10 Things You Should Know About Cider

Cider is one of those beverages that offer a refreshingly fruity and astringent alternative to other drinks on the market. Many drinkers note it as tasting more or less like a typical fruit drink with no real notable alcoholic aftertaste. While it may not possess the same popularity as beers and wines, cider is still a much-loved beverage with a rich history.

Here are 10 interesting facts about cider you probably didn’t know

  1. In the 14th Century children were baptised in cider, it was cleaner than the water!
  2. Cider apples are different from dessert apples in that they contain tannin, which is also found in coffee and red wine. It gives the cider a full-bodied flavour and drying of the mouth (astringency)
  3. Captain Cook carried cider on his ships to treat his crew for scurvy.
  4. It takes about three apples to make one glass of apple cider.
  5. Farm workers’ wages in earlier times included four pints of cider a day.
  6. In the 19th Century, cider was advertised as a cure for gout and other illnesses.
  7. The UK has the highest per capita cider consumption in the world – as well as the largest cider-producing company. No surprise there…
  8. An apple beverage a day? President John Adams drank a tankard of cider every morning because he believed it promoted good health. And it must have—Adams lived to 90, making him our third longest-living president, behind Ford & Reagan.
  9. The best cider apples seem to have the best names: Hangdown, Chibble’s Wilding, Kentish Fill-Basket, and Glory of the West.
  10. Of course, if this moderately alcoholic beverage doesn’t do it for you, it’s possible to make hard ciders even harder. Apple brandy and applejack are distilled ciders, and applejack, in particular, is really potent. It’s nicknamed the ”essence of lockjaw.”