Cider Before Sugar Took Over

Many Americans think of hard cider as the overly sweet stuff sold in grocery stores—made from dessert apples and designed more for sugar than complexity.

But authentic cider is something else entirely.

Historically, cider in both Europe and early America was dry, tannic, and complex, made from apples grown specifically for fermentation rather than from sweet eating apples. Those traditional cider apples contained tannins, acidity and aromatics that gave the drink structure and depth — much like wine grapes do. Read more about the original cidercraft here.