong presence of acidity that makes it vibrant and light to the palate.
Another way of categorising ciders is based on the making process, like Felix Nash chooses in his book “Fine Cider”.
- Still: non-sparkling cider, arguable the most common cider on the market and the greatest expression of terroir and fruit characteristics
- Pet nat: shortened version of Pétillant Naturel (french for naturally sparkling), Pet Nat is the fermentation without any added sugar and the presence of sediments in the bottle
- Traditional method: aka Methode Champenoise or Champaign Method, it’s bottled fermented (bottled conditioned) type of cider, where a secondary fermentation is made to happen inside the bottle; traditional method ciders are often higher in alcohol than Pet Nat ones
- Keeved: typical of Normandy region, this type of cider undergoes a process that stops the cider from fully fermenting, so that it retains some natural fruit sugar from the juice
- Ice cider: very common in Scandinavian regions, this style of cider is made by freezing the juice or the fruits before fermentation, so that the juice results in higher sugar concentration and creates particularly sweet ciders with higher than average percentage ABV.
- Hybrid: this type of ciders don’t follow rules and it’s exactly the point; these ciders are experimental and made with a mix of styles, methods or ingredients.
Additional cider categories worth keeping in mind are:
- Fruits & Flowers: Made with a base cider from tannic or acid-dominant apples, but with the addition of fruit flavours other than apples and pears (i.e. strawberry, blackcurrants, watermelon, elderflowers, etc.), typically post fermentation.
- Herbs & Spices: similarly to fruits and flowers, this type of cider is made with a base cider from tannic or acid-dominant apples, but with the addition of herbs and spices during fermentation (ie.rosemary, chilli, ginger, cardamom, etc.)
- Hopped: made adding hops to a base cider made from tannic or acid-dominant apple. It’s a style that has grown out of the USA, especially West Coast, but can now be found all around the world.
- Barrel infused: made with a base cider from tannic or acid-dominant apples, which has spent a considerable portion of its life in wooden barrel; this portion of life can be during fermentation or maturation. The type of barrel will inevitably impact greatly the flavour profile of the resulting cider.
I often find it easy too use methods, as it adds more details to the description of a specific cider. As taxonomy around cider description evolves, so will my tasting notes and the way the industry describe cider.