Cider [sahy-der] (noun): the juice pressed from apples (or formerly from some other fruit) used for drinking, either before fermentation (sweet cider) or after fermentation (hard cider). (Source: Dictionary.com)
Although I’m a lover of nearly all things food-related and the wines and spirits that accompany them, I’ve never enjoyed beer. My dislike for beers may have something to do with a children’s television show I once saw at school which tried to demonstrate the dangers of drinking alcohol to impressionable minds. In it, one character, having treated beer for the first time, spat out a foamy mouthful of the stuff and pronounced, “It tastes like soap!” Since I tend to agree even now as an adult, I have to give props to the writers and producers of that TV show, whatever it was called, for contributing to my long-standing aversion to beer.
Strangely enough, while I don’t like most beers, I’ve always been a big fan of stout, and I’ve recently discovered the joys of cider. While attending the Men’s Olympic Football tournament during London 2012, I embarked on a quest to perform a scientific survey of international ciders (read: I needed something other than beer to wash down pub grub while watching matches), and since then I’ve gone out of my way to discover new flavours of the fruit-based drink wherever I travel.
Now, some beer drinkers might contend that there are plenty of fruity brews, like Fruli or Lindemans. I don’t doubt that. In fact, here’s a list of some of them. Still, I find that the heaviness of beer detracts from the sweetness of the fruit flavour.
For me, the best aspect of a chilled cider is its crispness, which is both light and refreshing, accentuating the taste of the fruit while remaining light and easy to drink. Some of my favourites are Rekorderlig Strawberry-Lime and Stella Artois Cidre Pear.
I’ll be writing about my adventures with them and others in this section, which I like to call “The Cider Inside Her,” mainly because I can’t resist the allure of a dirty-sounding pun. Here, I’ll discuss my impressions of ciders, both soft and hard, from far and wide, and investigate new players while enjoying old favourites.
I hope you’ll enjoy coming with me on my journey and be inspired to try some of them yourself. Bottoms up!