Cider styles around the world

Cider is much more than just an alcoholic drink made from apples.

LA SIDRA.- Nowadays cider is made all over the world, and from many different ingredients that provide for a range of flavours and styles; from tart and dry to sweet and rich, clear or cloudy, still or fizzy.

Apart from the amazing varieties found in Asturian cider, different countries offer different cider drinking experiences.

While English ciders are generally dry, sharp and high in tannins, French ciders are sweeter and lower in alcohol. And cidermakers in Australia, New Zealand and United States tend to blend varieties of table apples, so their ciders vary in sweetness.

Apple cider is considered to be the original, and some say the best, as apples contain sugars to give it sweetness, and malic acid and tannins that provides tartness.

Pears, also tannic and acidic, are suitable to make cider too, but they contain less malic acid than apples, which results in a sweeter and more delicate drink.

In the past decade, the introduction of ciders made with exotic fruits have gained popularity, with Swedish brands experimenting with passionfruit and strawberry flavours or Australian ciders introducing elderflower of pomegranate.