The Casa del Vino de Tenerife became an international meeting point for cider culture this weekend with the celebration of the 1st Canary Islands Cider Forum, an event whose main focus was the participation and projection of Cider Cities, an initiative promoting cooperation between cider-producing cities and regions and the valorisation of cider as a cultural, gastronomic and tourism heritage asset.
LA SIDRA.- The forum, which began on May 8 with the Atlantic Roots Project Meeting and continued on May 9 with the gathering of Macaronesian cider producers (Canary Islands and Madeira) and public activities at Casa del Vino, helped strengthen the presence of the Canary Islands within international networks linked to Atlantic cider cultures.
The presence of Cider Cities highlighted the importance of creating connections between producing territories, encouraging the exchange of experiences related to cider tourism, the recovery of traditional agricultural landscapes, gastronomy and the international promotion of the different cultures linked to cider.
The forum particularly emphasised the Canary Islands’ potential to join this Atlantic network of cider-producing territories, taking advantage of the archipelago’s climatic and agricultural uniqueness and the growth currently being experienced by cider production on the islands. The Canary cider sector currently includes 13 cider mills and production exceeding 2,400 tonnes of apples annually.
The event also provided an opportunity to analyse cider development models from other Atlantic territories, especially Madeira and its experience with the IXP certification, regarded by Canary producers as a possible reference for advancing the protection and recognition of local productions.
The programme, open to the public from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., combined workshops, tastings and gastronomic demonstrations conceived as tools to promote Canary cider culture and the possibilities of local products.
Among the activities were the “Ciders and Cheeses” and “Ciders and Chocolate” workshops, dedicated to pairing Canary ciders with artisan products from the archipelago, as well as a cider mixology workshop led by Edu Sánchez from ATTHEBAR on the applications of cider in contemporary cocktails.
One of the forum’s central moments was the cookshow “The Cider Brunch”, prepared by Oliver Geyer and Diana Marcelino using local Canary products and specifically designed to accompany Macaronesian ciders, reinforcing the message promoted by Cider Cities about the connection between gastronomy, territory and cultural heritage.
The event concluded with “Local Street Food”, another gastronomic demonstration aimed at showcasing the possibilities of Canary cider in contemporary formats and new consumption spaces.
The 1st Canary Islands Cider Forum thus confirmed the expansion currently being experienced by the sector on the islands and the producers’ willingness to connect the Canary Islands with the main international networks of cider-producing territories. The participation of Cider Cities reinforced this international dimension and opened new avenues for cultural, tourism and gastronomic cooperation between Atlantic regions historically linked to cider production.
