Cider: An Alcoholic Beverage as Old as Civilization Itself

The Thracians made the earliest wines and declared Dionysus the “god of wine.” The Egyptians made beer 5,000 years ago, and the Incas made corn liquor (chicha) 3,000 years in the past.

The first recorded reference to cider dates back to Julius Caesar’s Britain, where he found the native Celts fermenting crab apples and making cider, as well as fermenting honey to make mead. There were also alcoholic cider-drinking Normans and Anglo-Saxons in what is now France.

Norman means “North Man,” and most of them were Vikings who had traveled south from Scandinavia in the late eighth century, settling in what is today Western France. Vikings were cider-makers and drinkers, which explains why France, a land usually dominated by wine lore, has a tradition of high quality cider production.

That production exists even today in Normandy and Brittany, where the best Calvados is produced. The largest and most successful Viking settlements were there.

Nowadays, there is alcoholic hard cider and non-alcoholic cider, sweet or at various degrees of dryness, produced to the delight of imbibers. Cider is very popular in the British Isles, Western France, Scandinavia, and Switzerland.

During last year’s visit to Geneva, Zurich, Basel, and Lucerne, I had Möhl, Cidrerie du Vulcan, and Ramseier Apple Ciders with many of my meals. They exhibited various degrees of fizziness and sweetness. The Cidrerie du Vulcain’s Trois Pépins is exceptionally tasty, made by pressing apples, pears, and quince and fermenting the resulting nectar.

In recent years, Britain has had a revival of interest in artisanal cider production using regional apple varieties and different fermentation and aging techniques. In Yorkshire, historic orchards are producing some impressive ciders using a mix of dessert and cooking apples.

Calvados is an apple brandy produced exclusively in Normandy that has attained AOC status. The base cider is made from apples, but sometimes, a few pears are added at the pressing stage.

The fruit must be grown in Normandy, where more than 200 varieties of apples are cultivated. The fruit is pressed and fermented, then distilled into an eau de vie and aged for a minimum of two years in oak. A good Calvados is respected as much as a good Cognac.

In the United States, there is a very nice, demi-sec cider from Washington State, as well as non-alcoholic sparkling and non-sparkling ones produced in California and New York State.

Personally, during the hot summer months, I drink Zeigler’s Old-Fashioned Apple Cider, a non-alcoholic, sweet, and refreshing beverage made from New York State grown apples. It comes in seasonal varieties, such as Gala and Honeycrisp blends, as well as seasonal flavors that include Caramel and Cinnamon Spice. Both of those are available each fall.

Through the year, Zeigler’s presses an amazing two hundred million pounds of fresh, whole apples to produce their ciders.

Do you drink cider? if so, what are your favorites?